Soccer: Nelsen's FA Cup dreams dashed in loss to Arsenal

CARDIFF - All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen's hopes of becoming the first New Zealander to play in an English FA Cup final were dashed when Arsenal beat his team Blackburn Rovers 3-0 today.

A scrappy semifinal was settled by two late goals from Dutch substitute Robin van Persie.

Arsene Wenger's team will now face the winners of Sunday's semifinal between Manchester United and Newcastle United back at the Millennium Stadium on May 21, keeping alive their hopes of finishing the season with a trophy.

It will be Arsenal's 17th appearance in the final, a record Manchester United will match if they win on Sunday.

While their winning margin was deserved, Arsenal needed the two late goals to settle a game they really dominated after French midfielder Robert Pires side-footed them in front after 42 minutes.

Van Persie, who had only come on in the 82nd minute, finished Rovers off with fine left-footed strikes after 86 minutes and in stoppage time.

Arsenal's win was achieved without top scorer Thierry Henry and centre back Sol Campbell, who were both injured, but even without them Arsenal were always too clever to succumb to a fiercely determined and aggressive Blackburn side.

Pires' goal came after good work by Patrick Vieira and Kolo Toure whose low cross eluded the Blackburn defence and the onrushing Fredrik Ljunbgerg for Pires to strike home from close range.

Blackburn, trying to reach their first FA Cup final since 1960, committed twice as many fouls as Arsenal -- 27 compared to 13 -- in a match where referee Steve Dunn booked seven players.

Rovers attempted to break up Arsenal's rhythm and passing game in the first half with their uncompromising five-man midfield snapping at Arsenal's heels at every opportunity.

However, Blackburn's tactics were foiled by impressive performances from both Vieira and Pires and some gutsy support play from full backs Ashley Cole and Lauren.

It was never a classic in front of a disappointingly low crowd of 52,077 at the 72,000-capacity stadium, and Vieira and Pires have both played better, but they refused to be intimidated by Rovers and one or the other was involved in all three goals.

Although Blackburn were only trailing 1-0 until the closing minutes they never seriously threatened Jens Lehmann in the Arsenal goal, while at the other end a series of fine saves by Brad Friedel kept Arsenal at bay.

"Blackburn started really quite well but we responded and proved how strong we are," Vieira told Sky Sports. "Robin came on and scored two fantastic goals."

Blackburn's efforts were mainly speculative with Morten Gamst Pedersen firing a left-footed free kick over the bar and Steven Reid forcing Lehmann into a save with a hard, low shot.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes changed his tactics to try to save the game after the break but Arsenal's control was best illustrated by a spell midway through the half when they exchanged over 30 passes without an opposition player touching the ball.

Hughes introduced Brett Emerton and Robbie Savage but it was Wenger's late introduction of Van Persie that ended matters.

Van Persie, who scored a superb solo winner when Arsenal beat Blackburn 1-0 in the league last month, turned Lucas Neill before firing low past Friedel.

Four minutes later Pires broke on the left wing, finding Van Persie with a superb pass for the Dutchman to curl the ball past Friedel and give Arsenal their third win over Rovers this season -- all without conceding a goal -- and their seventh successive win in all competitions.

- REUTERS