Arsenal secured an emphatic 4-0 victory over Wigan in the FA Cup this evening to progress comfortably to the next round. While Wigan entered the contest as clear underdogs given the disparity in league status and overall form, the unpredictable nature of cup football meant Arsenal approached the fixture with appropriate focus and intensity.
The Gunners named a side filled with players who have all featured for the first team this season, underlining that this was far from a weakened selection. They began the match with authority and were rewarded after just 11 minutes when Noni Madueke opened the scoring. The early breakthrough set the tone for what quickly became a dominant display.
Ruthless First Half Display
Arsenal doubled their advantage seven minutes later as Gabriel Martinelli found the net, with Eberechi Eze registering his second assist of the evening. The attacking fluency on show overwhelmed Wigan, who struggled to cope with the pace and movement of their opponents.
Five minutes later, the third goal arrived via a Jack Hunt own goal, compounding Wigan’s difficulties. Gabriel Jesus then added a fourth, meaning Arsenal had established a four-goal cushion inside 27 minutes. At that stage, the outcome appeared beyond doubt as the hosts demonstrated why they are regarded as one of the most in-form sides in Europe.
Professional Second Half Control
The flurry of early goals effectively ended the contest, and Arsenal entered the interval in complete control. After the restart, they maintained their dominance in possession and territory, although Wigan tightened their defensive structure and avoided further collapse.
Arsenal still created additional opportunities and could have extended their lead, most notably when Viktor Gyokeres struck the post. However, no further goals were added, and the match concluded 4-0, sealing a comprehensive and professional performance from the Gunners.
I was impressed with Mosquera, a great signing.. MLS
really needs to work on his game and positioning.. and he
get´s caugth out 2-3 times per game it´s like he switches off..
Good solid win .
Personally dont think we needed to risk such a strong side against a league one opponent with a squad value of 7 million ,just my take .
Nice though to not go out early like previous years ,onto the next .
There was a lot of rotation today. Not sure what you talking about.
😂
You cannot be serious?”oh you are “!
More youth!
Ask me why later….
“more youth”? Do you realize there are senior team members craving for minutes? Besides what’s it that get y’all excited about seeing these youngsters play? Because think they will only make the tie look a close one at best. We most probably fail to advance as a result.
That is the entire point.
We do not have a deep squad, Kai, Merino, Cala, White, and many more have been injured so much that the drop off by the back ups is considerable.
We ain’t winning the quad.
Arteta can nurse this squad to the top of the EPL if things go his way, maybe another cup by miracle.
Go all in for the quad and come up empty on all.
No-one actually knows what Arsenal will win. So to proclaim we will or won’t win this or that is pure guesswork at this point. The team will need to make adjustments from game to game.
The cup competitions provide some opportunities for players getting less game time in the league as well as some youth players.
It would, however, be foolish to play a grossly weakened team in the cup competitions as that will just increase your risk of getting knocked out and does not guarantee that you win anything else.
I take all bar one of your points but disagree on how deep the squad is. It is deep in terms of overall quality. The problem before was the lack of it and it became a case of all hands to the pump last season, whereas now there are more options for Arteta to choose from when injuries do occur.
Dan Kit
And then, if Arteta plays kids and we get knocked out, you are the same guys who will criticise him for that
You people are not serious. For me, I would rather play second team like Arteta did, and not field kids for the sake of it
Ok ,good for you 👍
Upwards and onwards
COYG
Dominant win, into the next round. Let’s keep the momentum into Wednesday’s trip to Molineux. COYG!
Many changes made for the match, which gave chances for other senior players to get a look in. It must be difficult to keep a happy camp otherwise.
Overwhelmingly on top in the first half but not so much of a spectacle in the second. Still, 4-0 isn’t to be sneezed at
I like this 4 nill score line, let’s see if we can replicate this performance and results against an almost sure relegated Wolves
Not just Wolves. Also against Man City later on 😉
From beating Wigan 4-0 to be reffed by a Wigan born ref Paul Tierney on Wednesday at Wolves.
A nice easy game, Wigan were dire but that is not our problem, we move on to Wolves next. Lets hope we give them a pasting too.
Reggie, did you expect more from Wigan Athletic battling near the bottom of the third tier of English/Welsh football, against Arsenal leading the EPL and Champions League?
Tonight’s 4-0 win is fake and misleading if not repeated with a win at Wolves. Can Eze if he plays do those assists at Wolves? I seriously doubt!
I doubt Eze can unlock any EPL defenses with those kinds of through balls, despite Wolves being relegated
He got robbed twice by the relegating League One players, but Arteta would likely reward him with a starting role in Wolverhampton since he produced two assists against Wigan
gotanidea
The last time I checked, Eze was doing the same at Palace, so I don’t know what your point is
The final third was more open for Crystal Palace
He never got the same open space to work with when playing for Arsenal, since all EPL teams use low-block tactics against us
GAI, Eze won man of the match in this particular game; that’s the take away.
Why be negative about Arsenal’s squad every week? I’m sure some of us are starting to think your name is a misnomer.
Ambachew, two separate different competitions, the FA Cup and the League.
He was the best player in the field according to most publications, but because he was robbed twice he did not do enough to to get another start at the next game?
You always try to to put negative comments for our players, but most of us do not agree with you.
Anyhow it s just personal appreciations.
Likely Arteta knows best.
Anyone saw those long diagonals from Norgaard today ???
I think Arteta is under utilizing that guy o
Victor, I agree; Christian Norgaard has been an underated and underutilised member of Arsenal’s squad. He has been an excellent transfer, who has never let Arteta or the Club down, when selected to play. Most pundits thought only Eze pipped him for MOTM against Wigan.
Nice to see Eze create something in a game, even if it’s against poor opposition. We played more through the middle for a change and it was lovely. I actually enjoyed Norgaard in the middle. Would really start him at Wolves. We need to manage Rice and Zubi who play 90 minutes all the time.
I also think Zubi really slows us down. The guy is always sideways and backwards. I sometimes think he’d burn his eyes if he lifts his head up to pass forward. We actually had some pace to our game, maybe it’s just Wigan though.
Also Martinelli finishing like prime Henry when the pressure is off, so typical. I like Noni though, think he offers a lot more than Saka lately. Really wanted to see MLS in midfield, but unfortunatelly we have full backs made of glass.
Just finally, why do we play Woolves on Wednesday before 2 really hard games, while City don’t? They are also in the CC final?
City would have played Crystal Palace this midweek too but Crystal Palace are playing in Europe this midweek too so their game was postponed till further notice.
Some people believe it is advantage to us, but I think it is meaningless.
There’s a possibilty that it could add to City’s fixture conjestion later in the season.
Norgaard needs to be starting more games, his passing, crosses, and hold up play against Wigan was worldclass.
👍Matthias
Nice to see the team putting this game to bed early. Some good goals, along with some incisive play leading up to them.
Just typical though isn’t it, just when we thought we could get a look at Skelly in midfield, Calafiori goes down injured yet again.
Personally I’d have brought on Hincapie, so Skelly could have still played in the midfield.
Still a good result, and now to wait and see who we get in the next round. Come on you Gunners.👍
Derek, isn’t it possible that Arteta had one eye on the Wolves game? I understand your wish for Skelly to have played in midfield but under the circumstances it was unlikely to make a difference to the outcome playing at LB
No I agree regards Arteta maybe having an eye on the Wolves game. But it would have still been nice to see what Skelly offers us in midfield.
Although not under much threat from Wigan, I think it was a missed opportunity to not have seen him in midfield. 👍
I was thinking more about risking Hincapie with Wolves in mind. God forbid that he was injured
But Skelly played in midfield in the second half. He played in the pivot alongside Norgaard, ahead of a back three of Mosquera,Saliba and White.
A great day out, apart from the weather. I had to laugh in the 1st half as every time the wooly backs sung 🎵 second again, second again 🎵 we scored a goal 😂😂.
Disappointed that Calafiori got injured in the warm up, as I wanted to see MLS in midfield, but it gave a chance to play Saka in a different position.
Good to see young Salmon come on, for a 16 year old he looks very calm and assured.
Finally it was good to meet Ken and his daughter and to have a really good chat.
Glad you enjoyed it HD and met up with Ken1945 and his daughter. Every time there were close ups on tv I thought of my son and grand kids but they were away from the rain high up. Safe to say, a great afternoon was had by all.
They were even given plenty of food & drink vouchers after the debacle last summer when there was a cock up with ticketing and 8 out of the 9 family members missed the first half. I was Billy no mates for 45 minutes wondering what the hell had happened.
SueP, for the debacle, your commitment and loyalty to the Club, you should have been rewarded with a box!
Thank you SueP. I remember you posting about cock up last summer, that was terrible by the club. Thankfully they have made good on that debacle. I bet they all had a good time.
Would like to see Norgaard play MORE!