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Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup to face Watford at home at the weekend by beating a dull Hull City side at the KC Stadium. The Gunners were helped by goals from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, both of whom scored two each to grant the Gunners a comfortable 4-0 victory, which puts them on course to win a third consecutive FA Cup trophy.The replay was also ravaged with injuries as the Gunners lost three players to injury with both starting center-backs, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista, having to go off injured. Whereas, midfielder Aaron Ramsey was also taken off after just having come on for 16 minutes.Here are the major talking points from the FA Cup 5th Round replay:
#1 Giroud and Walcott end their drought
The biggest positive to have come out from the victory is the return to goal-scoring form for both the forwards Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott. The Frenchman was lucky to get the first goal as David Meyler’s charitable defending through a backpass was pounced upon by the Frenchman. The second was a better one as Walcott’s cross was deflected off Maguire and Giroud got there in time to put it into the back of the net through his right foot.
A noticeable feature of Giroud’s performance was that he was fine using both his feet and not just his left, as he has done traditionally. Whereas for Walcott, he got behind the defence to score his first when Campbell found him on the left flank. The second came through a darting run from Iwobi, which was rounded off by Walcott as he beat Jankupovic at his near post.
This means that both the strikers have now scored to break the deadlock of having been unable to score in recent games. Giroud scored after having failed to score in his last 11 appearances whereas Walcott scored after 5 games, having last scored against Leicester City. Giroud’s double takes his season’s tally to 20 goals in all competitions whereas Walcott has now scored 9 goals. The win and the goals should give them confidence ahead of some very important games of the season.
#2 Hull City\'s focus is solely on promotion
When the two line-ups were out, it was evident from the line-up Steve Bruce had put out that they were playing a weak team ahead of their weekend fixtures in the Championship. They are currently in third place in the Championship table and had recently lost to Birmingham City. The loss reminded the manager to focus on the league and getting promotion rather than the FA Cup as for a club of Hull’s magnitude, the Premier League matters more.
Even after playing a weak side at the Emirates in the first tie, Hull managed to get a 0-0 draw as Arsenal were lacklustre. But with seven changes to the side that played against Birmingham, it seemed difficult for Hull to get anything in their favor given Arsenal’s quality.
There is no doubt that the Hull City board wants Steve Bruce to get promotion, and not get the FA Cup, and that is justified given how the Premier League helps a club financially as a whole. In the coming months, it will not be a surprise to see Hull earn promotion, given the quality of players they have at their disposal. Steve Bruce might take the loss as it also means lesser games and more rest in between games.
#3 Injury scare again for Arsenal
Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista, both started the game for Arsenal as the central defensive pairing. But when the game ended, it was Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers who were playing that role. The events involving goals in the match unfolded to Arsene Wenger’s joy, but there were also unfortunate incidents that may have caused the Frenchman great pain.
One such event involved the clash of heads between Arsenal’s Mertesacker and Hull’s Powell. This resulted in the German being replaced by Nacho Monreal, after having tried to stay on the pitch for as long as possible. Afterwards, Gabriel also pulled up for an innocuous injury that was confirmed as a hamstring strain by Wenger. This meant that Arsenal had to force Flamini to play as a right-back, and Calum Chambers took the centre-half’s position. Therefore, the back four of the Gunners read: Flamini, Chambers, Monreal and Gibbs.
The unfortunate events did not stop there, Aaron Ramsey, who had come as a substitute for Gabriel, also tweaked his thigh muscles and had to be taken off after having spent only 16 minutes on the pitch. The injuries to the trio would be worrying the manager as the team is scheduled to play 4 games in 12 days. A shortage in depth might well create more problems for the rest of the squad.
#4 Hull struggling to score goals
The hosts had come into the game having scored only once in their last five games in all competitions. The reason for the goals having dried up was evident from the way the Hull players played. They did not look confident and never looked like scoring apart from El Mohamady’s effort which was adjudged as offside.
Even though the clean sheet against Arsenal at the Emirates was their first in 101 years, it did not matter in the end as they slipped four goals at home. The striking statistic from Hull’s recent results is the fact they have kept a cleansheet in 9 of their last 12 games, but failed to do so on Tuesday night. The lack of goals must be a worry for manager Steve Bruce, who had seen his side concede one and score one in the last five games at home.
The strikers have not found the right form, and their leading goalscorer, Abel Hernandez with 17 goals, has also been struggling to find the back of the net. Both Hernandez and Chuba Akpom, who has scored the second most for Hull this season with 7 goals, did not feature in the eleven. Akpom was ineligible to play against his parent club, but Hernandez was made to sit on the bench, which was also a sign how seriously Steve Bruce wanted to beat Arsenal. They need to find the goals if they are to get promotion, otherwise, things look bleak for the Tigers.
#5 Arsenal end winless run
Arsenal ended their winless run of five games in all competitions by beating Hull by 4-0. This run of five games also started with Hull City when the two teams played out a 0-0 draw at the Emirates. In the five games, Arsenal have managed to draw two games against Hull City and Tottenham Hotspur. Whereas they have lost thrice, against Barcelona, Manchester United and Swansea City.
Arsene Wenger’s Premier League title chances have been dented due to this poor run of form for the Gunners which has seen them ship two crucial away goals to Barcelona in the Champions League, and sit at the third spot in the Premier League, 8 points behind leaders Leicester City.
On the positive aspect, the Gunners have not lost an FA Cup replay since 2007. They have also never lost an away game to a lower league side. Arsenal progressing to the quarter-finals means that the club has now gone on 15 consecutive rounds in the FA Cup undefeated, which is one short of the all-time record, which is also held by them. Wenger will hope that this win proves to be a turning point in their season and inspires them to victories in their coming assignments.
