{"id":12841,"date":"2026-02-16T10:32:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12841"},"modified":"2026-02-17T19:31:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:31:05","slug":"gunners-stroll-into-fa-cup-round-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12841","title":{"rendered":"Gunners Stroll into FA Cup Round 5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I had fully intended to be in my place on the North Bank for the FA Cup game against Wigan on February 15. However my son had been ill all weekend and cried off late Saturday. After my recent issues I am still not happy travelling to football without him, so we put our tickets on the Exchange. They sold within four minutes! The demand for tickets is extraordinary at the moment.I hope whoever was in our seats enjoyed the game. When I woke up on Sunday morning heavy snow was falling from the Cambridgeshire skies. At least I could watch the game in the dry and warm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wigan fans were not so shy. A hugely creditable 5000 of them were there at the Emirates for a big day out. Wigan were in the Premier league for 8 seasons from 2005. I remember going to their ground. I parked by the canal and walked along the tow path. My son and I fell into step with two Wigan supporters, a Father and son. I asked the boy, what did you make of the Emirates? Eee, he replied, it were a Palace! I hope he and his Dad were in the crowd today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Team news broke. As originally selected the team was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa, White, Mosquera, Saliba, Calafiori, N\u00f8rgaard, Lewis-Skelly, Eze, Jes\u00f9s, Martinelli, Madueke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Goonerverse was agog with the news that MLS was going to be playing in midfield, his natural position and where we all expect his career to take him. However, as the players ran out, it was announced that Calafiori had pulled up lame in the warm up, and that Saka would take his place, playing as an inside forward, with MLS dropping back to his more customary left back position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So a very attacking line up, with two 10s and just N\u00f8rgaard holding. The Gunners started very fast with Eze seeing a lot of the ball. Noni and Saka were weaving patterns on the right, with Noni wide and Saka at an old fashioned inside right (I know my readership). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After  just ten minutes, Eze played a superb pass, reminiscent of the great DB10, to Noni, who confidently slipped it past the keeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1-0 Wigan (10 mins, Madueke)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few minutes later, N\u00f8rgaard, who was showing his ability with the vertical pass, found Eze in the centre circle. Eze played it forward for the speeding Martinelli on the left. He slammed it into the net with his left foot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 2-0 Wigan (18 mins, Martinelli)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was non stop Arsenal and Wigan just couldn\u2019t cope. Noni skated down the right wing, burnt off his winger and played in Saka who squared it to Jes\u00f9s. Jes\u00f9s tried to shoot but only found Hunt, who diverted it into his own net. Owen Goal had struck again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 3-0 Wigan (23 mins, Hunt OG)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just four minutes later N\u00f8rgaard played another fabulous pass forward to Jes\u00f9s, who chipped it deliciously over the keeper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 4-0 Wigan (27 mins, Jes\u00f9s)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that point Wigan changed from a back three to a back four to try and reduce the damage and the game was effectively over. Wigan got some possession in their own half, and passed the ball around. The Wigan fans, determined to enjoy their day, rolled out the Ole\u2019s. Bravo! They got up into our area and, after a couple of fortunate bounces the ball fell to the hard working Taylor. He hit it at point blank range at Kepa who made a great save. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HT: Arsenal 4-0 Wigan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half was much less exciting than the first. Arsenal passed the ball around. Gy\u00f6keres came on for Saka in the second half, with Jes\u00f9s playing up top with Viktor. A kind of 4-4-2 big man, little man if you will. A great pass was played into Viktor into the right hand side of the box. He hit it first time. It took a small deflection off a defender and, instead of nestling in the far corner, hit the post and bounced out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 60 minutes 16 year old Marli Salmon came on at centre back, replacing Saliba. Trossard came on for Madueke and went to the left wing, Martinelli switching to the right. On 78 minutes White went down and had to come off, although the way he walked  off didn\u2019t suggest a bad injury. Zubimendi came on and dropped into midfield with N\u00f8rgaard switching to centre back and Salmon moving to right back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last significant action came after we broke down the left, with Zubimendi putting in a great cross which was met with a bullet header from Martinelli but brilliantly saved by the Wigan keeper. A few minutes later he made another fine save, this time from big Viktor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With five minutes to go, Arteta made a nice sub, bringing on 19 year old Tommy Setford for his home debut, replacing Kepa. The lad made a fine claim from a late cross. He had played well the previous year at Preston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FT: Arsenal 4-0 Wigan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, a stress free win against a team mired in relegation trouble in League One. What did we learn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw excellent performances from man of the match N\u00f8rgaard (assist), Eze (two assists) and Noni (a goal). Our midfield work in the first half was exemplary. Saka seemed to have more time when central, and watching Eze, Saka and Noni reminded me of ten years ago when Santi, Ozil and Sanchez were playing in similar triangles. A great option for future games when facing a low block? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N\u00f8rgaard had a superb game and really should get more minutes. He also showed his versatility, playing as a sole DM then moving to CB. Marli Salmon showed he is a great prospect for the future and is similarly versatile at both CB and right back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FA Cup 5th Round draw takes place at 6.30pm on Monday, then we (including me if the lad has recovered) are off to Wolves on Wednesday. The pressure for results in the Premier League continues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had fully intended to be in my place on the North Bank for the FA Cup game against Wigan on February 15. However my son had been ill all weekend and cried off late Saturday. After my recent issues I am still not happy travelling to football without him, so we put our tickets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12841"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12843,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12841\/revisions\/12843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}