There was more pain in cup competitions in London tonight as Arsenal's shadow squad dumped Newcastle United out of the Carling Cup with the Magpies' interest in a competition many believed was their best chance of silverware ended before September is over.
United battled hard but sadly the Gunners kids were just too good for Big Sam's side who went down to two late goals.
Hopes of winning anything this season now lie with the FA Cup but at the moment a kind draw all the way to Wembley will be needed if that is to happen!
At the moment Wembley seems miles away though.
United couldn't convert the decent chances they had and rode their luck throughout until it finally ran out right at the end.
United made the trip to Arsenal's impressive Emirates Stadium with Sam Allardyce making several changes to the team that started against West Ham.
With no Michael Owen - who will fly to Germany on Friday for a hernia operation - United fielded a three man attack including Shola Ameobi, Alan Smith and Oba Martins.
Shay Given started between the posts while Abdoulaye Faye started for the first time in midfield.
Meanwhile it was England international Smith who donned the captain's armband with Geremi starting the game on the bench alongside the fit again Turkish ace Emre.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger named a young side but United knew the young Gunners had made it all the way to the final last term before going down to Chelsea.
But it was Newcastle who had the first real glimpse of goal with nine minutes played when Spaniard Jose Enrique crossed from the left and Martins forced a save out of Lukasz Fabianski following his goal bound header from six yards out.
Arsenal's shadow squad didn't panic though and eventually worked an opening eight minutes later.
Habib Beye couldn't stop Armand Traore skipping down the left and Nicklas Bendtner really should have scored from close range but his header went high over Given's bar.
Arsenal were presented with another chance on the 25 minute mark when another attack culminated in in Manu Eboue crossing from the right hand side but Eduardo could only fire into the side netting in a nervous moment for the Magpies.
Yet it was Arsenal who were on the back foot 15 minutes before the break when James Milner clipped in a good ball over the top of the Gunners back four for Martins who held off Philippe Senderos but fired way over the top of Fabianski's goal.
Given was called into action again with eight minutes of the first period to go when Eboue's long range effort was squirted wide of the target by Given and just seconds later United were let off the hook again when Bendtner picked out Theo Walcott before the England Under-21 star flashed a shot just inches over the bar.
Both sides started the second half with caution yet with five minutes played Eboue forced Given into a save low down before Walcott saw the Irishman stand up to another decent chance as Arsenal streamed forward once more.
Indeed Newcastle's goal was living a charmed life as Eboue's shot two minutes later was blocked by Steven Taylor for a corner before the resultant flag kick was attacked by Eduardo with Charles N'Zogbia heading off the line to aid his keeper Given with United somehow weathering the storm.
And despite the fact that Big Sam had opted to pack his midfield, the Mags still lacked creativity.
With an hour on the clock the lack of imagination saw Turkish star Emre make his way on to the field for Ameobi who had worked hard on the left hand side without any reward.
With a quarter of the game to go it was actually Emre who could have broken the deadlock but after latching on to a Senderos attempted clearance the Turkey international fired wide of the target with Toon nerves jangling in North London.
With 10 minutes remaining Smith won a free-kick deep on the right but Arsenal easily cleared Emre's free-kick in a wasted chance.
And with seven minutes left on the clock how United were made to pay when Traore's cross from the left was headed powerfully past Given to open the scores.
United's response came straight away when Martins was sent racing clear into the penalty area to round Fabianski but his shot was cleared off the line by Senderos with the Nigerian a whisker away from levelling the tie.
But as the game neared the end Arsenal killed it off as Denilson as Traore rolled the ball into the path of Denilson who sent a thunderbolt beyond Given to send Arsenal through to round four and finish off the cup dreams of Big Sam and Newcastle.
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