LONDON: Alexis Sanchez ensured Arsenal’s stormy season will end with an FA Cup final after securing a 2-1 victory over Manchester City in extra time at Wembley on Sunday.

Arsenal will play Chelsea on May 27 in their third FA Cup final in four seasons. The competition has provided a comfort blanket for Arsene Wenger as he has failed to deliver the Premier League trophy since 2004.

But with Arsenal languishing in seventh place in the Premier League, and set to miss out on the Champions League, the heat remains on the manager whose contract expires at the end of the season.

Pep Guardiola’s first season in charge of City will end without silverware. That’s not what City were expecting when they hired the serial winner who had won titles in every campaign with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

City had led against Arsenal in north London, with Sergio Aguero completing a second-half counterattack in the 63rd minute after Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey gave the ball away in the opposition half.

But Arsenal displayed the resolve lacking so often this year to turn the semi-final around, with Nacho Monreal producing a rare goal nine minutes later from a cross by Arsenal’s other wing back Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

And Sanchez came through for Arsenal in extra time, just as he did for the joint-record 12-time FA Cup winners in the 2015 semi-final, producing a winner in the 101st minute.

Mesut Ozil’s free kick was headed down by Rob Holding, Danny Welbeck missed his attempt but Sanchez demonstrated his poacher’s instinct to nudge the ball over the line.

On Saturday, late goals from Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matric settled a rip-roaring FA Cup semi-final 4-2 in Chelsea’s favour over title rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

It was only the fourth time in the famous old knockout competition that a semi-final had featured the current top two in the top flight and it did not disappoint.

Brazilian Willian, surprisingly selected ahead of Hazard in the starting line-up, twice put Chelsea ahead in a sizzling contest, first after four minutes with a free kick and then close to halftime from the penalty spot.

Twice Tottenham roared back with Harry Kane heading them level after 18 minutes and fellow England international Dele Alli making it 2-2 with a superb finish in the 52nd minute.

Tottenham, who are four points behind Chelsea in the Premier League after a brilliant run of seven successive wins, dominated at times but their hopes of a first FA Cup final since 1991 were sunk late on by two moments of magic.

First Hazard, who replaced Willian, buried a low shot past Hugo Lloris after 75 minutes, then Matic’s 25-metre piledriver sank Spurs who have won only one of their last nine matches at Wembley and have lost seven straight FA Cup semi-finals.

“I am proud for this achievement,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte told reporters. “This is my first season in England and it is great to fight for the title and reach the final of the FA Cup.”

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017