FA Cup 2014: Arsenal vs Hull City – As it happened...

Zee Media Bureau/Dattaraj Thaly

Arsenal come back from 2 goals down to make a spirited comeback and win the FA Cup. Finally the North London side have won a trophy after 9 long years. Surely one of the best FA Cup finals we have seen in long time. Arsene Wenger wins the oldest competition in world football for the fifth time. ============================================================== FINAL WHISTLE. ARSENAL WIN THE FA CUP 3-2 119 Aluko shoots one that is saved by Fabianski. He got down well to prevent the equalizer. 117Sanogo turns and releases the shot. McGregor is up for the task again. 117 Again a mistake by Fabianski. He comes out but does not get the ball. The bounce is kind to him. 116 Massive scare for Arsenal as Mertesacker slipped and Fabianski charged out but Aluko just shot wide. 114 Rosicky goes on the attack, finds Sanogo who can't make the pass to Wilshere. Wenger's double switch did the trick for Arsenal. The Gunners look a completely different side after Jack Wilshere has come one. Ramsey has been a hero for Arsenal this season especially before he got injured. Fitting end to the season for him if this happens to be the winner. GOAL! Ramsey! 106 Wenger rings in the changes. Wilshere and Rosicky come on for the Gunners. HALF TIME OF EXTRA TIME 105 Cazorla clips one over the bar. 103 Final change for Hull. Rosenior off. Boyd on. 101 Both sets of players are tired. The tempo seems to have dropped. 100 Ramsey again. This time into the side netting. Great one-two from him to get into a position. 97 McGregor spills but recovers in time to gather back the ball off a long distance effort from Ramsey. 97 Arsenal applying more pressure now. 94 Off the crossbar from Giroud. Good header but no luck for Giroud. 94 Sanogo rolls up a pass for Ozil but the German has his shot blocked. 93 Arsenal are on the attack. They don't want to take this to penalties. Arsenal players look knackered. Two of them are down and few others getting a massage. Hull players look disappointed for they could not hold their 2 goal lead. FULL TIME! EXTRA TIME BECKONS 90'+4 Arsenal try to break but Cazorla can't control Ramsey's ball. 90'+3 Giroud shoots on the turn but McGregor saves. 5 MINUTES OF INJURY TIME 89' Sanogo shoots after the lay off from Girud. Just wide. 86'And the goalscorer Davies goes into the ref's book. 85' Yellow card for Giroud. That was clumsy from the Frenchman. He was late on Aluko. 83' Giroud's effort is well saved by McGregor. Good football all around. 79' Gibbs misses from seven yards. Chance of the match. Will Arsenal rue this miss? 78' Giroud to Ozil. Ozil's pass to Sanogo is intercepted. 76' Throw-in for Arsenal. 74' Quinn off. Aluko on. GOAL! Koscielny scores! 2-2! 70' Meyler fouls Koscielny and goes straight into ref's book. He becomes the second player to be booked tonight. 68' Lovely ball by Ramsey and Cazorla is goes down in the box. Arsenal want a penalty. Denied. 65'Bruce off. McShane on. Alex Bruce was injured. 65' Koscielny heads but its just wide. Goal-kick for Hull. The goalkeeper is in no hurry. 63'Arsenal are applying more pressure here. But Hull's defenders are alert to the danger. 62' Podolski off. Sanogo on. Cheeky Sangogo has tweeted before the game tauting Mourinho. Let's see if he can back his talk with his game today. 61' Good defending by Hull City who block the shot from Kieron Gibbs. 60' Tom Hudddlestone gets a yellow card. Yes, that was coming. He had been warned on two previous occasions. 58 Corner for Arsenal. Its cleared. Arsenal showing urgency now. They have to score soon if they want to win this within 90 minutes. 54 Huddlestone attempts a screamer from 25 yards. Phew! That was close. Good effort. He can shoot! 53 Ramsey to Giroud who controls it well but the challenge from the Hull defender is swift. 52 Alex Bruce is down injured. Hope its not serious. No its not. He is back up. 52 Silly foul by Arteta. He is let off with just a warning by Probert. 50 Ozil's delicious pass is cleared by the Hull defense. 47 Foul by Sagna. Probert blows his whistle. We're back underway at Wembley. 45 minutes to go for Steve Bruce and Hull to go into the history books. This has been a wonderful game of football with end-to-end action. As things stand, the trophy cabinet at the Emirates will still be empty. Hull absolutely stunned Arsenal with 2 early goals. The occasion has not got to the Hull players and they seem very calm on the ball when in possession. Arsenal have not created clear cut scoring opportunities during the first half. Their only goal came from a set piece. Arsenal have had 59% of the possession as compared to Hull's 41%. Arsenal have has just 1 shot on target. Giroud has been out of the game as has been the case during most big matches during the season. Even Ozil hasn't done anything to change the tide of the game in Arsenal's favor. Santi Cazorla has been Arsenal's standout player of the first half and Podolski has looked lively. The Hull defense was coped up with everything that has been thrown at them by the Arsenal attack. HALF TIME: HULL CITY 2 - 1 ARSENAL 45'+2 Arsenal on the break. Cazorla tries to release Giroud, but the defense is alert to the danger. 45'Gibbs was released by Santi. But the left back is quickly crowded out by the Hull defense. 3 minutes added on by the assistant ref. 43' Giroud sends in a cross for Podolski who fails to meet it. 43' Fryatt was through on the Arsenal goal but he fouls Koscielny on his way. Ref stops play. 42' Good work from Koscielny - as he races back to clear in front of Fryatt 42' Another cross from Sagna that is not met by any Arsenal player. Arsenal will miss Sagna if he leaves in the summer. So consistent. 40' Koscielny tries a cross-field pass aimed at Giroud_ but it's easily cut out. 38' Cazorla almost put Sagna through there. The dangerous pass was intercepted. 36' Tom Huddlestone volleys into the crowd. He has a wonderful shot and has scored some crackers during his Spurs career. Not on this occasion. 34' Wonderful passage of play by Hull. Crisp and short passing. 32' Cazorla's corner is easily headed away by the defender. Corner for Arsenal. Santi Cazorla to whip it in. 31' Sagna sends in a low cross from just outside the penalty box. No damage done. 29' Foul by Huddlestone. He is playing with fire. The ref lets him go again. No booking. 29' Opportunity for Giroud. But his close range shot is wide off the left post. Cazorla to take it. The Hull defense clears it without any problem. 28' Another attempt from Podolski who shoots and earns his team a corner. 25' Podolski is looking lively. He gets the ball from a free-kick and he shoots from edge of the box. Ball hits straight into the defender. 24' Poor challenge from Rosenior. Foul called. 22' Podolski with a great effort. But the Hull defense is up to the task. 19' Alex Bruce fouls and the whistle is blown by Lee Probert to stop the play. GOAL! Cazorla scores. Wonderful free-kick from the Spanish magician. 17' Tom Huddlestone commits a careless foul. Probert does not book him. Only a warning for Tom. Arsenal win a free kick. Great position. 14' Another corner to Hull. Tom Huddlestone takes it but Lukasz Fabianski punches it away very confidently. Excellent work from Hull City. They win yet another corner. Alex Bruce meets the corner and heads it well. well blocked on the line. Arsenal look shaky at the back. 11' Stephen Quinn fouls his opponent, and Lee Probert makes a call. Curtis Davis slots the rebounded header in the bottom corner. Goal! Arsenal 0-2 Hull City (Davies) 8' Throw-in for Hull City 5' Arsenal attack with Sagna whose cross is straight into the keepers hand. GOAL! Hull have scored. Chester scores for "The Tigers" 3' FIrst corner of the match awarded to Hull. Hull have made a positive start to this match. They are passing the ball around comfortably. Hull City will get us started. Here we go. 90,000 screaming fans. Prince William on the pitch. He greets both the teams as the captains introduce him to both sets of players. And here they come. Let the fireworks begin... ONLY 10 minutes for kick-off. Leona Lewis with "Abide With Me". Proper British tradition. STAT Hull beat Arsenal 4-1 in the FA Cup, 16th January 1908. That was the Tiger's only victory over the Gunners in the competition to date. [Squawka Football] Wonderful pre-match entertainment for the Wembley crowd with pyrotechnics, a marching band and dancers. Hull City fans have created an electric atmosphere inside Wembley. Today is their big day. Yaya Sanogo looks pretty confident of a win. He has tweeted: Last tweet bfore history, who would have guess we wld be in this position 1 month ago ? So José how much trophy did you get this year ? #AFC Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta, Ramsey; Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski; Giroud. Subs: Szczesny, Vermaelen, Monreal, Flamini, Rosicky, Wilshere, Sanogo Hull (5-4-1): McGregor; Elmohamady, Davies, Bruce, Chester, Rosenior; Livermore, Huddlestone, Meyler, Quinn; Fryatt. ============================================================== Welcome to our live blog of the 2014 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Hull City. The long and agonizing wait could end for the Gunners today. One of English football`s greatest club has not won a trophy for almost 9 years. Of course, Arsenal fans were hoping to land the Premier League trophy this season especially after their strong showing in the first half of the season. But with the curtains coming down on the season, the FA cup is the only trophy that is up for grabs and the Gunners will happily decorate the empty trophy cabinet with it. It is also a great opportunity for Steve Bruce and his Hull City team to win the clubs first trophy in their 110-year old history. Arsenal will be firm favorites but Hull would have found it much harder against Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City. At least against Arsenal , Bruce will feel his team have a fighting chance. Arsenal have won 10 FA cups while Hull have none. It will be a remarkable achievement for "The Tigers" if they manage to upset the applecart. Hull have done quite well in the last 2 years. They have managed to climb up from the Championship to the Premier League. Playing in the final of an FA cup at Wembley would be a dream come true for most of the Hull players.