Wayne Rooney has urged Manchester United to dust themselves down and focus on Champions League qualification after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal on Monday evening.
United lost 2-1 at Old Trafford, Danny Welbeck’s second-half strike proving the winner after Rooney equalised Nacho Monreal’s opening goal for Arsenal before the break.
While Arsène Wenger’s men are now in the semi-finals, United are almost certain to end the campaign trophyless for a second successive season, the first time this will have occurred since 1988-89.
United are in fourth place, two points clear of Liverpool with 10 matches remaining. On Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to Old Trafford for a crucial fixture as the north London club are in sixth position, only three points behind United.
Rooney said: “It’s a hard one to take [going out], but we have to dust ourselves down and get ready for Sunday.”
The match is the start of a difficult closing phase of the season for United as following Spurs, Louis van Gaal’s side travel to Liverpool, then host relegation-threatened Aston Villa, have the derby with Manchester City at Old Trafford and a trip to Chelsea on 18 April. United also have to host Arsenal again, in the penultimate match of the season.
Rooney added of the FA Cup elimination: “We’re obviously disappointed. Going into half-time having equalised, we felt that we’d create enough chances to win the game, but it wasn’t to be.
“Conceding the second goal the way we did in the second half meant that we were always chasing the game afterwards; they made it difficult for us and defended well.
“It was a close game – it could have gone either way. Mistakes happen, but it’s not nice when you’re on the receiving end of one which costs us a goal.”
Despite joining United in 2004, Rooney is still yet to win the FA Cup. “I want to win the cup for and with the team – it’s not about me wanting to win the FA Cup. That’s why it’s so sad for us to get knocked out; we knew we’d have a great opportunity if we’d won,” he said.
Welbeck, who was making a first return to Old Trafford since being sold by Van Gaal to Arsenal for £16m last summer, was grateful for the ovation he received from United supporters when being replaced on 74 minutes. “I’ll always respect the fans, I had a lovely reception from them and I’m thankful for that. Manchester United is a club that means so much to me,” said the 24-year-old, who joined as an eight-year-old.
“I’m a fan and it’s hard to knock them out. I was just doing my job. It’s good for the team that we’re through to the next round, and we’re in the semi-finals at Wembley. To get the goal was good for me but it was all about the team performance.”
Of his winner, a first goal in 2015, Welbeck said: “It was about being professional, keeping my focus and motivation. I kept plugging away and then got on the end of Antonio Valencia’s back-pass, beat David de Gea and got the winning goal.”
Monreal believes Arsenal can now harness momentum from the victory to try and retain the FA Cup and finish as high as possible in the league. “We are in a good dynamic in the last few games,” the defender said. “Except for Monaco, when we didn’t play really well, in the rest of the games we have played well and won most of them. This is the style now to keep going.
“We want to finish as high up as possible and the best way is to keep going in this dynamic, keep focusing in each game and have commitment.”
