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Arsenal reached the FA Cup final by ending second-tier Wigans impressive title defence in a penalty shootout at Wembley Stadium, making up for the disappointment of dropping out of the Premier Leagues top four earlier Saturday. After needing an 82nd-minute goal by Per Mertesacker to force extra time at 1-1, Arsenal won the shootout 4-2 to keep alive its chances of capturing a first piece of major silverware since 2005. "We have been struggling in recent weeks but you have to deal with that," said Arsenal midfielder Kim Kallstrom, who scored the second of Arsenals four straight successful penalties. "Hopefully, its a great boost of confidence for the rest of the season." Hull plays Sheffield United in the second semifinal on Sunday. When Jordi Gomez put Wigan ahead from the penalty spot in the 63rd, it threatened to be a disastrous day for Arsenal, which was replaced in fourth spot in the league by Everton thanks to its 1-0 win at bottom-placed Sunderland. While Sunderland looks doomed -- seven points from safety with six games left -- the race to avoid the other two relegation spots heated up after huge wins for Fulham and Cardiff, who stayed in the bottom three but closed the gap to their rivals. Third-bottom Fulham beat fourth-bottom Norwich 1-0 and next-to-last Cardiff surprisingly won 1-0 at Southampton, while Aston Villa is only four points from the bottom three after losing 1-0 at Crystal Palace thanks to in-form Jason Puncheons goal. Just eight points separates the nine teams above Sunderland. Sixth-place Tottenham came from 3-0 down after 31 minutes to draw 3-3 at West Bromwich Albion thanks to Christian Eriksens injury-time equalizer, although two dropped points dents the visitors already faint hopes of Champions League football next season. Newcastles slump accelerated with a 1-0 home loss to Stoke in the days other game. It was an emotionally charged day in English football, with every league and cup match starting seven minutes later than originally scheduled to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans died in a crush in the stands during an FA Cup semifinal against Nottingham Forest. That fateful match was abandoned after six minutes, and there was a minutes silence around the countrys football grounds before kickoffs on Saturday. At Wembley, 96 seats remained empty near the halfway line for the Wigan-Arsenal match, with just a Liverpool scarf draped over each of them. Wigan -- looking to become the first team in 34 years to win the FA Cup while playing in the second tier -- again rose to the big occasion, like it did in beating Manchester City in last years final and again in this seasons quarterfinals. Another shock was on when Gomez converted from the spot after Mertesacker brought down Callum McManaman. Only then did Arsenal start to look energized and the Germany defender redeemed himself by heading in the equalizer just as Arsenal fans were starting to despair. Wigan was always up against it in the shootout after Gary Caldwell and Jack Collison had the teams first two attempts saved by Lukasz Fabianski. And Mikel Arteta, Kallstrom, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla made no mistake to give Arsenal the chance to win an 11th FA Cup. Arsenals other task in the final month of the season is overhauling Everton in the league, with the Merseyside club continuing its fine run of results to climb two points above Wengers side. Evertons display at Sunderland wasnt as fulsome as in the 3-0 win over Arsenal last weekend, but the team passed up a string of good chances -- two of which fell to Steven Naismith -- before Sunderland defender Wes Brown unwittingly turned Gerard Deulofeus cross past goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Tottenham is now six points behind Everton, having played a game more, but showed great spirit in a stirring comeback at The Hawthorns, completed when Eriksen drove a rising shot into the net in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The recovery looked unlikely after goals by Matej Vydra and Chris Brunt inside four minutes and a third by Stephane Sessegnon put West Brom 3-0 ahead with barely a half hour gone. Jonas Olssons own goal reduced the deficit in the 34th and Harry Kanes 70th-minute header gave Tottenham further hope, before Eriksens late goal left the team three points ahead of Manchester United in the chase for a Europa League berth. Peja Stojakovic Jersey . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. Chris Webber Jersey . But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. 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The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come.Sri Lanka have touched down in England as they look to back up their Test-series victory over Alastair Cooks side in 2014 - but can Angelo Mathews team win again? Sky Sports Dominic Cork has his doubts... This Sri Lanka team is different to the one of two years ago, with quite a lot of senior members retired or injured.Theyre led quite well by Angelo Mathews, who has had to step up with Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan all gone. He will have to bowl, bat and captain extremely well in order to get this young Sri Lankan side to put England under pressure, though there are a couple of other players you should keep your eye on. Sri Lankas cricketers received a Buddhist blessing in Colombo before flying to England Vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal is an exciting batsman, though as a senior player, he now needs to push on a bit.Suranga Lakmal, meanwhile, has a bit of pace and Dhammika Prasad is a good bowler - he took six wickets in Sri Lankas win at Headingley in 2014.I have also known Rangana Herath for a long time, having played with him at Hampshire.Hes a terrific spinner, but will he be needed much in this series? You dont normally see too much turn at Headingley or up in Durham. Sri Lanka head coach Graham Ford is confident he will get a great idea of the stage his team are at when they face England this summer The squad as a whole has a lot of unknowns - Englands hierarchy will have to do a lot of homework on a lot of guys that they havent yet come up against, so they are going to be a test.ddddddddddddBut with the squad they have this year compared to years past, youd say England would have to play very poorly to lose a Test match, or even the series.England certainly wont take a win for granted but a few players have come into the side and dominated for them since that defeat. Cork wants to see Steve Finn in Englands bowling attack to face Sri Lanka Plus, England will have a say in what sort of wickets are prepared - Id get them as quick as possible and go in with the attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn.I think England to win the series, maybe 2-0, which would be a nice starter for what looks likely to be a great series against Pakistan later in the summer.Watch Englands three-Test series with Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports, starting with the first Test, at Headingley, from Thursday, May 19. Also See: Ford: SL must adapt quickly WATCH: Mathews confident Pundits pick England squad Live cricket on Sky ' ' '