Rooney: FA Cup Exit Hard To Take

Manchester United's exit from the FA Cup at home to Arsenal was "hard to take", according to goalscorer Wayne Rooney.

The captain's diving header had put the Reds on level terms just three minutes after Nacho Monreal gave the Gunners the lead, but a loose backpass from Antonio Valencia allowed Danny Welbeck in for what turned out to be the winner.

The red card shown to Angel Di Maria made United's task even harder and, despite a spirited display by the 10 men in the closing stages, this season's cup run came to an end at Old Trafford and attentions must now turn to this weekend's Barclays Premier League game against Tottenham Hotpur.

"We're obviously disappointed," Rooney told MUTV. "Going into half-time having equalised, we felt that we'd create enough chances to win the game, but it wasn't to be. Conceding the second goal the way we did in the second half meant that we were always chasing the game afterwards; they made it difficult for us and defended well.

"It was a close game; it could have gone either way. Mistakes happen, but it's not nice when you're on the receiving end of one which costs us a goal. It's a hard one to take, but we have to dust ourselves down and get ready for Sunday."

The United skipper is still yet to pick up an FA Cup winner's medal, but his disappointment was more that the club's chance of a 12th win in the competition was over for this year.

"I want to win the cup for and with the team; it's not about me wanting to win the FA Cup," he said. "That's why it's so sad for us to get knocked out today; we knew we'd have a great opportunity if we'd won tonight."