Sheffield United vs Arsenal result: Dani Ceballos strikes late to book FA Cup semi-final spot

The FA Cup was not the competition Arsenal had in mind when they loaned Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid and committed £72 million to sign Nicolas Pepe. Two statements of intent, one a club record fee, were designed to secure Champions League qualification. Almost certainly, they will not but one of Pepe’s finest displays and Ceballos’ first goal in English domestic football meant a troubled season could end with silverware. A difficult day at Bramall Lane ended in victory.

The 13-time winners are semi-finalists again, Ceballos’ injury-time decider taking them past Sheffield United. Chris Wilder has led the Blades into territory they had not charted for decades but they will not reach a first FA Cup final since 1936. Their disappointing June ended on another low: the euphoria of a first goal in almost four months, from David McGoldrick in the 87th minute, was soon negated by Ceballos’ well-taken winner. Everything has gone wrong for United of late, with defensive blunders and injuries proving constants, and there were unwanted additions in each column.

For the second successive weekend, Pepe could add a goal to his ledger. Given his price tag and his meagre tally of five league goals, the Ivorian may figure on shortlists for the worst signing of the season. There are days, though, when he offers promise for the future and if his terrific goal at Brighton was one such, this represented another. He was menacing and sharp, the game’s brightest attacker, as Arsenal found a way to win without the benched Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and – less surprisingly – Mesut Ozil, with a back injury accounting for the German’s latest absence.

They withstood spells of pressure, saw two United goals chalked off and, strangely, almost conceded to a Dean Henderson punt forward that caught the Bramall Lane wind. In his own way, McGoldrick felt almost as unlikely a scorer, a striker who has played 23 league games without finding the net, but when Sead Kolasinac slammed a clearance into team-mate Rob Holding, he pounced.

John Lundstram, who was then to limp off, had been denied by VAR, John Egan by an offside flag and Chris Basham by his own faulty radar, as he headed wide when given a glorious chance by Jack Robinson’s cross. It compounded a dreadful day for him.

Basham committed the sort of foul that often takes place on the half-way line, except he did it just inside the box. He clipped Alexandre Lacazette’s heels and Pepe dispatched the resulting spot-kick.

The goal was a fillip to the scorer. Dean Henderson made a smart stop from Pepe when he sought a second. When the Ivorian connected well with Kieran Tierney’s cutback, his effort thudded into the advertising hoardings.

Pepe had a further contribution to make. After McGoldrick levelled, after Emi Martinez denied Billy Sharp a winner, the substitute Eddie Nketiah and Pepe combined and Ceballos slotted his shot beneath Henderson. Arsenal are off to Wembley.