Arsenal will face Chelsea in the FA Cup final after beating Manchester City 2-1 after extra-time in a closely fought semifinal at Wembley on Sunday.
City were unfortunate not to be in front at the end of a first-half that was low on quality or clear-cut chances, having had a Sergio Aguero goal questionably ruled out in the 40th minute.
Leroy Sane’s cross was adjudged to have gone out of play before Aguero scored from close range.
The second half began in the same manner and looked to be drifting with both sides looking short of ideas in front of goal when the breakthrough came.
Yaya Toure robbed Aaron Ramsey of possession on the edge of the City penalty area and turned defence into attack with one pass, playing through Aguero to score on the counter-attack.
Aguero, who only had Nacho Monreal for company, sprinted clear before finishing coolly past the onrushing Petr Cech to continue his recent excellent form in which he has scored 12 goals in 12 games across all competitions.
Arsenal rallied though and Monreal made amends for his role in City’s opener by rifling home an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross past Claudio Bravo from close range to restore parity.
With little over 10 minutes remaining Toure saw an excellent volley turned onto the inside of the post by Cech.
And two minutes later Fernandinho rattled the crossbar with a powerful header from a corner as City continued to look for a winning goal.
Arsenal carved a fine chance to win the game too, substitute Danny Welbeck beat Nicolas Otamendi on the right wing to make space in front of goal but could only bend his shot narrowly wide of the target.
Ten minutes into extra-time Arsenal completed the turnaround when Sanchez poked home from close range after City had failed to clear their lines.
City, who had substituted Aguero shortly before Sanchez’s goal, went close through Fabian Delph and Kevin De Bruyne, but were unable to muster a response leaving Arsenal to look forward to a third FA Cup final appearance in four seasons.
Early on Saturday, Eden Hazard came off the bench to make the decisive contribution as Chelsea won an FA Cup semi-final classic against Tottenham at Wembley on Saturday.
Hazard had been rested, along with Diego Costa, as Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte shuffled his pack against a Spurs side high on confidence after closing to within four points of their London rivals in the Premier League title race.
But the Belgian emerged as substitute to help settle an enthralling encounter.
Willian, in for Hazard, gave Chelsea the lead with a fine free-kick after five minutes but Harry Kane levelled for Spurs with an instinctive stooping header before the Brazilian put Conte’s side back in front from the penalty spot just before the break – Son Heung-min penalised for a foul on Victor Moses.
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