CARDIFF, Wales (AP) - Manchester United missed the chances, and Arsenal went home with the trophy.
Patrick Vieira scored the deciding penalty yesterday to help Arsenal capture their 10th FA Cup title - the first to be decided in a shoot-out in the 124th final of soccer's oldest cup competition.

The Gunners won the penalty shootout, 5-4, after the two teams played 120 minutes of scoreless, but one-sided soccer. United should have won their record 12th FA Cup comfortably.

"We were fortunate," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said after his team's third FA Cup final triumph in five years. "I thought Man United created four great chances and they played well. We won it with our mental strength and resilience rather than the usual style."

Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy each headed over the Arsenal crossbar from close range and Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo fired shot after shot at the Gunners' goal.
In the first 90 minutes of the game, United had eight shots on target while Arsenal had none.

United goalkeeper Roy Carroll had only one save to make, fisting away a bending free kick from Robin van Persie early in extra time.
Wenger has now won four FA Cups in seven years with the Gunners. Arsenal also lost to Liverpool in the 2001 final.

For United and their huge army of fans, nothing went right. Although the Reds have won the famous trophy 11 times, they have never managed to hold on to it.
"In the cup you need a wee break and we didn't get it," said United manager Alex Ferguson, who was chasing his sixth FA Cup triumph with the club.

"I thought my team played very well. I thought we played some great football and created a lot of chances. When Van Nistelrooy missed near the end, at that point I thought it wasn't going to be our day."

Even the anti-Malcolm Glazer protest fizzled out in the rain. United fans have been furious since the American billionaire bought 75 per cent of the club for £790 million (US$1.47 billion, euro1.16 billion), giving him the power to make all decisions about the team's future.

They threatened to disrupt yesterday's game but, apart from hanging some anti-Glazer banners around Millennium Stadium, they did nothing to worry the police.
Ferguson was more upset that Arsenal captain Vieira was not sent off. He received one yellow card in a typically robust performance in midfield.

Instead, Vieira stepped up to take the vital penalty kick with the shootout score at 4-4, confidently driving his shot into the top corner and out of the reach of Carroll.
The converted penalty sparked celebrations on the field and among the Arsenal followers. Only a few United fans stayed behind to see their players collect their runners-up medals.

In the shootout, Paul Scholes had the only miss when he had a chance to give United a 2-1 lead. Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann dived to his right to stop his shot.
Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Rooney and Roy Keane scored for United, while Arsenal also got shootout goals from Lauren, Fredrik Ljungberg, Van Persie and Ashley Cole.

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