Aaron Ramsey says Arsenal beat Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final for their under-fire manager Arsene Wenger
AARON RAMSEY says Arsenal beat Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final for their under-fire manager Arsene Wenger.
Alexis Sanchez was the man of the hour as Arsenal secured an extra-time 2-1 win over Pep Guardiola's City, taking advantage of some poor defending.
The Chilean took advantage of some lax defending to send Gunners fans wild and set up an all-London finale against Chelsea next month.
Sergio Aguero had earlier chipped Petr Cech for his 30th of the season and the opening goal following a lovely long pass from Yaya Toure, having dispossessed Ramsey.
But Nacho Monreal levelled the scores ten minutes later to drive a volley home with his weaker foot from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross, before Alexis's late winner.
It set up an all-London finale against Chelsea next month, with Arsenal now hold the record for most FA Cup final appearances with 20 – one ahead of Manchester United and six ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool.
It has come in a trying season for the players and particularly boss Arsene Wenger, who is under-fire after falling well short in the title race and being humiliated in the Champions League.
But the FA Cup is kind to Wenger - and midfielder Ramsey said they did it for their beleaguered boss in what could be his final season for the club.
He told Radio 5 Live: "I love this competition. We have been quite successful in recent years and you can see the passion that the players play with. We went behind and kept on going and got a result.
"I made the mistake for the goal. I know in these situations you have to respond. I carried on trying to work my socks off and ultimately it paid off.
"That is the second time we played this formation credit, to the boys. We have shown the character we have in this team.
"It was important to win today, to have something to look forward to. But now we have another seven cup finals to try and get into the top four.
"We have let him [Arsene Wenger] down at times this season, we want to win it for him and ourselves."