Gone in 18,6 seconds

So we got it then. That brief outburst of bile and hate that has become a tradition when Manchester United play Arsenal.

Okay, it was only brief. Two elbows and a kick from the aggressive young Dutchman Robin van Persie, followed by a quick handbag from Manchester United’s fiery Kieran Richardson.

Referee Mark Halsey, possibly frightened by the prospect of the lurid headlines that would follow, decided that yellow rather than red cards would follow the skirmish.

Or was he scared of the food which might have flown in the tunnel had he sent the brawling couple off?

Sir Alex Ferguson, who had wound things up as tight as he could by saying he might not shake Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger’s hand (he did, but it was hardly masonic) and mentioning in his programme notes ‘we know how to lose”, felt that Van Persie was extremely fortunate.

Even Wenger, who normally claims to have been looking the other way, admitted: ‘I thought Robin got too much involved in some heated moments and it’s important to keep the control.”

In the end, this League Cup quarterfinal was decided by a goal after just 18,6 seconds from Frenchman David Bellion. Or more precisely, an awful blunder from Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia, who later made a superb reflex save to keep his side in the game.

Without the outbreak of hostilities in the second half, this clash between United’s gathering of eight internationals and Arsenal’s youngsters without a single cap between them would have been pretty humdrum.

Wenger said: ‘If we had a couple of experienced players or had been able to play two or three more games, I think we could have done better.

‘We were a bit lightweight and didn’t have the penetration to create the chances we needed. But even though we are frustrated at going out of the competition, it is still a positive night because one or two of the players showed they were nearly up to first-team level.”

At Anfield it took a lot longer for the quarterfinal to get going. There was nothing for 108 minutes, then late extra-time goals from Jermain Defoe and Florent Sinama-Pongolle meant the match went to penalties. Michael Brown produced the vital miss that saw Sinama-Pongolle clinch Liverpool’s place in the last four with a second vital spot-kick.

Liverpool will play first division upstarts Watford — 3-0 winners over Portsmouth on Tuesday — in their two-legged semifinal. United face Chelsea, who edged Fulham 2-1 on Tuesday, in what promises to be quite a contest.

Chelsea last won the League Cup in 1998, having won it once before, in 1965. Surprisingly, United have won the competition just once — in 1992.