Van Persie tames Blackburn yet again

Super-sub Robin van Persie grabbed a magnificent brace to ensure Arsenal a place in this year's FA Cup final. Arsenal have now only lost one of their last 25 FA Cup ties to progress to their fourth final in five years.

Robért Píres had earlier put Arsenal ahead with a clinical strike after good work from Kolo Touré to put some shine on an otherwise uninspiring first half.

The Gunners looked content with the one goal but Arsène Wenger's inspired late substitution paid dividends as the Dutchman van Persie scored two goals to make it 3-0 to Arsenal.

A groin injury sustained by Thierry Henry gave Dennis Bergkamp a return to the starting line-up to partner José Antonio Reyes upfront after returning from injury himself. Francesc Fabregas drops to the bench in favour of Freddie Ljungberg, who incidentally turned 28 today.

Sol Campbell was not risked despite playing the full 90 minutes against Watford for the reserves on Tuesday night. Instead Arsène Wenger kept faith in the on form duo of Philippe Senderos and Kolo Touré.

Rovers were quicker out of the blocks and Morten Gamst Pederson curled a freekick just over Jens Lehmann's goal to show they meant business.

On the other hand Arsenal started off sluggishly giving away needless freekicks and losing possession cheaply at times.

Just seven minutes in Paul Dickov raced through on goal and lobbed Lehmann but his shot came off the post. Had it gone in it still wouldn't have counted as Arsenal were spared their blushes as the Scot was controversially ruled offside by the referee's linesman.

Rovers were in the ascendancy and were given yet another chance from a set piece as a late challenge from Vieira earned him a stern lecture from Steve Dunn. The ball was rolled to Steven Reid who saw his thunderous low drive saved by Lehmann.

This was during a period of sustained pressure by Rovers who kept the ball so well one could have been mistaken to think they were the current Premiership Champions.

Slowly yet surely Arsenal emerged from the dark and began to show glimpses of their early season passing game. Dennis Bergkamp weaved some magic on the right wing but his was taken out by Ryan Nelson. Bergkamp stepped up to take the kick himself but his floated ball into the box was cleared.

Despite this early sign Arsenal fans were left to wait until the half hour mark to see their team's first shot on goal; Vieira played the ball to José Reyes who in turn fired in a shot that lacked power and as a result Brad Friedel gathered in Blackburn's goal.

Seven minutes before half time the game exploded into life. Vieira played the ball into the feet of Dennis Bergkamp who did well to keep possession despite close attention from Lucas Neil. He in turn flicked the ball through to the onrushing Reyes whose placed shot was parried by Friedel. Robért Píres was first to the rebound and his shot was also denied by Friedel.

Minutes later Píres was on the score sheet. He started the move which saw Vieira chip in a sublime ball to Touré near the by-line. The Ivory Coast utility man did well to control and showed composure to turn his marker before firing in a low cross to Píres who finished with aplomb to put Arsenal in the lead; a perfect position for the Gunners to be in as Rovers, who defended resolutely up until that point, had to pour forward in search of an equaliser. As a result Arsenal were to find space for Arsenal to take advantage of.

Gilberto Silva, returning to take part in his third game after returning from a six month layoff nearly grabbed his second goal at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium having scored there in the Community Shield in August. The Brazilian saw his shot from 12 yards palmed wide by Friedel after good work by Lauren and substitute Cesc Fabregas.

Soon afterwards Fabregas himself nearly got on the score sheet but his long range drive was met full on by Rovers' player of the year Andy Todd.

Arsenal were relishing the occasion and their fans outnumbered the Rovers faithful by a ratio of 2:1 after Blackburn failed to sell out their allocation of tickets. This was obvious as the Arsenal fans out sung their Blackburn counterparts.

With less than an hour to go Brett Emerton reminded Arsenal that Blackburn still posed a threat when he cut in from the left wing to unleash a powerful drive that Lehmann did well to hold onto.

That saw Rovers burst into life and at one point had 70% possession of the ball during a ten minute spell in which they put the Gunners backline under intense pressure with a series of long balls and crosses into the box. Arsenal held on and in Senderos have unearthed a potential Tony Adams successor. The lad had played 9 games for club and country in the last two months and has yet to concede a goal. He is an imposing figure who reads the game so well.

Despite all this pressure it was Arsenal who came closest to scoring as a marauding run from Fabregas ended up with the young Spaniard unleashing a tame shot which, despite being turned wide by Friedel did not result in a corner.

Seconds later a Bergkamp freekick resulted in Gilberto forcing the American 'keeper into an amazing double save. Nonetheless it would not have counted as the linesman had already flagged for offside.

Age began to show and as Bergkamp tired he was replaced with another Dutchman, van Persie. The striker was the only player to score against Blackburn in their last six games and once again came back to haunt the Lancashire outfit.

Vieira played the ball into van Persie with his back to goal, but after turning his marker and shimmying past another before placing the ball into the side netting to grab his first.

His second came after good play by Jeremie Aliádíère and Píres on the left wing and the Dutchman's first time snap shot curled into the net just outside the reach of the outstretched figure that was Friedel. The goal though was overshadowed by an incident during van Persie's celebrations that saw him grounded by what appeared an elbow by Todd; something that an Independent Video Panel might want to look into.

A return to Cardiff next month is something to look forward to and a second meeting with Manchester United is something that many Gooners will be relishing and, after already losing to the Red Devils three times this season, will be looking to exact revenge on their fierce rivals.

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