Wenger keeps the baying hordes off his case - for now

It was not the most convincing argument for North London solidarity. So, the occasion was apt for Arsenal to demonstrate to their delirious supporters a new-found cussedness that propelled them to an eighth FA Cup final of the Wenger era. The Frenchman's victory pose, screaming to the heavens with his eyes closed and fists clenched, spoke volumes about the sense of catharsis.

This was, hypothetically, the type of game Arsenal had forgotten how to win: a tense and needling semi-final against opponents marshalled by Pep Guardiola, a sorcerer in tactical sophistication. Arsenal, or so the logic went, were a team whose stature developed in inverse proportion to the stakes, whose 10-2 aggregate thrashing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League stood as testament to their indolence. Little wonder, then, that Wenger grinned his way through every post-match interview like Pepé Le Pew.

While not an affirmation of his fitness to lead for years to come - the final on May 27, against Chelsea, will be the crucial litmus test for his future - this result has cemented Wenger's right to leave at the hour of his choosing. It has also shown up the 'Wenger Out' mob, comprising a band of fair-weather fans determined to hound a man of unimpeachable integrity out of the Emirates, to be less carriers of a legitimate grievance than rogue voices whose entitlement has spilt over into perhaps the most preposterous persecution complex in sport.

Hard done by? Arsenal's recent record reflects a veritable banquet for their supporters: three Cup finals in four years, second in the Premier League last season, and still a realistic chance to qualify for the Champions League for the 21st straight time of Wenger's reign. Jose Mourinho can call him a specialist in failure all he likes, but the FA Cup is one competition where this manager has never let good habits slip. Of the 11 semi-finals Wenger has reached, he has won eight.

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Few have been so gratifying as this. In Guardiola, he encountered an adversary taut and wired with the pressure of the moment, desperate to succeed in one last tilt at a trophy to justify that £15 m-a-year contract. And still he outsmarted him, courtesy of this masterclass in the rope-a-dope absorption of pressure, followed by the most uncharacteristic show of obstinacy. It looked for all the world as if Sergio Aguero's goal would deflate Arsenal like a bird strike on a helium balloon, but the riposte channelled through Nacho Monreal's equaliser and Alexis Sánchez's scrambled finish proved a doughtiness of character not often seen in this side.

One interpretation of this result was that Wenger had bought himself some time. Another was that he never needed it in the first place. Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's remote and reticent majority shareholder, appears to regard Wenger as a soothingly enduring monarch.

The frustration with Arsenal is how they seem to turn these performances off and on. How does one reconcile this obdurate victory with a 3-0 capitulation to Crystal Palace 13 days earlier? How can Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, an anonymous substitute on that wretched evening, rebound to deliver such a game-changing turn at Wembley?

It helped that Wenger displayed a willingness yesterday to experiment, introducing an unfamiliar back three, and it was from here that the inspiration sprang. Both Gabriel and Rob Holding delivered outstanding resilience. Monreal, similarly, was not cowed by his tentativeness in the build-up to Aguero's opener. There will still be murmurs that Wenger is fortunate, but his ability to keep writing epilogues in his extraordinary career is integral to his longevity.

The hope is that he can yet confound his critics with a record seventh FA Cup triumph here next month, eclipsing Aston Villa's George Ramsay, a manager born in 1851. That, surely, would stand as his ultimate rebuke to the wolves at the door. (© Daily Telegraph, London)