Arsenal land in FA Cup final

Arsenal’s hopes of winning their first trophy in just under a decade are still alive.
The Emirates side went down to Wigan Athletic in the second half, but found an equalizer to force another 30 minutes of football.
The match finished 1-1 after extra time, but the Gunners were superior on penalties and now await the winner of the tie between Sheffield United and Hull City.
The Gunners started extremely strong and had multiple chances to score in the opening five minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was at the heart of both opportunities, wasting one in the first minute with a heavy touch and setting up Yaya Sanogo for a header in the fifth minute, which Scott Carson saved.
Arsenal continued to be the better side throughout the opening 15 minutes, completely dominating the game, but Wigan came into the match as the second half wore on.
They gradually looked better from that 15th minute mark up until an hour into the match, when Callum McManaman won a penalty.
Per Mertesacker was the guilty party for the Gunners, taking down the Wigan winger with an ill-advised lunge into his ankles.
The referee hesitated, perhaps waiting to see if Wigan would gain an advantage, but he eventually pointed to the spot after a bit of confusion ensued.
Jordi Gomez stepped up to the spot and beat Lukasz Fabianski, placing an excellent shot to the Arsenal keeper’s right.
That sequence also resulted in an injury for Nacho Monreal, who had to exit the game for Kieran Gibbs.
Five minutes later, Arsenal made another substitution, replacing Lukas Podolski with Olivier Giroud.
The Arsenal fans in the stands expressed their displeasure with the change, having hoped that Sanogo, who was poor, would come off.
Sanogo had a number of bad touches and made poor decisions in the immediate aftermath of this change, leading to audible groans from his team’s supporters.
Arsenal had a huge chance in the 81st minute, hitting the post from close range.
Again, Sanogo was the man in position to score, but he hit the upright with his effort off a corner kick.
Less than a minute later, Sanogo found Gibbs with a flick to the far post, but Gibbs’ header was saved brilliantly by Carson, then cleared off the line by Wigan.
Eventually, the pressure became too much for Wigan, who conceded off the ensuing corner.
Mertesacker was the man who pulled Arsenal level, making up for his earlier error. Oxlade-Chamberlain attempted a shot from 20 yards after the corner was cleared out of the box, and it would have gone wide if not for the placement of Mertesacker.
The big defender was in the perfect spot to redirect it into the back of the net with a header, just like it was a cross.
Extra time was tight, as expected, with neither team wanting to lose the game by leaving themselves open.
Wigan, having made a couple of defensive subs after their goal in an attempt to hang on to a 1-0 lead, had trouble creating during the extra 30 minutes period.
The shootout got off to an awful start for Wigan.
Gary Caldwell was the first taker and had a weak effort saved, after which Mikel Arteta converted.
Jack Collison’s penalty, right down the middle, was also easily saved and Arsenal kept the pressure on, with Kim Kallstrom stepping up second and scoring.
Wigan didn’t miss again, but all of Arsenal’s takers hit the back of the net, sending them through 4-2 on penalties.