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Aston Villa’s Wembley moment was blown to the pieces by Arsenal who thumped them 4-0. The Gunners retain the FA Cup, first time since 2002/03 season. Goals from Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud were enough for Arsene Wenger’s boys to retain the gold.
This triumph made them the most successful team in the history of the competition as they won it for the 12th time. The North London club outclassed their opponents in all departments as Wenger won his 6th FA Cup title.
Here are the five talking points from this lopsided tie:
5. Tim Sherwood gets it all wrong
It was a day when nothing went right for Tim Sherwood and his boys. From dreadful defending to muddles in midfield, everything was simply awful for the Villans. It was the flawed approach from the Midlands club which undid them.
Villa’s tactic of outmuscling Arsenal backfired severely as they were left chasing shadows for most of the game. The incessant fouls and sluggishness in build up play did them no favours at all as Arsenal’s guile and pace put them to the sword.
Aston Villa’s failure to stretch the game wide via their wide players was also a telling factor in this thrashing. None of the players in the Claret and Blue can hold their heads high after tonight’s display as they were simply awful at best. Christian Benteke was another huge letdown for Villa as he was nothing, but, impotent for the entire 90 minutes.
4. A successful debut season for Alexis
Alexis Sanchez was Arsenal’s marquee signing of the season and he surely hasn’t disappoint anyone (except Arsenal’s opponents). The former Barcelona man scored 25 goals in his debut season in English football and also capped his season with an FA Cup winners’ medal.
In the final, he rose to the occasion by scoring a thunderbolt from outside of the box as he etched his name in the Wembley folklore. His performance tonight was pitch perfect as he bamboozled Aston Villa’s fullbacks, Allan Hutton in particular. He was absolutely dominant in the air as he rose highest to set up Theo Walcott’s screeching opener.
The comparisons with Thierry Henry are being drawn after his fruitful debut at the Emirates. It may be too early for such huge praise, but if he carries on with this sublime streak consistently every season, then nothing can stop him from emulating or even bettering the records of the legendary Frenchman.
3. Christian Benteke’s flop-show
A lot of hype was build up around Aston Villa’s burly forward before the big Wembley final. Aston Villa’s hopes of an FA Cup glory rested solely on his shoulders. But it was a no-show from him today.
The Villa forward was simply nonexistent in the game and was hardly visible till the 60th minute in the game. But then too he wasn’t noticed for the right reasons, sadly, as his diabolical defending in a set piece which yielded Per Mertasacker’s goal.
On the other end of the pitch, he was bullied by the big German as he was completely negated by the Arsenal defender. He looked bereft of energy and zeal as he just hung in and around the Arsenal penalty box like a pole. The dampener of performance was partly due to some really erratic performance of his teammates.
Such performances would do him no good in his bid to move to a bigger club as his temperament would be severely questions and scrutinized.
2. Arsenal’s unsung heroes
All the headlines after tonight’s win will be hogged by the Walcotts and the Sanchezs, but this dominating victory wouldn’t have been possible without the telling contributions from few of the unsung heroes. The troika of François Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny was the solid foundation on which this victory was built.
Santi Cazorla has simply been immense for Arsenal this season, especially in the second half of the season. Laurent Koscielny has been the plinth of Arsenal’s defence for the past four seasons, and he didn’t disappoint one bit today as he supported Per Mertesacker in his bid to keep Christian Benteke at bay.
But, one man who has actually announced himself today is François Coquelin. From being considered technically inept to being one of the key players of the first team, the young French midfielder has truly risen out of nowhere. He has seamlessly slotted into the holding midfield role and today was at his imperious best. His contribution was immense in both the aspects of the game, especially his piercing diagonals which switched the play with some vivacity.
Tonight is the night one should acknowledge the contributions from these grafters.
1. Walcott’s rejuvenation and Wenger’s glory
This final will be remembered for two reasons in the streets of North London, one for Theo Walcott’s startling return to the form and the 6th FA Cup crown for Arsene Wenger.
From the annals of anonymity in the physio’s room to glory at the Mecca of English football, this has been a season of poetic justice for Theo Walcott. He announced his return to the world by scoring a scintillating first half hat-trick against West Brom in last week’s season finale of the Barclays Premier League. But, he stamped his return to form by scoring a scrumptious goal in the FA Cup finals. Things are surely looking upwards the Englishman after the strong finish to the season.
Arsene Wenger too is having some moments of rejoice after a decade of obscurity and mediocrity. Two FA Cups in as many seasons is surely something to boast of and what more can add to the joy than to win the competition for the record number of times. As he led the Gunners to the record breaking 12th title, he also achieved a personal milestone as he won it for the 6th time as a manager. This triumph draws him level with the legendary George Ramsay, who also has won the competition for six times.
Things finally seem to materialize for the Gunners and as they say all’s well that ends well.
