Arsenal continued their mini-revival as they booked their place in the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 win in a crazy tie at Sheffield United.
For long periods it looked like Nicolas Pepe’s first-half penalty was going to be the decisive moment but David McGoldrick’s late equaliser appeared to be sending it into extra-time.
But the Gunners left it even later, substitute Dani Ceballos sliding the ball in the net in the second minute of stoppage-time.
Mikel Arteta’s side rode their luck plenty of times at Bramall Lane with the hosts having the ball in the net on two other occasions, however, both John Lundstram and John Egan’s goals were offside and rightly chalked off.
Meanwhile, Chris Basham missed a glorious chance, heading the ball wide from six yards when it seemed harder to miss.
But Arteta will feel his side are due a bit of luck following bad Premier League defeats to Manchester City and Brighton, but this, as well as their victory at Southampton earlier in the week means life is slightly more rosy for them.
This result doesn’t solve Arsenal’s problems. There are plenty Arteta will have to face afterwards, mainly in the form of Matteo Guendouzi, who was left out of the squad amid rumours about his future at the club.
David Luiz was reinstated to the team for the first time since that 25-minute disasterclass at City but his presence did nothing to shore up the Arsenal defence in the early stages of the match.
Chris Wilder’s side had the ball in the net through Lundstram – the midfielder nodding it home after Oli McBurnie rose above Granit Xhaka easily but VAR came to Arsenal’s rescue as replays clearly showed Lundstram in an offside position.
Just 25 minutes later, Lundstram’s afternoon was finished as he was forced off with a shoulder injury following a tangle with Joe Willock but he was on the pitch to see Arsenal take an undeserved lead.
Alexandre Lacazette was felled in the box by Basham and as the contact was just inside the box, referee Paul Tierney had no choice but to award a penalty which Pepe slotted past Dean Henderson with a low effort into the corner of the net.
The second half saw Sheffield United put the ball in the net but Egan was flagged offside straight away. Moments later, they should have scored when an unmarked Basham headed Jack Robinson’s cross from the left wide. The defender was just six yards out.
The hosts kept plugging away and finally got their goal on 87 minutes in rather comical fashion. Sead Kolasinac could only fire straight at Shkodran Mustafi and McGoldrick was on hand to tuck the loose ball away.
Extra-time appeared to be the destiny of this cup tie but Ceballos had other ideas – the Spaniard collecting the ball in the box after Pepe was tackled before sliding it through Henderson’s legs to send the 13-time winners of the competition into the last four.
