Kevin Whitcher
The real price of the failure to dispense with Hull in the first match of this FA Cup tie at home in February was paid last night with injuries to Aaron Ramsey, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel. Ramsey’s appears the most serious, although the phasing in of Mohammed Elneny, the development of Joel Campbell and the return to fitness of Danny Welbeck means the team can probably compensate for his absence in the short term.
As for the game, Hull could not play quite as defensively in front of their home crowd as they did in the first game of this tie. Even so, the Gunners enjoyed huge amounts of the possession. They did however require a gift to open the scoring by way of a suicidal ball to the keeper by Hull skipper Meyler, seized upon gleefully by Olivier Giroud to end his goal drought.
The game stayed at 1-0 for a long time, but was made safe by a second Giroud goal on the 70 minute mark. Two further goals came from Theo Walcott. It was an evening when two out of form forwards had the opportunity to partially redeem their reputations.
It was a relatively strong starting eleven, with significantly both Ozil and Alexis on the bench in case of need. It will be interesting to see what team selection decisions are made on Sunday. There is little doubt that the FA Cup now represents the club’s best chance of a happy ending to the season. Should they beat Watford, they will go into the semi-final draw with three from Palace, Reading, Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham. To start without Ozil and Alexis might prove fatal, although the manager will view the trip to Barcelona as more important. Watford are safe in the Premier League, have a decent strikeforce, and will fancy their chances in the FA Cup. I suspect they will play as strong a line-up as they can and Arsenal will have to play well to beat them.
They will certainly have to play better at home than they did when Hull came visiting with a second string eleven. It was ironic that, playing on a rugby league pitch, Arsenal seemed to make easier work of Steve Bruce’s side. That was after the long spell of possession without much in the way of penetration in the first half. At 1-0, the makeshift defence of Flamini – Chambers – Monreal – Gibbs was a worry, but they got away with it. David Ospina had a decent match and has taken the opportunity to restore his own reputation with some good saves since coming in for the injured Petr Cech.
Theo’s two late goals showed us he has the capability to deliver, although the pressure was off by that time. He lacks consistency and cannot be relied upon. He has had so many chances that he has scored a hatful of goals in his Arsenal career. It’s like entering the lottery every week. You are going to get some money back sometimes, but with Theo you are looking at a tenner here or there, the occasional £50, but never the big prize. Still, credit to him for his control and finish for Arsenal’s third goal, which was a thing of beauty, especially with Joel Campbell’s assist.
The 7pm kick off probably meant a few days off rather than half days at work for the travelling support, but at least meant they would have got home a little earlier than normal. Arsenal took 2,500 fans to the game. The “Arsene Thanks For The Memories” banner was displayed at full time, and from what I could see, was not torn down by pro-Wengerites. Perhaps, they too, are disappointed by the predictable collapse of the Gunners’ title challenge and realize that the time has come for change. A third FA Cup triumph in a row would be a good note on which to bow out for the manager, as few can now see the Gunners being guided to another title under the current regime.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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