Blue the colour

Arsenal's hopes effectively vanished inside the opening eleven minutes after first Ji-Sung Park, capitalising on a slip by Kieran Gibbs, and then Cristiano Ronaldo, catching Manuel Almunia out with a free-kick, struck for United. Trailing 3-0 on aggregate there was no way back for the demoralised home side and Ronaldo salted their wounds with the evening's third goal just after the hour. The only downside for Sir Alex Ferguson's team was the dismissal of Darren Fletcher, who will now miss the final, for fouling Cesc Fàbregas to concede the penalty from which Robin van Persie struck Arsenal's futile late reply.