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- Written by Jason Phillips
Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 victory against Coventry City in the FA Cup fourth round tie at the Emirates.
Lukas Podolski opened the scoring with a trademark left-footed strike after compatriot Mesut Ozil slotted him in. Podolski scored again soon after, putting the Gunners 2-0 up going into half time with a clinical header. After a second half with a few Coventry scares, substitutes Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla put Arsenal into the fifth round of England’s prestigious domestic trophy.
Lukasz Fabianski – 7 - The Polish keeper had little to do tonight, his trusty centre backs shielding him from any potential slip-ups. Bar a shaky moment at the start of the second half and a much needed save in the 49th minute, it was a confident performance by the Pole in Goal.
Carl Jenkinson – 7 - The young heir to Sagna’s throne put in a show at right-back today, the lower league opposition giving him license to bomb down the wing regularly. Whipping in dangerous crosses, Jenkinson gave his attackers the opportunity to score throughout the game.
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- Written by Theo Andrew
This was a performance that you have to admire from Arsenal. The Gunners stuck to their task resolutely after a difficult first half, grinding out a deserved victory. A victory despite a performance that lacked a certain spark, in which the tension levels never reached boiling point thanks to a sterling Santi Cazorla performance.
Resilience not brilliance
There was nothing spectacular about this Arsenal display, but there was resilience in there, that we have become accustomed to at the Emirates this season. It was a deeply important victory, maintaining that vital consistency, yet you can’t help but feel performances will have to improve for Arsenal’s title challenge to remain intact.
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- Written by Shane Thomas
It ended up being a more difficult afternoon than many had predicted, but these are the type of encounters that are often forgotten come the end of the season, yet are potentially invaluable once all 38 matches have been played.
Wojceich Szczesny - 7 – He had a couple of nervy moments late on, but his performance in the first-half was key in keeping Arsenal level at the break, making decent saves from Steve Sidwell and Ashkan Dejagah.
Bacary Sagna – 7 – Sagna didn't have a great deal to do defensively, and got forward well, especially in the second-half, often providing useful support down the right-hand side.
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- Written by Henry Drake
Two goals in a minute from Jack Wilshere and then Olivier Giroud allowed Arsenal to brush past Villa and return to the top of the League despite a sticky last 15 minutes.
Villa defended with their lives for the majority of the first half before Mesut Ozil’s pull-back found Wilshere on the edge of the box to prod home an opener.
Then, from the kick off, Wilshere won the ball straight back before chipping through to the Frenchman who cooly finished through the legs of Ron Vlaar.
Arsenal seemed to rest on their laurels and allowed Villa back into the game in the second half, managing to cling on until the 76th minute when Christian Benteke headed home with his first significant involvement.
However Arsene’s men managed to leave Villa Park with the 3 points to extend the unbeaten run at the Midlands club to 15 games.
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- Written by Chris Collins
In the end, Spurs were eliminated from the 2014 FA Cup with relative ease, as a comfortably dominant Arsenal side overcame a nervy opening to turn in a mature and composed performance. It is a display worth dwelling upon because it perfectly epitomised the mixture of effectiveness and style contained in this current squad, an attractive blend that looks increasingly likely to yield results come the end of the season.
The plaudits have justifiably gone to Cazorla and Rosicky for two outstanding goals which sealed the North London derby, while special praise has been lavished upon Serge Gnabry for a performance packed with pace, menace and purpose. Thousands of screensavers and twitter avatars have been altered on account of Theo Walcott’s triumphant salute to the baying Spurs fans as he left the field, and while the England frontman provided the enduring image of the match - and prompted some misplaced indignation among the visiting fans - the platform for the win was constructed by three less celebrated Arsenal men, one of whom played for only forty five minutes.
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