The Blades looked to have been given something of a chance as Arsene Wenger named an incredibly young side for Tuesday night's Carling Cup thrid-round tie at the Emirates Stadium.

However, the Blades were blown away by a devastating display which saw Mexican teenage sensation Carlos Vela grab a hat-trick.

Blackwell hopes his side takes the defeat in the right manner and apologised to any United fans who felt let down in the capital, but insisted not many teams would have stood a chance against such a bunch of talented youngsters.

"They were awesome at times and would have beaten most teams," Blackwell declared.

"We knew they were a good set of lads, but nobody knew just how good they were."

The day had started so full of hope for the Blades with the news an independent arbitration panel had ruled in the club's favour over the Carlos Tevez affair, which could eventually lead to some £30m in compensation from West Ham.

"Life has a funny way of bringing you down to earth," Blackwell conceded. "I have not really had a chance to speak to the chairman about it, so I'm not really able to speak about it yet."

The young Gunners began brightly on Tuesday and a crisp passing move sent Kieran Gibbs away down the left, only for his low centre to fly across the six-yard box.

United forward Danny Webber did well to weave himself into space just outside the Arsenal penalty area but then could not get any power on his shot and the ball bobbled through to Gunners keeper Lukasz Fabianski, captain for the night, and at 23 the oldest man in the home team.

Another quick passing Arsenal move on the edge of the area saw Nicklas Bendtner play in Johan Djourou and the big defender turned to fire a goal-bound effort which Paddy Kenny saved at full stretch.

Then Bendtner flicked on for Jack Wilshere to collect in the overlap down the right but the teenager rushed his attempted curled shot wide.
The Danish frontman then showed the rest of the youngsters how it should be done with a fine finish after 31 minutes.

Vela held off Blades captain Chris Morgan before feeding the ball square to Bendtner just outside the penalty area. The 20-year-old took a couple of touches before dispatching a low strike into the bottom right corner for his third goal of the season.

After 42 minutes Aaron Ramsey weaved his way into the left of the penalty area before turning and playing a superb backheel to Bendtner who beat Paddy Kenny from six yards.

Before the visitors could regroup and look towards the respite of half-time they were further behind.

Bendtner turned provider as he chipped a pass through for Vela to run on to down the right. The Mexican sprinted into the area before bending a delightful effort into the far corner.

After the break, Gibbs stung Kenny's hands with a fierce angled drive from the left of the area.

The full-back then sent a long pass upfield towards Vela who took the ball on his chest, leaving Morgan chasing shadows, and darted into the box to finish with an audacious chip over the stranded keeper.

It got worse for the battered Blades when Wilshere drilled in a fifth after 57 minutes. Fran Merida's right-wing corner picked out the 16-year-old and he showed great composure to drill a low shot past Kelly from 22 yards.

There was no holding back from the rampant Gunners though with Djourou heading over at the back post, following another deep corner, before Bendtner narrowly missed out on his hat-trick when his close-range shot trickled wide.

Vela then completed his treble with another well-taken effort after 88 minutes after running clear down the left onto Ramsey's pass. to complete a miserable night for United.