Arsenal will face Aston Villa in the FA Cup final on Steven Gerrard’s birthday.
Goals from Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph saw Villa come back from behind to beat Liverpool at Wembley this afternoon to seal their first appearance in the final since 2000.
For the second year running Arsene Wenger’s men will arrive at the final as favourites having already beaten the Villans 3-0 and 5-0 this season.
As a tribute to ‘Tactics’ Tim Sherwood Villa have confirmed that their players will all wear gilets on 30 May instead of traditional cup final suits.
Watched live and absolutely loved it.! Fuck off Rodgers with your annoying celebration!
this will likely be the end of the road for him, barring a top four finish which seems unlikely. I’ve hated him thoroughly ever since he decided it was ok to slight our club and manager during the Suarez bid war. today he was thoroughly twatted.
And Rodgers goes on slighting our team eg Re. Sterling he said Arsenal is a step down from Liverpool & today he claimed that there are only two great clubs in Britain, Man Utd & Liverpool. He needs to check his history!! They won a lot in the 70s & 80s but have never won the Premier League in 24 years since! I hated how he bragged that Liverpool would finish second in the EPL and win the FA Cup!! Ha ha! I’m going to have a drink or two to celebrate their demise!
Actually, they’ve never won the Premier League.
That’s what he said.
Bring them ON! COYG!
I love the mugsmashers! They never fail to… well …. fail!
30th may… The day we retain the fa cup. COYG
8 goals to nil for us in the league. But they did look better than Liverpool today. Grealish, Benteke and Delphi all looked good.
COYR!
Given how we struggled last year – and nearly blew it ; and given how we needed extra time against a low level Championship side in the Semis and given our past performances against the likes of the mighty ‘Birmingham’ – I would take nothing for granted.
We’re hot favourites. Villa have little to lose. We will need full attention for 90 minutes. That having been said 2 – 0 should be well within our grasp. But only with complete concentration from all concerned.
We just beat Liverpool 4-1, Villa beat Liverpool 2-1.
Do the maths and it has to be 2-0.
Perfect ! But we should not be complacent ! Let’s go Arsenal
I’m honestly more worried about Villa than Liverpool. If you believe the media hype you’d think Liverpool were a top team rather than mid tablers coached by a guy who thinks he’s a top tier manager.
Anyway, to the Final!
I’m with you. Honestly, I think we’d have beaten Liverpool comfortably in the final because they think they’re an amazing side and would be more open against us. Villa will do what Reading did, and be willing to ‘die’ to win it. I expect a very tough final.
Agree with you fully!
As long as the result is the same as that of Reading, I’m fine.
There is some truth here but the chances of beating one side 3 times in a season are really not that great imho. Benteke is in a fine form at the moment.
Not saying I’m not an optimist but I’m rather cautious over Villa.
COYG!
the chances of beating a side 3 times in a season with no reply are completely irrelevant after we have done it twice, it is merely the chances of beating them once that matters now.
Didn’t we do it against Sp*rs last year?
The chances of beating them three times is definitely higher, as we have beaten them twice already, than if we hadn’t already beaten them twice.
I’ll bet when you gamble you make wagers based on the idea that “that combination hasn’t come up in a while so it’s due”. I love betting against people like that, it makes me rich.
Underestimate Villa at our peril. There seems to be a desire to gloss over the fact we were dreadful at Burnley and dreadful against Reading. Honestly, I do not believe we prepared correctly or took either side seriously, yet again, and it staggers the imagination. Wenger had to admit we got lucky on Saturday? In the meantime Villa went out and showed the spirit and ambition it takes to win a semi-final in style. Sherwood will keep their momentum going to the final at least. I want to beat Chelsea and then Manchester United in the League (I would say… Read more »
Liverpool FC…
Hahahahahahahahahaha!
Villa are probably one of the most in form teams in the league at the moment, perhaps only behind us!
Honestly, didn’t feel like we had just qualified for a final yesterday. Now that we know our opponent I’m suddenly so much more pumped for this. COYG
Im hearing this a lot recently but I don’t understand where its coming from. Including today’s game Sherwood’s record since he took over has been 4 wins 1 draw and 4 losses. That’s far from good. And its not as if their 4 wins have come consecutively. Their last 9 games in all competitions (since Sherwood) has been LLWWLLDWW. This is the sort of record you can expect from an average mid to low table team. Maybe they look like they are in form under Sherwood just because he is getting slightly better results than their abysmal season up until… Read more »
Erm they are fighting a relegation battle so its pretty good form for them. Its all about relativity. They’re hardly going to win all 9 are they.
Actually, that kind of record means almost exactly 1.5 points per game, which is a record that typically sees a team finish 8th, or just outside the contest for Europe. It’s about the best points average any of the smaller teams can sustain, and typically the kind of average that the ‘surprisingly good mid-table side of the season’ gets, like Southampton last year.
I’m more worried by Villa too… mainly because Brenda will be sat at home in her nighty while Villa will actually be on the pitch.
In all fairness grealish looks a talent
English? Talent?! Sound the klaxon!
Irish apparently
Too bad, was hoping we could humiliate pool again.
I much prefer to face an obnoxious Tim Sherwood media narrative than a whole world of tossers talking endlessly about Steven Gerrard’s fucking birthday party.
That would have been too intolerable for words.
Yes, 90 mins of the commentators masturbating furiously over “Stevie G” would be a bit much to take.
This is true, but a 4-0 thumping in the FA Cup final for Gerrard’s final match would have been pretty fantastic. Or perhaps a 2-1 victory, with Gerrard slipping during the run-up to a penalty in second half stoppage time, skying the shot over the bar.
Will Timmy’s coat be present? Guy is a total twat.
He is an Arsenal fan…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybMK-gp5t0Q
I have no overconfidence, just simple faith. Villa were deserved winners over pool so lets not underetimate them, bring it on, forever COYG
Well like Reading yesterday, you don’t get to a cup semi final, let alone the final, by losing your games… They have to be taken seriously and our lot will need to pay attention, but if they do they should win ok.
They will press us from the off so we need to be switched on and we will retain cup. We have to play strongest team though and that means Giroud up front, I like Danny but we are different threat when Giroud plays. Danny can fight for place on flank. Hopefully Ramsey will not be played out wide in front 3. If he can’t dislodge Santi then sit him on bench.
honestly, we should be playing our strongest lineup, which at this time means bellerin, monreal, ospina, and giroud all starting. if ox were healthy, I’d start him ahead of Ramsey, but I’d reckon giving rosicky the start otherwise. Ramsey’s form is dodgy.
Ramsey’s form is dodgy after a goal and assist from out of position?
Squad selection suggestions are premature at the moment, IMO. The final is over a month away. That’s enough time for a whole lot of things to happen…for both teams.
despite being a fan of Walcott i absolutely think Welbeck should start on the right with Giroud up front the only change i would make is putting Ramsey along side Coq at Cazorla’s expense, now i love Cazorla but it has to be either him or Ozil who would need to be on the bench if you play Ramsey in the middle with the Coq, Ramsey makes us a little safer in the middle i feel and Cazorla can come on around 67mins for Ramsey and Walcott on for Welbeck too if we need the goal, exploit those tired legs!… Read more »
Just to clarify, you are suggesting we bench Santi Cazorla????
sigh….
😀 is all I have to say about this article. Classic stuff.
Just a word of caution for anyone getting ahead of themselves: in 10/11, we had beaten Birmingham home and away in the league, and the cup final (bar Fabregas getting injured in the previous game against Stoke) seemed a formality. Just remember that.
That said, I’m so glad we’ve now hopefully heard the last of the Gerrard w*nkfest.
Watch out for Mr Passion….
*pronounced ‘passhun’.
How else would you pronounce it?.
“Arsenal will face Aston Villa in the FA Cup final on Steven Gerrard’s birthday”
Hahaha, This is why I love Arseblog
Eddymc2 that has exactly been in Wenger’s mind as you can see the team selection once we reach the last 16. He was using league and FA cup as a training opportunity for under 21 and accademie players. And the aftermath? When ever Wenger’s record is mentioned, the so called pundits used to attach ‘trophy drought’ to it. No more mate. Villa looks impressive because Liverpewl made them look that way. In the final we will set our Coq on that midfield and Koshielny will solve the Benteke problem believe me. I said in another post last week that we… Read more »
I remember last year vs Everton, lukaku played on the flank and exploited Montreal. Benteke seems like a similar type of player.
Benteke for Arsenal next year …
Scouse TV will be devastated. Poor Michael Owen the man will be inconsolable. The muppet with the giant cigar will be on a flight to Germany ready to bang on someones door and beg.
Well done Villa. Tough game ahead but we’ll retain the cup
Hahahaha get fucked liverpool!
I endorse this message
Nice touch by Liverpool to ensure Steven Gerrard gets the day off for his 35th birthday.
Hopefully they remember the cake
Phew, we avoided whole England wanking to Gerrard playing his last match for Liverpool, on his birthday, in a historical FA Cup final.
And him crying at the end when they lost.
Oh well…
I wonder where the FA final is where Liverpool wins. Need to check with that twat Michael Owen.
I just don’t get BT Sport, like FFS don’t they LISTEN to public opinion!? The man is universally regarded as a clown but he still has a job? British punditry is nothing but a ‘jobs for the boys’ network.
Clowns serve a purpose. What you said there is offensive to clowns and those who appreciate them.
He’s a knob-gobbling little shit.
Knob-gobbling serves a purpose. What you said is offensive to knob-gobblers all over the world.
Even shit serves a purpose. Michael Owen serves no purpose.
We face Villa & if we win, the media will troll us and say it’s just villa. We face them, and if we lose to ’em, the media will say we’re shit can’t beat a lower team.
If it’s liverpool, and we win, media will say it’s just luck. If we lost, they will say we can’t beat big team.
Let’s just prove them all wrong. Prove that we’re not shit. C’mon arsenal, wembley is waiting. COYG!
I do love Phil McNulty’s usual excellence, highlighted on the BBC’s live stream:
“Liverpool had struggled to build early momentum but have looked much better since manager Brendan Rodgers switched to a back four. Philippe Coutinho showed some real calm amid the penalty area chaos to score but the trouble started when Villa substitute Jores Okore’s touch just let him down. Villa made the better start but Liverpool have settled – and nothing settles a team in an FA Cup semi-final better than a goal.”
The next post: Goal for Aston Villa
Phil McNulty is awful. Predicted Arsenal would miss put on the top 4 for the last 3 seasons. His writing is terrible. Filled with cliches and never makes any point other than stating the obvious.
If they had any sense, gerrard wouldn’t have played in that match. He did absolute f*#k all. Glad we avoided the full length film on “Gerrard, the birthday hero”
Lets get not carried away, Benteke is in a great form and he can be dangerous against any team, it wont be easy if we think gonna be easy (see at hulk last season). We’re in the final, so lets focus against them.
Spot on, you have a winning mentality.
Villa gave it they’re all yes, but you can’t do that every game.
If we play our current starting 11, with Bellerin, Monreal and Giroud starting…we’ll beat them.
Didn’t even care about the match. Just came here for my daily dose of some Arsenal goodness after yesterday’s outing and then…Bang!!! I actually thought this was some joke, Blogs.
Aaah bless, Pep Rodgers won’t get to show off his shiny teeth.
Or his dry ass lips, someone get that man a pot of Carmex.
Hahahaha, quality! I actually busted out laughing at this, ive noticed it too, his lips make me sick watching him speak, and at times he has the little bit of foam in the corners of his mouth, you think with the money he earns he could afford a bottle of mouth wash and some vaseline, mouth wash for after sucking balotellis knob, and vaseline for sterlings ass.
I can’t believe you wrote this shit on a Sunday and made me read it on a Monday.
Sherwood to wear his Bergkamp socks on cup final day, you heard it here first
Barring any injuries and form we will destroy villa in the final. Sanchez and co wouldnt want to miss this great opportunity.
Seriously? If Reading, Wigan and Hull from last season were anything to go by we better well know by now there are no easy games in cup competitions. Sure we have the better team on paper but this attitude of just showing up and expecting to win is absolutely poor. We really need to be on our toes especially with Villa who can really hurt us. Imagine Reading with someone who finishes better than Mckenzie, we could’ve been out of the semis!
It’s my birthday too, fuck you Stevie
It’s gonna be my birthday too. The party only starts after we’ve lifted the cup. Otherwise, I’ll skip this year and be two years older next year. COYG!
Where is Micheal Owen to tell me how they’ll beat us in the final?
“Sterling is better than Ozil” Michael Owen, 4/4/2015. Never forget.
And being given the chance to ‘clarify’ his comments the next day he said …. “not even close” (5/4/2015)
Hahahahaha
Let’s do over these villains on the last game of the season the way they done us over on the first game of the season.
Can’t help feeling a tiny bit disappointed. I would really have loved to see us ruin “StevieGee’s big day”. On the other hand I like the idea of Spurs fans trying to decide if they’d rather Arsenal or Tactics Tim won the FA cup.
I’d also rather be playing Liverpool for the same reason. But Gerrard’s getting a nice birthday present anyway – instead of a hammering in a cup final, he gets to watch two in-form teams face off for the FA Cup.
And there’s no doubt that virtually all Spurs fans would rather Villa and Sherwood win than see Arsenal win.
Forgive my ignorance but if Arsenal wins the FA Cup (should be “when” really), does it mean the 7th placed team qualifies for Europa league as we are already in CL?
Nope, Villa goes. Just like Hull City this season and Wigan last season.
Wrong, they changed the rules this season, if the winner of the fa Cup already qualifies for cl or Europe, the entitlement will be given to the next position in the league. Meaning sixth and seven position, since Chelsea won the Carling cup, and assuming we win the fa Cup.
Actually, I believe from this year it is actually the next highest league finisher. They’ve changed the rules.
the side to progress is actually calculated by the duckworth lewis system
Told you that Villa would beat Liverpool, didn’t I? It’s been a good day for us. Had the Scousers got to the final then there’d have been all that sympathy for Gerrard, and everybody (except Man United fans) would have wanted them to beat us. True, Villa are a better side than Liverpool right now, and will be tougher opposition than Gerrard’s boys, but if we turn up for the final then we should have far too much for Gooner Tim’s average team. But the most important game until then is that match against Chelsea next weekend. That win against… Read more »
Bollocks.
Villa in the finals. Why could we not have gotten Liverpool, we would have spanked them again.
Genius Brendan Rodgers. spent 120m in transfers, not in top4, not in Europe,not in any cup….not even top 4 cup. But according to the media, he is a ‘progressive manager’ like that bloke Martinez or Klopp all deem better than Wenger.
Strangely media silent today. No bleating from Carragher, Redknapp and Owen.
Be careful for what you wish for.
Media not totally silent. Hard to find a match report that doesn’t include horseshit mention of a ‘disallowed goal’. Villa defenders and keeper totally gave up on Balotelli’s run. Granted, he wasn’t offside, but no way Mario gets so little interference if the flag doesn’t go up. Calling that a disallowed goal is intellectually dishonest.
Villa is certainly going to be a threat with the way they’ve been playing lately. Any previous results we’ve had this year with them can be thrown out as they showed today that they are a dangerous team. I certainly like our chances better against them than Liverpool, but all one needs to do is look at our match with Hull last year to see that anything can happen in a final no matter how strong a favorite one team is.
…and them ‘cock on a ball’ lot managed to grab three points at St James Park, if It were in their power, they’d want the highest scoring team in Today’s PL fixtures to be declared champions… #ArsenalAreInTheFinalsAgainAtWembley #Sp*rsAreAtWhiteHartLaneStill
Heh! It’s excitement galore time for the Gooners. Why not? Let’s continue to enjoy ourselves as we express our happiness for the Gunners getting to the Cup final to play the will be unlikely winners, the Aston Villa team. But wait a second, would I have accepted the referee tampering with the outcome of today’s match between the Villans and the Reds? As the Ref., has been judged to have dubiously ruled a Balotelli’s equalizing goal off side. Certainly no! This will amount to making a mockery of playing the game. Would I love to see Liverpool bounce back into… Read more »
Villa will be a much harder final than Liverpool. Liverpool players are known to screw up in the big moments. Villas has nothing to lose and will give their all like what hull wigan and reading did to us.
True, but didn’t we end up beating Hull, Wigan, and Reading?
Don’t get me wrong, we can beat anyone in a final, but I’d rather face villa than Liverpool. The whole ‘Steven Gerard’s last game on his birthday’ thing might have rallied the fans and players into a dangerous frenzie on the day.
More knobbery from Michael Owen: Liverpool score a very average deflected goal after very poor Villa defending and Owen calls it a fantastic.
If that was Arsenal he’d say we were helped by a dreadful back four struggling to clear the ball and were fortunate to have a weak shot deflected towards goal and over the keeper.
I can’t decide if Michael Owen or Danny Murphy is the biggest waste of skin.
Wiltodo mate I’ve just seen on Sky Sports that the rule that allowed the defeated finalist to automatically qualify for Europa league has been repealed, and starting next season if Arsenal wins it Villa wont automatically qualify. That means we could help Spuds into Europa (assuming they’ll finish 7th) by winning the FA cup. Bitter sweet?
Helping Spurs to Europa is actually a poisoned gift. So it’s a win-win situation. For us.
Really looking forward to the “‘Gerrard” final….heh
Song for cup final;
Steve Gerrard, gerrard,
He’s taking it very hard,
Sat at home with his birthday cards,
Steve gerrard, gerrard
Fucking brilliant! I really, really hope I hear that on the TV on May 30.
I’d have preferred Stivie crying on his birthday but I guess we can’t always get what we want 🙂
….or Stevie as it were. Insomnia is a bitch
Villa might be on some kind of form or something right now, but the finals will be in a month. between now and then, a lot could happen. Benteke could well be injured by that time. still I fancy our chances to go on and will all the remaining games this season including the finals.
I sense progress is being made at our club….
Much to enjoy in the meantime including the final but boy I can’t wait for next season !!!
COYG
Where Liverpool? How much have they spent for mediocrity and a trophiless season?
Where PSurs? When are they ever going to nick our 4th spot trophy?
Where media?
Glad the mugsmashers were smashed