London (AFP)

Arsenal qualified for the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday by winning (2-1) at Sheffield United with a goal in overtime from Dani Ceballos.

The nine-point gap between the Gunners and the European squares seven days to go will be difficult to close in the league, even if the Londoners are late, but the latter are only two games away Europe via the Cup.

Without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, left on the bench, nor Matteo Guendouzi, still not returned in the small papers of Mikel Arteta, Nicolas Pépé assured the main by transforming a penalty awarded after recourse to VAR (1-0, 25th).

The video assistants also played an important role by rightly refusing two goals to the premises for offside (10th and 58th).

The Blades, in great difficulty since the resumption of the championship, would have deserved better, their goalkeeper Dean Henderson being on the verge of equalizing on a clearance pushed by the wind (55th) and Chris Basham missing a ready-made equalization (58th), after causing the penalty in the first period.

Yet another defensive error this season of the Gunners seemed to restore a semblance of justice when, on a long touch, Sead Kolasinac released on his teammate Shkodran Mustafi. The ball reached striker David McGoldrick at the entrance of the six meters, who leveled acrobatically (1-1, 87th).

Emiliano Martinez, Bernd Leno's replacement in the cages, again saved the Gunners from a very good reflex stop on a low hit by Billy Sharp.

And it is finally the midfielder loaned by Real Madrid, Ceballos, that the defense of the Blades left free to sink into the area, which saved 30 minutes of extra play to his team by coming to deceive Henderson closely (2-1, 90th + 1).

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