ARSENAL NARROWLY ESCAPE FA CUP UPSET, KEEP QUADRUPLE HOPES INTACT
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By: Fasasi Hammad
Arsenal overcame a scare to edge past third-tier Mansfield 2-1 on Saturday, advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals and keeping their quadruple ambitions alive.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta rotated his squad heavily, making nine changes from the side that defeated Brighton 1-0 midweek, while maintaining a seven-point lead atop the Premier League.
Noni Madueke put the 14-time FA Cup champions ahead just before halftime, only for substitute Will Evans to equalize shortly after the break. The match remained open, with opportunities at both ends, before another substitute, Eberechi Eze, fired home to restore Arsenal’s lead.
Teenagers Max Dowman and Marli Salmon both started, with Dowman becoming Arsenal’s youngest-ever FA Cup player at 16 years and 66 days, as Arteta rotated his squad.
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Despite dominating early possession, Arsenal faced a lively Mansfield side, who had knocked out Premier League strugglers Burnley in the previous round. Rhys Oates and Tyler Roberts caused problems for the Gunners, but Arsenal took the lead in the 41st minute through Madueke, whose curling left-footed strike followed Gabriel Martinelli’s initial effort. This goal also marked Arsenal as the first Premier League side to reach 100 goals in all competitions this season.
Mansfield quickly leveled after the break when Evans capitalized on a loose pass from Salmon, calmly beating Kepa Arrizabalaga. Both sides had further chances before Eze, only minutes after entering, smashed home from the edge of the box in the 66th minute to put Arsenal back in front.
Though never entirely comfortable against lower-league opposition, Arsenal held on to progress to the last eight.
Arteta’s sole major trophy with Arsenal remains the 2020 FA Cup, his first season in charge. The Gunners are also strong favourites to claim the Premier League title for the first time since 2004, sitting seven points clear of Manchester City with eight games remaining.
Next up, Arsenal face Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday, followed by a League Cup final showdown with Manchester City at Wembley on March 22.
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