The Gunners book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 3-2 victory over Brighton at the Amex stadium. In a weekend of massive cup upsets, Arsenal kept their cool as they had to hold on to a one goal lead for the last 15 minutes of the game despite looking so comfortable in the first half and spells in the second half to overcome the struggling Championship side.

Player ratings

Wojciech Szczesny- 5- not an awful lot of goalmouth action for Woj to contend with on his return the starting line-up and despite not keeping a clean sheet poor defending resulted in the two Brighton goals rather than poor goalkeeping.

Calum Chambers- 7- a strong first half performance from Chambers and did brilliantly to beat a Brighton man and picked out Theo Walcott with his cross to find the first Arsenal goal just over a minute in to the match. Looked slightly vulnerable in the second half but may have been fouled in the build up to the first Brighton goal.

Laurent Koscielny- 6- didn’t have a lot of defending to do in the first half as Arsenal dominated in the first half and had most of the attacks, however Brighton stepped up in the second half and posed a threat to Arsenal and Koscielny didn’t look as solid as he usually does and struggled, contrasting his excellent performance last week against Man City.

Nacho Monreal- 6- centre back is becoming a familiar role for Nacho Monreal and he has adapted very well to his position despite not being as solid at the back today as usual he did enough to help Arsenal to victory.

Kieran Gibbs- 7- looked fairly good defensively and also added something for Arsenal when going forward, however was unable to prevent the two Brighton goals after some mistakes in and around the box which deprived Gibbs and Arsenal a clean sheet.

Mathieu Flamini- 6- back in the starting line-up to replace Coquelin in the defensive midfield position and provided stability and composure to break down Brighton attacks, however could be blamed partly for poor defending resulting in the first Brighton goal.

Aaron Ramsey- 7- still not firing in goals every five minutes as he was last season, however he worked very hard in the midfield and played some key passes in the attacking third of the pitch. Also missed a good chance to finish the game in final minutes of the match as he scuffed his volley.

Tomas Rosicky- 9- absolutely outstanding performance from Rosicky today, controlled the midfield, providing the assist for Mesut Özil’s goal with an audacious reverse through ball to find the German. He then scored the third goal which turned out to be the winner playing a one two with Giroud and then smashed a volley past Stockdale to restore Arsenal’s two goal lead. Would have got a 10/10 performance however poorly cleared the ball which lead to Brighton’s first goal, other than that he hardly put a foot wrong.

Mesut Özil- 8- delighted to see Mesut make a return to the first team and he looked promising and adapted well to play 80 minutes of the match. Returned with a goal, firing the ball in to the bottom corner after Tomas Rosicky’s clever through ball.

Theo Walcott- 8- another player that all Arsenal fans will be delighted to see start his first game after injury and also returned with a goal after just one minute, thumping the ball in to the bottom corner to deliver a devastating blow to Brighton. Managed to play 70 minutes of the match and looked threatening on his return from injury.

Olivier Giroud- 7- didn’t manage to find the back of the net to after scoring 5 goals in his previous 7 FA Cup appearances, he came close with a few chances and despite scoring he provided the assist with a well-placed cross to find Tomas Rosicky for the third Arsenal goal.

Alexis Sanchez- 6.5- made a strong impact when he was brought on as a substitute for Theo Walcott and had a few chances coming very close from free kicks on three separate occasions.

Chuba Akpom- 6.5- looked very promising when he was brought on in the 70th minute replacing Olivier Giroud. Looked as if he was through on goal on a few occasions, however he was fouled by Brighton defenders.

Francis Coquelin- N/A- made a late substitution in the game coming on in the 80th minute for Özil to provide some defensive stability for Arsenal to defend a one goal lead late on.

Overall, the Gunners made hard work of their 3-2 win over Brighton after cruising for large periods of the match. However, Arsenal now have a good chance of retaining the cup which they won last year as Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham and Southampton all crashed out with Manchester United and Liverpool still to play replay ties after failing to beat lower league opposition. Things are looking positive for Arsene Wenger’s men with their place booking in the fifth round of the cup and the signing of Brazilian centre back Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal imminent.



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