Arsenal: Fabianski; Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Arteta, Flamini; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Cazorla; Sanogo
Subs: Viviano, Podolski, Gnabry, Giroud, Rosicky, Ryo, Jenkinson
Arsenal ensured an FA Cup semi-final after a thumping 4-1 win over Everton at the Emirates today.
Arsene Wenger did makes changes from the team that lost to Stoke. Thomas Vermaelen replaced in the injured Laurent Koscielny, there were recalls for Mathieu Flamini, Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, while Yaya Sanogo was preferred to Olivier Giroud up front.
The visitors started more brightly than Arsenal, a Baines cross causing a scramble in the Arsenal area, but in the 8th minute the Gunners were ahead. Cazorla got away from McCarthy in midfield, drove towards goal and fed Ozil in the box. The German’s finished was clinical and controlled, straight into the bottom corner, and his celebration showed how much the goal meant to him.
It invigorated Arsenal and Yaya Sanogo and Oxlade-Chamberlain saw strong shots pushed away by Joel in the Everton goal. At the other end Bacary Sagna made a last ditch challenge on Peinaar as he was shaping to equalise, although replays showed he didn’t get the ball.
Gibbs and Ozil combined well to set up a good chance for the left back but he saw his goalbound shot blocked, before Per Mertesacker tried to lob the keeper from distance but saw it saved.
Mathieu Flamini picked up a 25th minute booking for a foul on John Stones, as Joel in the Everton goal continued to put his team under pressure with some dodgy decision making and kicking.
However, as Arsenal pressed for another goal, Everton got level. After an Arteta shot was blocked, Everton broke upfield with Ross Barkley, tracked by Flamini who couldn’t make a tackle because of his card. He crossed it to the back post for Mirallas who miskicked it, but it fell to Lukaku just 2 yards out and he had the easy job of putting it in the net.
Ozil set up Cazorla for a shot which deflected just wide, before Oxlade-Chamberlain got back brilliantly to dispossess Lukaku in the box after his own error had given Everton a good chance to test Fabianski, which mean the teams went in level at the break.
The second half began in cagey fashion. Oxlade-Chamberlain miskicked a deflected Sagna cross and when an Ozil free kick was headed out to the edge of the box, Cazorla volleyed over much to his own disgust.
Arsenal had a lucky escape in the 54th minute when a terrible miskick by Vermaelen let Lukaku drive into the box. He pulled it back for Barkley but from the penalty spot he shot over the bar.
At the other end Cazorla forced a good save from Joel, before Arsene Wenger made his first change, bringing off the ineffectual Sanogo for Olivier Giroud. Minutes later, Arsenal had a penalty when Oxlade-Chamberlain was fouled in the box by Barry.
Mikel Arteta stepped up, and tucked the penalty away. However, Mark Clattenburg booked Olivier Giroud for encroachment and made the Spaniard take it again. No hassle for Arteta, he changed sides and put the second spot-kick high into the net to make it 2-1.
Everton looked to respond with Baines putting in a series of dangerous crosses from the left hand side, while Mirallas and Barkley had attempts on goal which were saved, and went wide, respectively.
Tomas Rosicky came on in the 78th minute for Oxlade-Chamberlain as Arsene Wenger looked to add some zip and experience to his team in the final stages of the game. And the Czech was involved in the third goal.
Arsenal worked the ball from left to right, Rosicky played Sagna down the line and the full back drove into the box. He paused, looking for movement, saw it from Giroud and pulled it back for his international colleague who made no mistake from close range.
It got even better just moments later when the Gunners got a beautiful fourth. Arsenal won the ball back in their own half and broke at lightning speed. Rosicky drove down the right hand side, rolled the ball into Ozil in the box, he squared it first time and Giroud had the simple task of rolling the ball home.
Carl Jenkinson came on to replace Kieran Gibbs (hopefully not because of any injury) but with a three goal lead there was no chance of Everton saving the game, and Arsenal go to Wembley in order to get to Wembley.
It’s not quite the merry month of May, but dust off that yellow ribbon, treacle – we’re going to Wembley.
WE ARE BY FAR THE BEST TEAM THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Hahaha. That was quality
Let’s just say we’re in the merry month of March… Marching to Wembly. *grabs coat*…oh wait, I’m in Lagos. *Exits the building*
sure gidi gunner lol
Just hope we get Charlton or Sheffield, we deserve it. I mean Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton.
But obviously we’ll get City. Fuck it. Bring it!
Oops the f word just popped out there. Heat of the moment, obviously!
Come on Wembleeeeeeeeeeeey!
COME ON WIGAN! Commentators got it wrong twice for me. First in game commentators said the result was flattering to Arsenal, I think it was harsh on Everton, the boys in blue really gave it their all. Post game commentators said the game turned on the PK. I thought we were in danger of another equalizer until Rosicky came on. Rosicky has made me so happy so many times this season. I really think he was the final ingredient needed today.
Gentlemen, listen up. It’s better for us to get Man City in the semis, I reckon. They will have an incredibly busy schedule over March and April (they need to make up three Prem games), so they are more likely to be tired or stretched during the semis. The final is a full week after the conclusion of the Prem season–they’ll be fresher.
Plus, if we get them in the semis, it’ll be the week right after we beat in the league. They’ll be tired AND downhearted, having to come to London on consecutive weekends and lose.
NAA NA NA NANA NA NAAH
G I R O U D
Fantastic footwork from Oz.
Fantastic energy from the Ox
Oh man this has made my weekend.
Well done gunners. Springboard.
Wöööööhöööööö
This is the worst poem i have ever read! 😉
I came on here after a game Ozil didn’t even play to criticize him, And now I am coming on here to say: please keep proving me wrong Ozil, I want nothing more than for you to keep proving me wrong and helping Arsenal win football matches.
Come on you gunners
It’s his haircut!
Loved the way the team mobbed him after his goal. Whaddythink now Ballack? Also stunning BFG celebration after Giroud’s goal – never seen him move so fast – great team player and the leader we’ve been waiting for. PL maybe not this season but we’re back in the frame. COYG UTA
WE ARE GOING TO WEMBLEY! WE ARE GOING TO WEMBLEY! ARSENAL <3
where we will get trashed by man city
quit with the negative vibes (said the cheery cockney stereotype)
There is always one.
The sort of person who you could give a brand new Rolls Royce for free, and they’d moan about the colour.
City already trashed by Wigan
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, I’m starting to develop a serious man crush on you. What a beast. Off to fucking Wembley.
Think this game also shows we play better without Jack. Ox has surely earned his place in the starting 11 now.
100% correct,don’t think we would have had won had Jack played.
Wilshere isn’t going to be available so no need for anyone to stick the boot in. Ramsey was the perfect lesson, so we’ve no excuses. Enjoy a great win.
I’m really hating this “we won because (insert player name here) wasn’t playing. We won because we were better on the day, not because jack was is off injured.
We all have opinions goonero,just mine is better than yours!
I just think if Jack was playing, we would have been slower, less fluid and losing possession much more and struggling to get anything going. Ox’s performances have been miles better than Jack’s and I believe he’s earned his place in the starting 11 above Jack.
@Jonnycakes82 That’s your opinion and your entitled to it, as I’m entitled to my opinion on what I think of you.
Here’s an opinion….We won because there were no players from Inverness on the pitch….
“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” – George Bernard
It is a valid argument – Wilshere has been shite as of late. End of.
Enjoy the win instead of criticising him, please?
We’ve won games where he’s been a beast too, so don’t say we play better without him.
He’s been off form recently, but he’ll bounce back. 🙂
And Jonnycakes, someone’s opinion can’t be better than someone’s. Even if an opinion sounds absolutely stupid, the whole point of an opinion is that it’s someone’s view on things. An opinion can be negative, or positive, or realistic, but neither is better than the other. -_-
Look Jack is great against average teams like Norwich and Sp*rs,but against teams that battle like Everton or Stoke he does very little than get kicked and give out.
Your so deep Gentleman, I was just joking about the opinion thing.
Johnnycakes you’ve got a short memory if you think Jack can’t do it against the big teams.
Why who did he play well against?
If you want an example, how about a certain spanish team by the name Barcelona?
Gentleman, off topic a bit. But not all opinions are equal. Some are, in fact, better than others. Some opinions are based on study, research, astute observation, and experience. Some are just pulled from thin air.
Some cunts from Catalunya…
What the fuck are you children bickering about!? WE WON THE FUCKING GAME 4-1!
YESSSS
Ox played wider so surely if he played with Jack it would help jack by giving him a much wanted outlet when the middle becomes congested. Having said that Ox did play very well but his passing was the worst in the whole team today, lost the ball far too easily a fair few times. Different roles need different skill sets etc etc But at this point there is no need for pedantry, we just won 4-1 against a very strong Everton and we’re going to Wembley. AllezGiroud
I’ve definitely got a soft spot for Little Mozart, after all the shit he’s been through I love seeing him so happy when he’s on the pitch. He reminds me of my puppy. Whooshagoodboy.
Puppies are awesome. So is TR7.
Arseblog waiting on the button to upload.
Us lot queuing up waiting for him to do it.
Anyone else here doing the old cut & paste trick from a pre – existing article comments field, so they can get their post up nice n’ early?
Sshh.. you are not supposed to talk about it. It’s secret.
Admission is the first step to recovery, no?
We all know we’re all doing it, so surely I’m not betraying trust here!
Wow!!!!
much goal (sorry)
Such Wembley
FUCK. YEAH!!!’
To munich we go to slay some bavarians! >:D
I saw that film once Conan the bavarian….
Good game won by the best team. Special thanks to Martinez for making his timely substitutions.
Wembley!!
Were off to Wembley!
Such a shite game from Özil! Only one assist and one goal, what a waste of £42.5! Ox played great, and a nice brace from Giroud. Now hopefully for a little luck in the draw 😉
Luck in the draw in this years FA Cup?! Not a chance.
We were at home all the way though, we can win the cup without leaving London, I wouldn’t consider that bad luck..
West Brom away isn’t an easy game
I’m wrong, that was the League Cup
What do you expect for £42.50? Can barely get a pint and a pie in the ground for that 🙂
Ozil bashers where y’all at? That’s right, keep hiding. Always believe in your players!
Feels so nice…. 🙂
Wembleyyyyy…
Thats the Ozil that we want. Its not about scoring and assisting only. We talking about desire, fightability and class. Great play. For me him, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cazorla were class.
Upwards and onwards
COYG’s
Definitely! He got a goal and an assist, but what about his tracking back against coleman? Fantastic. The Ox had a great all-round display too, I counted at least 5 tackles…
Those counter-attacks for the 1st and 4th goal. I haven’t seen any or much of that from Arsenal lately. A damn nice surprise.
Rozza comes on and his quick play sets up both goals for Giroud.
Yes but also credit to Mesa , Chamba and of course Girra for his two goals.
What the fuck is it with these “rozza” “chamba” “Girra” nicknames are we manure or liverpool now ??
I think you gentlemen mean Messrs: Orwell, Goring-Hildred and Robinson. We are the Arsenal after all, and there are standards
Absolutely brilliant – great game and result. Don’t those cunts on ITV just hate it!!
They all hate it, every single last one of them. Can’t downplay the excitement this must be bringing the locker room. Have to believe the boys are rearing to go in Bavaria as well, amazing what one solid performance can do for morale.
Should be fired up enough to test some Germans!
Come on the Gunners!!
Chambo was a beast today!
Great game, watching Ozil and Cazorla linking up was especially delightful.
Gotta say, though, Rosicky got two pre-assists AGAIN this match, I’d love to see the stats on pre-assists in the PL because he’s going to be right up there I feel.
What a game from Arsenal. Ozil and Giroud were absolutely perfect today and its exciting to watch the Ozil-Cazorla relationship grow like it has done today. Off to Wembley! COYG!
match report was posted before my stream had finished today lol
Have to agree. We seem to have a better balance without Jack. Now Arsene go and put the Ox back in his glass box.
My thumb up was for your choice of profile name. Class.
Reckon is the Flam hadn’t been booked he would have taken out Barkley and prevented the Everton goal. Thankfully he is smart enough to stay on his feet… with 10 men we never would have won.
Great games today from Ozil, Chambo and Santi. Rosicky made an impact when he came on too. Good all round today, great result.
Now for wigan to prove that there’s magic in the FA cup…..
Hey! Anything’s possible right?
Chambo is developing into a seriously good player, just what we were missing.
Make no mistake, the lads did very well to outlast decent opposition with a very impressive manager.
Bolted up at the back and ground it out when it got tough midway through the second half.
Everton’s relative strengths and weaknesses this season compared to ours has produced three excellent matches. Bravo to that.
Don’t know what you lot would think, but I’d wager a combined team selected from The Arsenal and Everton would be a title winner.
Just curious, which Everton players do you think would make our starting lineup (assuming all the players fit)? On the bench?
I’d take Jagielka, Baines, Coleman, maybe Howard, and possibly one of the midfielders if we are leaving out Arsenal’s injured players (like, with Ramsey and Wilshere injured, I might take McCarthy to partner Arteta / Flamini)
I guess Jagielka is a stretch since Mertesacker / Koscielny are in great form. But then again most poeple would probably take Lukaku over Giroud so I guess I’ll go with that.
Probably Lukaku – he is far better than Giroud
Now to start booking my tickets, Were a coming wembley
fourth goal was pure fast-break porn
….did someone say Fastbreak?
Excellent choice!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_PL-N425JI
ah, the other kind of fastbreak porn!
The scary thing is that video is so old the people in it have probably procreated…. *shudders*
Indeed, and in true rebellion against parental style, they will be listening to Ke$ha.
That might have been a bit flattering result, but I think we were pretty good. And should do loads of good for the team morale and confidence – really important to get Giroud and Özil on the scoring sheet….
A flattered scoreline…..ARSENAL to WEMBLEY i expect some changes for the next game against bayern…ozil and ox man of the match for me
The arsenal marching down Wembley way again COYG!
Can’t think of any Arsenal player who put in a sub par performance. The spirit looked great and we were truly up for this game. I was a little nervous at the early start time because we haven’t been great at this time in the past.
On to Bayern; a repeat of last year please!
Excellent performance today! Evenly matched in the first 70 or so minutes in my opinion, but then Super Tom and Giroud came on and changed everything, but the best thing about this match was the photo Ramsey put out on Facebook before the match: http://i.imgur.com/mf0tBPl.jpg
They just look like a high school football team. The nicer kind not the one fill with jocks.
Oliver Giroud is the backboard of Arsenal. He just redirects balls into the net. Great positioning and play by him.
Oxcellent!
Stuborn Everton doesn’t like to go down that was why they could attack us and leaves them vulnerable at the back….AW should take note of this weakness
Cazorla – Rosicky – Ozil – Giruddddddddd!!!!!!!
I’ve waited for that particular goal all season. I don’t know about you Michael fucking Owen
1. A good but not great performance 2. Ozil excellent: man of the match 3. Flamini badly at fault for the goal we conceded: he should have stopped the cross – why didn’t Ozil have a go at him on the pitch? 4. The Ox was terrific – must start in Germany. 5. Wenger deserves credit for bringing on Giroud with half an hour still to play. Sanogo looked lost. 6 Everton unlucky to lose 4-1: it was a tighter game than that. 7. Fucking great to be in the semis – NOW PLEASE LET US GET A SHIT TEAM… Read more »
You would prefer Flamini to make the tackle and risk getting a red? Really?
On 3 add that the fact both Fabianski and Sagna had Mirallas covered, and the goal only got scored because he utterly messed it up and somehow the ball dropped into Lukaku’s lap.
Ozil looked like a new man.
Conceding the goal felt like a blow when it happened but I was actually somewhat impressed that we gave Barkley time to play the ball rather than diving into reckless, crazy challenges- I had my heart in my mouth at that point not for fear of conceding but because I fully expected Flam to charge into him like Bruce Lee and trudge off for an early bath. It seems perverse to celebrate our conduct in giving a player space to fashion a goalscoring chance but in actuality there was clear tactical nous involved in letting him go and we’ve suffered… Read more »
Cunts indeed. I noticed not one of that shower of useless bastards mentioned Everton’s 21-year trophy drought.
If only Giroud could perform like this consistently, then he would have been one of the best strikers in the league. His First goal the way he positioned himself was like seeing Van Persie in his Arsenal days. More of that please 🙂 I Did not think he had it in him tbh. Perhaps the increased competition forthe top spot with Sanogo thrown in to the mix have made him step up his game. But the people questioning Ozil’s ability need to get their head examined, because you clearly know nothing of football. The last 3 Seasons he have been… Read more »
Giroud’s movement was excellent today, he really livened up the game!
It’s all hotting up now! We can pretty much guarantee a match against City either in the Semi or the Final… COYG! Ozil was top notch today…
I’m in china and can only access a replay of our first goal, which means I’ve been watching it over and over again. But that’s entertainment enough for me, because the genius of the two players involved is incredible. Cazorla’s dribbling technique is absolutely spellbinding, almost immaculate. I didn’t know he had that drive; usually he dribbles like Iniesta but that was like Messi. If you watch how he allows McCarthy to run between himself and the ball you’ll realise its a move only the best players can pull off. The way he then drives at the defense without letting… Read more »
Does anyone have gifs of the goals, please?
Lord please give us a favourable draw. We’ve earned it!
Özil and Giroud were fantastic today! Sadly, Sanogo’s movement was a little off pace. All kudos to Wenger for his subs. Giroud’s brace, Rosicky’s “assist assists”. Great win! Bring on the semis!
One pacy player like Ox in the squad also spurs others to up their pace too. It’s been some time since I saw us breaking at such speed. This is also helped by the fact that we have the best No.10 in Özil to play this kind of game.
Up the Gunners!
sp*rs
You’re welcome.
*sprinting, by the way. Though if we could get some springtime over here that would be wonderful.
Finally we were able to witness the Cazozil magic that was prophesied at the start of the season, great performance from the pair of them.