The Observer:
Suddenly only Arsenal are looking at the treble. Arsène Wenger's players exacted revenge in full for their FA Cup semi-final defeat four years ago to breeze past Manchester United into the last eight, striking a significant psychological blow for the remainder of the season by doing so without their strongest side.
Dennis Bergkamp was rested and Thierry Henry came on for only the last 17 minutes, when the game was won. United, at full strength, were made to look weak. Their bad day at the office was personified by Ryan Giggs, the hero of the hour in 1999 who now has a contender for miss of the new century to sit with his goal of the last one. Giggs's wonder goal at Villa Park was widely acclaimed as the springboard for the treble. United supporters will be desperately hoping that his glaring first-half miss here will not set the tone for what happens in the next few months.
T
he outcome might have been different but for two key moments within a couple of minutes of each other just after half an hour. First, the otherwise excellent Martin Keown presented Giggs with an opening by failing to cut out David Beckham's long pass forward. David Seaman came racing out of his area, but Giggs took the ball round him and round Sol Campbell to leave sight of an open goal. Inexplicably, instead of rolling or walking the ball into an empty net, Giggs lofted a shot over the bar. Sir Alex Ferguson stood open-mouthed in astonishment. Only Wenger was not surprised, or so he claimed.This game would have made a terrific FA Cup final. It was a teeny bit one-sided by the end and not the classic encounter that might have been expected between the best teams in the country, but there was no doubting the passion and commitment in a ferocious opening quarter.
Purists and squeamish viewers might recoil from some of the hairier goings-on, and three bookings in the first seven minutes, followed by the sight of players squaring up to each other and ganging up on the referee would hardly have graced the Millennium Stadium. Yet football supporters love a full-blooded encounter and the FA Cup needs more of them.
Football also needs more referees such as Jeff Winter, who may have erred on the side of leniency in the opening minutes - he will wonder when he sees the replay how he allowed Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had already been booked, to get away with flattening Lauren shortly afterwards - but who did the game a favour by keeping 11 players on each side so tempers could cool and a little football could be played. Mostly, it must be said, by Arsenal.
Saturday afternoons are also much better when high-profile managers such as Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have something they can fall out about, rather than shuffle out of the ground after an anodyne quote or two. Just as there is an undercurrent of bad blood between their teams, there is little love lost between the managers, who were at each other after the game in that entertainingly understated way they have each perfected.
The Telegraph:
Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are hardly bed-fellows either but both were united in their distaste of referee Jeff Winter.
However, rather than pointing the finger at an official who found himself in the middle of what appeared at times to be a war zone, the illustrious duo might do better to admonish the approach of their own teams, particularly van Nistelrooy and Robert Pires, who went to ground at every opportunity, fanning the flames even further.
For United, there was even more to worry about than an FA Cup exit. With Juventus arriving for a key Champions League encounter on Wednesday, Ferguson would have been alarmed to see David Beckham limp off in the final stages after failing to recover from a heavy Ashley Cole tackle.
What had been billed as a potential classic quickly erupted into an ugly, spiteful contest where skill and precision took a back seat to aggression and force.
Inside five minutes, there had been two face-to-face confrontations involving a dozen players, sparked by a strong Sol Campbell challenge on Giggs and Paul Scholes' dangerous lunge on Patrick Vieira which sent the Arsenal skipper sprawling.
Watching from the safety of the television studio, former United keeper Peter Schmeichel hinted there might have been a few scores to settle and certainly it looked like it when van Nistelrooy caught Keown in the stomach with a dangerously high boot.
It warranted one of four first half yellow cards, which would have turned into at least one red had referee Winter seen a second van Nistelrooy judo kick which left Lauren in agony.
Instead, the Teesside official waved play on, leaving Wenger furious on the sidelines.
Winter was berated by Wenger and rival Ferguson almost constantly as the game threatened to get out of hand.
The Times:
There is a history between these two that amounts to bad blood, and it showed. A classic it wasn’t. What it could well prove to be, however, is the "pivotal" result Ferguson spoke of on Friday.
FA Cup holders Arsenal have gained a psychological ascendancy that should serve them well when they resume the defence of their Premiership title. They always believed they were better than United. Now they have proved it.
The start was so nasty that it warranted an anti-war march of its own. There were three bookings in the first seven minutes, which could easily have been more, and Ruud van Nistelrooy was fortunate not to be sent off for flying into Keown with elbow and boot. These two clearly felt old scores needed settling after their exchange of unpleasantries in December.
The Independent:
Manchester United's uniquely ambitious quadruple is no more, but Arsenal's double Double is still very much on. As the champions and FA Cup holders eased to a supremely confident victory yesterday afternoon, nine thousand Londoners – the ones supporting the visitors – were even ordering trebles. "We'll be back again in May," they chanted, referring to the Champions' League final at Old Trafford. On yesterday's evidence, United will not be providing the opposition.
The low point came after half an hour, with a miss by Ryan Giggs in front of an empty net that was difficult to credit. Had he put United ahead at that stage, the following chapters might have told a different tale, but Wenger was justified in believing the denouement would have been the same.
Ferguson, ever loyal to his players, glossed over their inadequacies on the day with criticism of the referee, Jeff Winter. Ignoring neutral opinion that Ruud van Nistelrooy and Paul Scholes might each have been sent off, United's manager said: "I thought the referee was bullied. I don't think the Arsenal players handled it well. Surrounding the referee in numbers the way they did creates havoc. United players don't do that. If we had, there would have been mayhem." As there was, of course, when Roy Keane famously led a posse after Andy D'Urso on the same pitch.
In fact, there was no shortage of red shirts in the referee's face during a first 10 minutes worthy – or unworthy – of Twickenham. When Scholes caught Vieira in only the fourth minute it was already his second clear foul on Arsenal's captain; Van Nistelrooy immediately re-ignited his feud with Keown (who had been fined £5,000 for pushing him in the previous game) with a wild charge, and then caught Lauren in the face. Each incident attracted a crowd of jostling players.
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