The words ‘hell of a beating‘ spring to mind. United had basically killed this tie in the first 10 or so minutes. A cruel slip in the box by young Kieron Gibbs allowed a Ronaldo cross to reach Park Ji-Sung after 7 minutes and the South Korean capitalised, making no mistake beating the helpless Almunia. Minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo silenced the home crowd with an absolutely stunning free-kick that left Almunia again helpless despite diving well. Wayne Rooney also came close, forcing a finger-tip save from Almunia as United looked for a third in the first half.Could Arsenal recover in the second half? Could they buggery. Almunia, who had another fine game, made yet another terrific save to deny Ronaldo at the start of the second half. On the hour mark United put Arsenal out of their misery, scoring a majestic third. Breaking out of defence from a corner, that lad Ronaldo began a lightening move which Rooney carried up-field, the number 10 returning the ball back into Ronaldo’s path with the Portuguese forward coolly finding the net. 15 minutes from time United’s night soured, Darren Fletcher was harshly sent off for a foul on Fabregas in the box despite having clearly won the ball, with Robin van Persie scoring a superb penalty. Fletcher will miss the final through suspension, Arsenal through inexperience.