Arsenal, Man United sneak FA Cup replay wins

LONDON: Jack Wilshere’s late strike gave Arsenal a 1-0 FA Cup third-round replay win over Swansea City and Wayne Rooney’s first goal in over a month earned Manchester United a 1-0 victory over West Ham United on Wednesday night.
Arsenal wasted a hatful of good chances before sealing the win over Swansea thanks to midfielder Wilshere’s sublime left-foot strike past Michel Vorm four minutes from time following relentless pressure from the home side.
Rooney’s routine finish after nine minutes proved good enough for 11-times winners United to move into the fourth round but the England striker also missed a late penalty to make the Premier League leaders sweat in the closing stages.
Arsenal, 10-times Cup winners, will travel to Championship (second division) Brighton and Hove Albion in the fourth round on the weekend of Jan. 26-27 and United host Premier League rivals Fulham.
Wilshere, after scoring his first goal for Arsenal since November, said he was delighted with the connection he made with the ball following Olivier Giroud’s superb layoff.
“I don’t think I’ll ever hit another one like that in my life. It was a great set up by Olivier. It’s lucky I was there, we couldn’t put it in,” he told ESPN.
The London club’s strikers Theo Walcott and Giroud both had shots blocked on the line as the home team mounted relentless attacks in a one-sided second half and Walcott’s glancing header hit the post with time running out.
Swansea, who scored a late equalizer to force a replay, had the game’s first good chance when former Arsenal player Kyle Bartley’s header from an inswinging Wayne Routledge cross hit the bar in the 25th minute.
Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen forced Vorm into a smart save in the last action of the first half before the home team came out all guns blazing in the second period, to little avail until Wilshere came to the rescue.
The 21-year-old spared Arsenal’s blushes with the second goal of his comeback season following 17 months out through injury.
“You can say now that Jack is completely back to his best. Credit to the people who prepared him,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
Wenger, whose side lost 2-0 at home to Swansea in the league in December, said he had never lost hope of an Arsenal win given their dominance.
“The second half was outstanding,” the Frenchman said. “I felt comfortable defensively tonight because they didn’t create a lot. I always had faith.” Rooney’s ninth goal of the season came when he slid along the ground to guide Javier Hernandez’s inch-perfect cross into the unguarded net.
Although Rooney blasted his late spot-kick over the bar, United were rarely troubled but West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was unhappy about two penalty decisions.
“We should have had a penalty. The difference is that Jordan Spence plays for West Ham and Rafael plays for Manchester United at Old Trafford. The incidents are the same. If you give one you’ve got to give both, simple as that,” Allardyce told ITV.
United’s in-form striker Robin van Persie, who did not come off the bench on Wednesday, scored a majestic equalizer in stoppage time at Upton Park to take the tie to a replay.
Chelsea suffers
title blow
Chelsea’s hopes of winning the Premier League title this season were left hanging by a thread after they squandered a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 draw at home to strugglers Southampton on Wednesday night.
The result, which came on the same day former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola confirmed he was turning down the European champions’ overtures to manage German giants Bayern Munich, left Chelsea still in third place but 13 points behind leaders Manchester United with just 16 league games remaining.
After successive home defeats to Queens Park Rangers and Swansea, the latter in the League Cup semi-final first leg, Chelsea appeared on course for victory when Demba Ba and Eden Hazard put them ahead before half-time.
But the visitors rallied after the break through substitute Rickie Lambert’s 10th goal of the season and an outstanding equalizer from Jason Puncheon.
The result saw Southampton continue their improved run of form to move three points clear of the bottom three.
Chelsea left the field to boos from their own fans and this result will have done nothing for the wafer-thin popularity of interim manager Rafael Benitez with large sections of the London club’s supporters.
“We have to be more clinical when we have chances,” the Spaniard told Sky Sports. “We have to manage the game, score the third goal and finish the game but we did not do it.”