[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ehsan: *
Tranmere 1-2 Millwall.
Millwall throught to the semis.
Pir jee kya howa, aap ka taweez nahin challa.
[/QUOTE]
aik daffa toh chall gaya na :) I had told u prior to their last match that tranmere may surprise all, which it did by getting a draw. This time I did not write a taveez and boom they lost.
talha
the loss to porto may be haunting them but they may want to make a stsment to the press, their fans and everyone by winning the FA.
basically the MAnU and Arsenal match is FA cup as far as I am concerned, millwall and sunderland have no realistic chances, they may surprise in the final but it would be an upset.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
talha
the loss to porto may be haunting them but they may want to make a stsment to the press, their fans and everyone by winning the FA.
[/quote]
yeah - i know people in Old Trafford must be feeling out of game - you know MU have noone but to blame themselves for being pathetic this year - anyhow i am no way MU fan but definitely if they are up against Arsenal - i always root for them.
but now it seems unlikely - Rio Ferdinand is facing drug ban for 8 months - Rio is a world class defender you know - and MU is facing difficulty filling the gap of him - FA cup is the only hope left for the MU this season but with Rio out - i don't think they will be put up a challenge against Arsenal.
[quote]
basically the MAnU and Arsenal match is FA cup as far as I am concerned
[/quote]
yes - whenever these big English clubs are face to face - there is always good soccer to watch.
big day is here - Henry and Ruud maynot be in action tho!
Arsenal v Man Utd - PREVIEW
Villa Park
Saturday, 3 April 2004
Semi-final
Kick-off: 1200 BST
Referee: Graham Barber (Herfordshire) Tie to be decided by extra time and penalties, if necessary
Winners: to play either Millwall or Sunderland in the final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday, 22 May 2004
Arsenal must decide whether to rest striker Thierry Henry for Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final with Manchester United.
The Gunners, who are set to be without knee injury victim Ashley Cole and Gilberto Silva, face four crucial matches in nine days.
Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy is doubtful after picking up a knee problem last weekend. Louis Saha is cup-tied while Nicky Butt and Phil Neville will not play after strenuous outings for England midweek.
Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Stack, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Keown, Clichy, Vieira, Edu, Pires, Ljungberg, Bentley, Henry, Bergkamp, Reyes, Aliadiere.
Man Utd (from): Carroll, Howard, G Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O’Shea, Solskjaer, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Butt, P Neville, Djemba-Djemba, Forlan, Fletcher, Bellion.
Stars could miss FA Cup tie](BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Man Utd | Ferguson hails Ronaldo)
Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy is an injury doubt for the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday.
Van Nistelrooy suffered a knee injury playing Arsenal in the Premiership last Sunday and it flared up this week.
“Ruud is a serious doubt,” said Sir Alex Ferguson, who is also without the cup-tied Louis Saha.
Arsenal are considering resting Thierry Henry ahead of next week’s Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea.
Wenger keeps Man Utd guessing
If Van Nistelrooy misses the game, Diego Forlan will probably play even though he only returned from international duty with Uruguay on Friday.
Forlan could either play on his own up front or Ferguson could move Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs or David Bellion into a forward position.
“All we can do is hope there will be a change over the next 24 hours,” said Ferguson Van Nistelrooy.
Great, that’s all we need!
From Keane16
Have your say on 606
"It would be a bitter blow for us if he was to miss out because he is the man who can win us the game.
“We do have plenty of players who can replace him, though. Diego Forlan will go straight to the team hotel on Friday night.”
Ferguson is prepared for a tough battle whichever team he puts out, following the edgy draw between the sides at Highbury last weekend.
“It’s going to be a close game, there’s no question about that,” he told the club’s official website.
“Nobody can say anything different, the evidence was all there on Sunday. It will be a very close game, a difficult one to call.”
United have a good Cup record at Villa Park - they have played four semi-finals there without defeat.
It has not all been rosy this season but we deserve to get to the final
Ferguson has led the Red Devils to victory in nine domestic semi-finals and if they win in Birmingham they will have reached their sixth FA Cup final since 1986.
“Our record at Villa Park is good and our support will be there which makes a difference,” added Ferguson.
Captain Roy Keane is confident his side will put a stop to Arsenal’s unbeaten run on Saturday.
The Irish midfielder believes the time has come for United to turn round their season, starting at Villa Park.
“It has not all been rosy this season and we have had one or two problems,” Keane told MUTV.
“We deserve to get to the final but Arsenal probably think that too. Unfortunately someone’s going to be disappointed.”
so treble dream for Arsenal is over.
**ManU wins 1-0 ** 
Tragedy. Feel sorry for Arsenal. They were the better side and should have been 2/0 in the first ten minutes and then another rebound of the post in the dying seconds of the first half.
man united were lucky.
Ehsan bhai, they should have taken their chances. Hitting the crossbar is damn unlucky but open goal with only the keeper , they should have scored there. They have only themselves to blame.
i beg to differ - MU was far better side than Arsenal - they played more aggressive in second half - Arsenal were riding the boat with the flow.
as for being lucky - it’s Arsenal who were lucky - they shoud be thankful that Lehmann wasn’t sent off the field when he inexplicably got involved with Ronaldo - pushing him to the ground - that’s why i hate Arsenal - they just don’t accept defeat - and have no sportmanship whatsoever!
anyhow - a good win for MU - i knew they would be out of juice - but i never expected them to perform at this level of greatness - how about Paul Scholes? he was unable to score in the Premiership against Arsenal - this time he made sure there wouldn’t be any mistake.
Arsenal v Manchester United photos
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*Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a lively first half for United, battles for the ball with Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy *
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Mikael Silvestre nicks the ball from Dennis Bergkamp as United weather the early storm at Villa Park\
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Gunners midfielder Edu struggles to get to grips with the mercurial Ronaldo on United's right flank
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*Bergkamp, whose delicate chip Robert Pires should have converted, races clear of United skipper Roy Keane *
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*Scholes blasts the ball past Kolo Toure and Arsenal goalkeeper Jans Lehmann as Vieira looks on helplessly *
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United goalscorer and talisman Scholes is mobbed by Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea and Silvestre
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O'Shea remonstrates with Bergkamp following an Arsenal penalty claim as tempers begin to fray in the second half
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger leaves the field with his treble dreams in tatters
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*Sir Alex Ferguson shares his delight with United winger Ronaldo after seeing his side squeeze into the final *
it was a good match...with some good football
United salvage some pride from the wreckage](http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/040403/3/2zt7.html)
BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - Manchester United salvaged some pride from the wreckage of their season by destroying arch rivals Arsenal’s treble dream.
Paul Scholes 32nd-minute strike was enough to settle a pulsating FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park and send United into the final as strong favourites against the winner of Sunday’s all-first-division clash between Sunderland and Millwall.
The Premiership title is all but Arsenal’s and Arsene Wenger’s side will resume their pursuit of Champions League glory against Chelsea on Tuesday.
But there was no doubting the delight in the United camp as their fans deliriously celebrated a victory which had the ferocious competitiveness of their manager Alex Ferguson stamped all over it.
The ignominy of a trophy-less season has been avoided for now but Ferguson will probably be just as satisfied to have seen his team, written off as a fading force, bounce back to ensure Arsenal will not emulate his 1999 side by winning league, cup and Champions League titles.
A visibly delighted Ferguson said: "I am pleased for the lads and I’m pleased for the supporters, they were fantastic. If you needed an extra man, that was it.
“You always hope to win a trophy every year and I hope we’ll be able to now.”
Ferguson had rich praise for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who stood in for the injured Ruud van Nistelrooy in attack.
“It was a blow to us but Solskjaer is such an intelligent player and he played his part well,” the Scot said.
Arsenal only had themselves to blame for a setback with unpredictable consequences. As in Sunday’s 1-1 draw in the league at Highbury, the Gunners had the chances to have killed the match as a contest long before the interval.
In fact, United had two good saves from Roy Carroll and a goal-line clearance from Wes Brown to thank for preventing their opponents from delivering a knock-out blow inside the first five minutes.
“That gave us that bit of luck we needed,” Ferguson admitted. “We started quite well in the first few minutes but the best chances came to them.”
Arsenal only had themselves to blame for a setback with unpredictable consequences. As in Sunday’s 1-1 draw in the league at Highbury, the Gunners had the chances to have killed the match as a contest long before the interval.
In fact, United had two good saves from Roy Carroll and a goal-line clearance from Wes Brown to thank for preventing their opponents from delivering a knock-out blow inside the first five minutes.
Dennis Bergkamp, who famously missed a last-minute penalty when the two sides met at the same stage in 1999, was granted the perfect opportunity to make amends when Edu’s powerful header from the centre circle caught the United back-four flat footed.
Racing clear, the Dutchman’s critical touch was a fraction heavy and Carroll was able to narrow the angle and block his shot. Bergkamp still had time to gather the loose ball and curl a second shot round the goalkeeper but Brown had recovered his position was able to head the ball away.
The respite was only momentary. From the corner that followed, the United defence could only half-clear to the edge of the area.
From there Edu’s chip beat Carroll and bounced back off the crossbar into the path of Sol Campbell, whose header from barely four yards out was somehow palmed away by the Northern Ireland international.
United had gradually begun to assert themselves without ever seriously bothering Jens Lehmann when Robert Pires spurned Arsenal’s third chance to take the lead.
A surging run by Campbell carried the England centreback to the edge of the area and allowed Bergkamp to slip into space on the right of the box.
Campbell found him, the Dutchman’s chip to the back post was irreproachable but Pires badly miscued his header into a bank of jeering United supporters behind the goal.
Profligacy of that magnitude invariably leads to a bill and United duly presented it when Scholes fired them ahead in the 32nd minute.
Gary Neville was the unlikely provider of the moment of creativity which generated the chance, his cleverly disguised pass finding Giggs floating in a dangerous amount of space through the inside right channel.
The Welshman did not squander it. A hard low cross found the right boot of Scholes and Lehmann was left with no chance by a first-time shot from 12 yards.
Arsenal’s tempo briefly deserted them in the aftermath of the goal but they were desperately unlucky not to equalise when Vieira muscled Keane out of the way to glance a Pires’ free-kick on to the outside of the post.
Arsene Wenger sent for the cavalry shortly after the restrart, bringing on Thierry Henry and Jose Antonio Reyes in place of Pires and the ineffective Jeremie Aliadiere.
Reyes was first to make his presence felt with a sublime turn and run that carried him into the box, where he was thwarted by Brown’s superbly judged tackle.
But that was all either the young Spaniard or Henry were able to muster until the dying seconds, when Reyes failed to connect cleanly with a Freddie Ljungberg cross that represented Arsenal’s last chance.
If Man Utd don't win the FA Cup now - there's something seriously wrong.
i doubt anyone could've predicted at the beginning of the season that Millwall would be in the FA Cup final.
Sunderland 0-1 Millwall Photos
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Old Trafford erupts with the roars of Millwall's travelling support as Cahill celebrates his goal
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*The whistle blows for full-time, confirming Millwall's passage to the Millennium Stadium and their first ever FA Cup final *
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The celebrations start in earnest for the ecstatic fans of Millwall Football Club