BY OLIVER HOLT ( The Times )

There was an occasional shimmy from Dennis Bergkamp, the odd piece of vision from the Dutchman that took the breath away and one run in the dying seconds of extra time that eliminated Roy Keane and Ronny Johnsen in a couple of mesmeric shuffles and seemed as if it might be about to settle the tie. There were some clever passes from Keane, too, and a brace of dipping, curling free kicks from David Beckham and Ryan Giggs that commanded awe because of their precision and power. They were like flowers planted on barren ground.

This was a game of destructive beauty, a game where all creativity was lost. That extra-time run by Bergkamp was stifled by a lunging tackle from Gary Neville, Giggs's free kick was clutched by David Seaman and a late break by Fredrik Ljungberg foundered on the excellence of Peter Schmeichel.

The one time that the ball did bulge the net, dispatched there by a fierce half-volley from Keane in the 39th minute, it was ruled out by a dubious offside decision that penalised Dwight Yorke, even though he was clearly not seeking to interfere with play.

Alex Ferguson, the United manager, described the decision - which provoked fury among the United players - as "absolutely ridiculous". Keane explained why it angered his side so much. "We knew how tight it was going to be," he said. "We knew there was only ever going to be one goal in it. That's why we were so disappointed."

More than anything, this was a game that relied on the apparently ageless excellence of the Arsenal defence for its inspiration. They were utterly unbreachable yesterday, neutralising Yorke and Andy Cole and reducing Beckham and Giggs to peripheral figures.

At the heart of that defence, a back four that has conceded only 13 goals in the FA Carling Premiership this season, Tony Adams and Martin Keown played as well as they have done all year. Keown, in particular, was unyielding in the challenge, impossible to beat.

On the rare occasion that United had half an opening, when they might have won one challenge in the opposing penalty area, Arsenal invariably won the second. If Adams was beaten, Keown was there to mop up, and vice versa. More often, they broke up play with a thudding tackle or a neat intervention. To make United's attacking task even harder, Patrick Vieira and Nelson Vivas worked away like demons in front of the defence, stopping their opponents from running directly at Adams and Keown. They were a formidable barrier.

Even when Vivas was sent off five minutes into the first period of extra time, earning his second yellow card for elbowing Nicky Butt in the face, Arsenal breathed hard, regrouped and returned to the task. Only two minutes from the end, when Adams collided with Nigel Winterburn, did United have a clear opportunity, and Yorke dragged his shot wide from ten yards.

That, in fact, was the game in microcosm. With Arsenal playing conservatively, looking to hit United on the break, the onus was on Ferguson's side to break them down. To do that, their forwards needed to be on top form, their finishing at its most clinical, but Cole and Yorke fell short of the performances that have made them such a feared partnership.

Indeed, it was Arsenal who forced the few half-chances there were before the interval. Schmeichel had to arch his back to tip over a fierce header from Adams in the 25th minute and, ten minutes later, the Danish goalkeeper flung himself to his right to push out Bergkamp's shot after it had flown at him through a crowd of players.

On the stroke of half-time, Yorke shot weakly and straight at Seaman after an exchange of passes with Cole. Then, after the break, Cole failed to convert an enticing cross from Gary Neville and, soon afterwards, struck a tame shot into the arms of Seaman after Giggs had released him in the centre.

Nicolas Anelka, who had a subdued game, wasted a chance to break the stalemate three minutes from the end of normal time when he wriggled past Jaap Stam for the first time, but he sliced his shot high and wide.

Both sides tired in the second period of extra time and the chances came in a flash flood as the game ebbed away. None of them were taken, leaving Ferguson, in particular, to rue his side's profligacy.

"There was not much between the two sides," he said. "I think it was a predictable result, to be honest with you. We had enough chances to kill them off. We created more than them but we did not take them and that is why we have to go to a replay."

It will take a mistake or a moment of brilliance to separate these sides on Wednesday. Yesterday, neither was forthcoming.

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): P Schmeichel - G Neville, R Johnsen, J Stam, D Irwin (sub: P Neville, 85min) - D Beckham, R Keane, N Butt, R Giggs (sub: O G Solskjaer, 99) - D Yorke, A Cole (sub: P Scholes, 113).

ARSENAL (4-3-3): D Seaman - L Dixon, M Keown, A Adams, N Winterburn - R Parlour, P Vieira, N Vivas - N Anelka (sub: Kanu, 100), D Bergkamp, M Overmars (sub: F Ljungberg, 90).

Referee: D Elleray.