FA Cup semi-final date awaits the Gunners

MARCH 17 — What a week it has been for the Gunners, from the previous Sunday to Saturday (March 8-14).

Most football commentators have made it up to be a very critical seven-day period that will determine Arsenal’s fortunes (or misfortune) for this season. Now, I am very pleased to report that the Gunners have come through this crucial week riding on a massive high in both confidence and results.

They were involved in three matches in three different competitions over that period.

The first was an FA Cup 5th Round tie against Burnley. Arsenal achieved a convincing 3-1 win against the feisty League Championship side which had the better of Arsenal in the Carling Cup quarter-finals on the Dec 2, 2008.

Then came the all-important mid-week, second-leg Champions League knockout round match in Rome. Losing the match 1-0 to Roma, the Gunners suffered their first loss in 17 matches across all competitions. It was a good run, but with a few too many draws in the Premiership.

Incidentally, Arsenal’s last defeat was also in the Champions League, in the last group match against Porto, on the Dec 10.

But the Gunners still had a great night out in Rome, thanks to the excellent penalty-taking skills of the young squad. All their shots were on-target, though one was saved. That meant that the Londoners were literally the last team to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals last Wednesday night.

Finally, the third match in that critical week was against Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. After going through a goal drought in their last three league matches at the Emirates Stadium — goalless draws against West Ham United, Sunderland and Fulham — the team were desperate to break the duck.

Who better than new signing Andrey Arshavin to show the way, and in only two minutes at that. Though that first goal was later credited as an own goal by a Blackburn player, that opener brought a huge sigh of relief across the Arsenal bench, let alone the entire stadium and with Gooners all around the world.

With three more goals scored in the second half — despite the efforts, or lack thereof, by a tall Dane who is worse than any Arsenal striker I recall in the past 10 years — the Gunners romped home to a comfortable 4-0 win.

Now they face the next challenge in this hectic period of games coming fast and furious at a rate of one almost every three days.

To qualify for the FA Cup semi-final, and a date with Chelsea on April 18, Arsenal must get past Hull City (3.45am, Wednesday, March 18, live on StarSports, Channel 813). The good thing about this match is Arsenal are playing at home.

If not anything else, it gives the Gunners a chance to put to rest a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Premier League newcomers also at home earlier this season. Like the FA Cup defeat of Burnley avenging the loss in the Carling Cup, this match too would go a long way in avenging that league defeat.

The moods are certainly different now in both camps compared with that day back in September.

The 2-1 victory by Hull over the Gunners prompted manager Arsene Wenger to accuse his players of complacency. Within a few weeks of that win, Hull were also being tipped as potential candidates for a place in Europe.

But the realities of life in the top flight have since hit home and a bleak mid-winter has left Phil Brown's side too close to the relegation fray for comfort.

A 1-1 draw at home to Newcastle United on Saturday helped the survival cause, but Hull's position remains sufficiently precarious for Brown to hint that he may consider resting some players on Tuesday in preparation for next weekend's league clash with Wigan Athletic.

After the draw against Newcastle, he said: “Being able to get into the last four of the FA Cup is a big deal, especially to be in the company of Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton. But in the grand scheme of things, it is not as big as Wigan.”

The Cup clash comes too early for Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas, both of whom are expected to make their return to the Arsenal colours over the course of the next two weeks. Croatian striker Eduardo is also expected to play no part following the ankle injury he suffered in Rome.

But Arsenal’s reserves of match-winning talent have been boosted by the speed with which Arshavin, the Russian playmaker signed from Zenit St Petersburg in January, has adapted to the demanding physical requirements of the English game.

Arshavin was in bewitching form against Blackburn and Wenger has been impressed by the Russian's willingness to lay solid foundations for the expression of his art through gut-wrenching preparatory work on the training ground.

Wenger has also been gratified to see his faith in Arshavin’s technical qualities vindicated having lost both Alexander Hleb (to Barcelona) and Tomas Rosicky (to injury) over the last year.

With the likely strike partnership of Arshavin and Carlos Vela, and the additional firepower coming from the midfield of Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Eboue and Denilson, I would be most surprised if the Gunners needed a replay to make that semi-final date with Chelsea in the FA Cup.

The mission will be quite simply accomplished on Tuesday night with a few goals to spare.