Arsenal through to theFA cup Final after goal keepers blunder

A much deserved win for Arsene Wenger and his boys, considering how much they've put in to the premier league title race, and the all but certain wrapping up of the title by Chelsea.

The league title, which had only been a distant hope for Arsenal anyway, slipped away as the brilliant blue sky over Wembley began to dim with the onset of evening and the news arrived from Stamford Bridge that Chelsea had beaten Manchester United.

Arsenal let it go. By then, they were in the grip of a desperate battle to cling on to their dream of winning the FA Cup for the second year in succession, locked in a grim extra-time semi-final struggle with a Reading side who were threatening to end their season in embarrassment.

There were times when it seemed Arsenal, who had been pegged back by the Championship strugglers in normal time, might be overwhelmed by the sheer relentless refusal of their opponents to accept defeat and by a team spirit that would not fade. The match became a test of their fortitude as well as their class. In former years, they might have buckled.