Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace to help Arsenal eliminate holders Manchester City from the FA Cup in an eerily empty Wembley Stadium.
The two teams had met on June 17 after the English Premier League restart, and the Citizens made a meal out of the Gunners at the Emirates, claiming a comfortable 3-0 win.
With Liverpool winning the league, the domestic competition was the only chance for the Pep Guardiola-led charges to win silverware this season. For the 12-time FA champions, they need the trophy to have a chance of playing in the Europa League next season.
After a shaky start, Arsenal finally found their footing in the 19th minute. Nicolas Pepe managed to pick the African in the danger zone, and the former Borussia Dortmund attacker guided the ball past Ederson Moraes with ease.
Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne had good chances to restore parity, but good defending and excellent goalkeeping from Emiliano Martinez kept them out.
With 20 minutes to go, a good move ended with the ball on Pepe. The Ivorian passed it to Kieran Tierney who managed to get the ball to Aubameyang. The latter raced clear before squeezing the ball between the custodian’s legs to seal the win for Arteta.
By scoring a brace, the African became the fourth Arsenal player to score a competitive brace at Wembley Stadium. The first one was Reg Lewis in the 1950 FA Cup final, then came Charlie Nicholas in 1987’s League Cup final. Another brace was by Chilean Alexis Sanchez in the 2015 FA Cup semi-final.
The Gunners will play either Manchester United or Chelsea in the final.
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