Aubameyang double fires Arsenal past Man City into Cup final

LONDON (Reuters): Arsenal ambushed FA Cup holders Manchester City as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a goal in each half to secure a 2-0 semi-final victory at an empty Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Days after Mikel Arteta’s side beat Premier League champions Liverpool, the Spaniard outfoxed his managerial mentor Pep Guardiola as his players executed his plan to perfection. Predictably, City enjoyed the majority of possession, but Arsenal were gritty and disciplined as well as being lethal on the counter-attack as they reached their 21st FA Cup final. Standing in the way of Arsenal’s 14th FA Cup triumph and a trophy for Arteta in his first season as a manager will be either Chelsea or Manchester United who were scheduled to play yesterday.

Arsenal comfortably soaked up City’s late pressure as they ended a miserable run of seven successive defeats against Guardiola’s City, including a 3-0 away league defeat last month. “It was a great result against one of the best teams in the world. We were humble, we understood the way we had to play and we took the opportunities to score,” Arsenal defender David Luiz, who has been transformed in recent weeks, said.