Arsenal 1 Udinese 0

Arsenal laboured to a 1-0 win over Udinese in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at Emirates Stadium, which left more questions than answers over life after Cesc Fabregas. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger - who watched from the stands as he served a touchline ban - had called for a response from his young squad following the sale of their captain back to Barcelona. It seemed he would get just that when Theo Walcott, under the watchful eye of England boss Fabio Capello, swept the home side in front after only four minutes. However, from then on, Arsenal never really got into any sort of rhythm as Udinese grew into the game. Indeed, the Italians will feel frustrated the industry of captain Antonio Di Natale did not bring them an away goal to take back to the Stadio Friuli next week. Before then, the Gunners must regroup for the visit of Liverpool on Saturday, when they will again face a stern examination of whether they can indeed go on to challenge for honours. It has all started so well when Walcott's early strike settled any nerves. Marouane Chamakh won the ball just inside the Udinese half, with Bacary Sagna playing a clever chip over the defence for Aaron Ramsey to run onto down the right. The Wales skipper looked up, before clipping the ball across goal, where Walcott arrived at the near post to sidefoot past Samir Handanovic. It should have been 2-0 soon after, but Thomas Vermaelen, skipper for the night with Robin van Persie suspended, and Gervinho - set to serve a three-match domestic ban for his red card at Newcastle - got in each other's way at the far post following a corner. Walcott, in the headlines for revelations about England duty from his new book, was booked for a foul on Piccoli Neuton. It was almost a costly lapse in concentration as Udinese captain di Natale curled in the free-kick from 30 yards, which looped off the crossbar. Arsenal were let off again on 25 minutes when Alex Song lost possession on the edge of the Udinese box after a corner, and Pablo Armero sprinted clear on into the Arsenal area. Wojciech Szczesny, though, stood up to make a fine save, with Song then having tracked back to block Mauricio Isla's follow-up effort. Udinese continued to look the more lively as half-time approached, with di Natale shaving the outside of the post after making space for himself in the six yard box. Arsenal were forced into a change at the restart, with Johan Djourou replacing England defender Kieran Gibbs, reported to have a tight hamstring, and Vermaelen switching to left-back. The Swiss international was soon in the thick of the action, sliding in to block di Natale's close-range effort. However, Djourou did not last long, as he limped off after 54 minutes to be replaced by Carl Jenkinson, the youngster making his debut following a summer move from Charlton. Jenkinson - who was playing non-League football on loan at Eastbourne Borough last season - was outmuscled by Isla, as the Chilean charged into the right side of the Arsenal area, but could only fire across goal. Udinese sensed Arsenal were there for the taking, as Armero fired an angled drive over from 20 yards. Walcott spurned a great chance to ease the pressure when he latched onto a defense-splitting pass from Ramsey, but the England forward mishit his first-time chip, which bobbled horribly wide. Wenger - who had been sending messages to the dugout via assistant Boro Primorac - made a final change when Tomas Rosicky was replaced by defensive midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong. With 15 minutes left, Szczesny made a flying save to beat away a curling 25-yard free-kick from di Natale as again Arsenal were forced onto the back foot. Walcott almost made it 2-0 in stoppage time, but was denied by a fantastic reaction save from Handanovic as Arsenal had to be content with just the slenderest of margins to defend in Italy next week.

Arsenal 1 Manchester United 0

Arsenal blew the Premier League title race wide open as leaders Manchester United were deservedly beaten at the Emirates Stadium.Aaron Ramsey's winner early in the second half condemned United to defeat and leaves them only three points ahead of Chelsea with identical goal difference - and a meeting between the two to come at Old Trafford next Sunday.Forced to rebuild his promising career after suffering a broken leg, Ramsey made the most of a chance to deputise for injured captain Cesc Fabregas with a goal that will have been met with almost as much joy at Stamford Bridge as it was in front of Arsenal's fans.

Victory was well-earned reward for their superiority against a United side that never looked like repeating the heroics of their Champions League semi-final first leg victory against Schalke 04 on Tuesday in Germany.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger must have thought the fates had conspired against him when they were denied a clear first-half penalty after Nemanja Vidic handled Theo Walcott's cross.

But the game concluded with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson angry at referee Chris Foy after substitute Michael Owen was hauled down in the area by Gael Clichy in the closing moments, only to have his appeals ignored.It is a win that has probably come too late to revive Arsenal's own title aspirations, but one which gives Chelsea real hope that they can retain their crown if they can beat United next week.
Ferguson cut a frustrated figure throughout, a mood matched by his players as they rarely got to grips with an Arsenal side they have enjoyed so much success against in the recent past.
Arsenal lost Fabregas to a thigh injury sustained in training on Saturday - but his absence did not stop the Gunners dominating a first half that concluded with them nursing an acute sense of injustice.

 FERGUSON DEMANDS 25mins INJURY TIME

Vidic, a central figure in every sense, was fortunate not to be punished for an uncharacteristic error after only three minutes.In attempting to clear, he only succeeded in finding Jack Wilshere and was relieved to see the teenager pull his effort inches wide.
And Walcott could not keep a close-range shot under control as he stretched to meet Clichy's cross, sending it well over the top of Edwin van der Sar's crossbar.
United have had joy against Arsenal in the past by lying deep before striking with devastating effect on the counter attack.
And they almost delivered a sucker punch in the face of Arsenal's early superiority when Fabio da Silva burst into the area unmarked, but was unable to find Javier Hernandez.

Arsenal, with justification, were furious just after the half-hour when Vidic clearly used his hand to direct Walcott's cross away from the incoming Robin van Persie - an offence missed by the officials.
England striker Wayne Rooney's main contribution had been a yellow card for fouling England team-mate Wilshere just before the interval.He did show his enduring quality with a curling 25-yard free-kick after 48 minutes, but the previously unemployed Wojciech Szczesny was equal to the task with a diving save.Arsenal finally got the goal they had merited after 56 minutes, Ramsey sliding a low finish into the corner of the net from Van Persie's incisive cut-back.United, thoroughly out of sorts, replaced Anderson with Antonio Valencia moments before the goal.They did muster a response, however, when Vidic rose highest from a corner to head just wide.And in a belated show of urgency by United, Szczesny was then forced to save well from Nani after Rooney had driven deep into the Arsenal half in a bid to lift his team-mates from their slumbers.With three minutes left Ferguson and United's players were reduced to a fury as Owen was brought down from behind by Clichy as he raced into the area.Referee Foy, much to Ferguson's obvious disgust, was unimpressed.It was Arsenal's last anxious moment before closing out a win that leaves the title potentially on the line when United confront champions Chelsea, who narrowly beat Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday.

Arsenal drop Szczesny for FA Cup clash with Leyton Orient

ARSENE WENGER has held heart-to-heart talks with devastated pair Wojciech Szczesny and Laurent Koscielny after their Carling Cup cock-up.But neither Wojciech Szczesny nor Laurent Koscielny will face Leyton Orient tonight as Arsene Wenger takes both out of the firing line.Szczesny and Koscielny took the blame for the mix-up which allowed Obafemi Martins to score Birmingham’s crushing late winner in the final and ensure Arsenal’s six-year wait for silverware goes on.But Wenger has resisted the temptation to help both men forget the incident by playing them in tonight’s FA Cup fifth round replay at the Emirates Stadium.
Manuel Almunia will instead replace Szczesny in goal, while Koscielny will be given the night off completely, after suffering a tight hamstring at Wembley.Wenger said: “I have spoken to them both. More to Koscielny because he suffered more."You have to analyse it in a realistic way what you did wrong.“But Koscielny has been a great player for us since the start of the season.“It’s important he keeps his confidence levels up and gets encouragement.“He takes everything on board and we do not want his confidence to drop because he made a mistake.“He is really angry about it. We have to show that we support him and believe he is a fantastic defender.“Wojciech is alright.“Yes, there was a misunderstanding.“Koscielny thought he saw Wojciech coming out. Then he had a hesitation and that was fatal for us.“Almunia will play the game. He needs games.“Wojciech is on the bench. Koscielny has a tight hamstring and a little bit of fatigue. We will give
him a breather.”Szczesny and Koscielny failed to deal with a free-kick punted upfield by Ben Foster, allowing Martins to pounce for the last-gasp winner.

But Wenger claims his side have bigger targets than the Carling Cup anyway.Arsenal are still in the Premier League title race, lead Barcelona going into the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie, and visit Manchester United in the sixth round of the FA Cup if they win tonight.Wenger said: “We have much higher targets than the Carling Cup, even though we would have loved to have won it.“We all agree about that much.
“We cannot let our motivation or confidence drop because of the massive targets we have in front of us.
“We are in a race for the championship, we have an opportunity to qualify in the FA Cup and we have won the first leg in the Champions League.”

Wenger confirmed that Robin van Persie, who was also injured at Wembley, will be out for three weeks with a knee problem.