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The two most successful clubs in the history of FA Cup clashed for the 15th time in the tournament history as Arsenal hosted Manchester United at the Emirates.
The match lived up to the expectation as both the teams produced some high octane football. Manchester United defeated Arsenal to secure their way into the next round of the FA Cup.
It was Manchester United who started the proceedings as the former Arsenal man Alexis Sanchez grabbed the opener in the 31st minute after Romelu Lukaku produced a brilliantly disguised pass to the Chilean. Jesse Lingard extended the lead very quickly as Lukaku once again provided the assist in the 33rd minute.
Arsenal pulled one back just before the halftime in the 43rd minute as Aubameyang had an easy tap in from an Alexandre Lacazette ball. Manchester United then scored in the 82nd minute through Anthony Martial to make it 3-1 as the Red Devils won their 8th straight match under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
#1 Sanchez scores against his former club
Alexis Sanchez had to wait for four matches before making his first start against Reading in the FA Cup for the Red Devils under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Chilean then missed the next couple of matches with an injury before making his start against his former club.
The Chilean winger started the match brightly as he linked up well with Lukaku and Pogba in the first half.
Like the day was already scripted, the Chilean opened the scoring for Manchester United. The winger rounded up Petr Cech, who allegedly played the last FA Cup match of his career, and slotted in the first goal of the match in the 31st minute after Romelu Lukaku produced a superbly disguised pass to find him.
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#2 Aaron Ramsey yet again proves his worth
It was the Welshman who was their driving force in the last weekend's win over Chelsea and yet again, the midfielder showed what the Gunners would be missing next season as he provided another masterful performance.
Unlike the match against Chelsea, Aaron Ramsey today was given the free role as Unai Emery looked upon his Welsh midfielder to provide the link between the midfield and the strikers.
The Welshman proved to be a handful for the United defense in the opening half as he linked up well with Alex Iwobi and Saed Kolasniac down the left wing as Arsenal tried to look for the opener.
When Arsenal went 2-0 down, it was once again the Welshman who was the driving force behind Arsenal's reply in the first half. The midfielder dribbled right past the United defense before putting a beautiful ball across the Manchester United goal that was tapped in by Aubameyang after Lacazette's slight touch.
#3 More injury concerns for the Arsenal defense
With Rob Holding already out injured and Hector Bellerin rupturing his ligament in the last match against Chelsea, the last thing Unai Emery would have wanted was to see his two first-choice centre-backs leaving the pitch injured after the duo formed a formidable partnership at the weekend.
Arsenal was forced into a substitution in the 21st minute after Sokratis Papastathopoulos made way for Shkodran Mustafi after the defender landed awkwardly.
Things got worse for the Gunners before the turn of the hour mark as Laurent Koscielny was down for treatment after Romelu Lukaku's wayward boot caught the Frenchman. The Frenchman was brought off in the 64th minute, forcing Unai Emery to play Granit Xhaka in the defense.
#4 Manchester United are devastating on the counter
Manchester United yet again showed their devastating pace on the counter as Martial and Lingard scored after a brilliant counter-attacking move.
If the first United goal was more about Lukaku's pass, the next two goals were more about the devastating pace of the Manchester United front three. It was a brilliant ball from Luke Shaw that set off Romelu Lukaku on the run in the build-up to the second goal after Arsenal tried to level it up immediately after going a goal down.
Shaw brilliant ball across the field caught the Arsenal off guard as Koscielny failed to catch the marauding Lukaku who simply played a ball into the box to the find an unmarked Jesse Lingard in the 33rd minute to double the lead for Manchester United.
The third goal was another example of their devasting pace as Paul Pogba drove through midfield, after cutting off a square ball from the midfield, before shooting almost 20 yards out only to see Petr Cech parrying the ball into the feet of an on running Anthony Martial in the 82nd minute. Martial made no mistake as he sealed the game for United.
#5 Romelu Lukaku the playmaker
Deployed on the right instead of his usual central role, Romelu Lukaku had one of his best matches of the season so far. Solskjaer ploy to deploy the Belgian international on the flanks worked wonders for United.
Though he hasn't scored on the night, he provided two vital assists. Just over the half-hour mark, Romelu Lukaku found Alexis Sanchez with a brilliant pass from the edge of the box, who calmly rounded the goalkeeper to score his first United goal under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The second goal of the match was once again provided by the Belgian as Lukaku brilliantly ran through the right side of the pitch before squaring it to find an unmarked Jesse Lingard, who had ample time to find the back of the net.
