Arsenal ease into fourth round at Hull’s expense

FA Cup third round, Emirates Stadium – Arsenal 2 (Mertesacker 20 Sanchez 82) Hull City 0
Arsenal eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a convincing 2-0 victory over Hull City in a repeat of the 2014 final. Per Mertesacker headed the defending champions in front in a one-sided opening period which saw the hosts waste a host of opportunities. An improved Hull dictated play for long spells after the restart, but were unable to create a clear-cut opening as stand-in stopper David Ospina enjoyed a comfortable outing in the Arsenal goal. And the Gunners wrapped up victory in the 82nd minute through Alexis Sanchez, who swivelled expertly on the edge of the penalty area before firing home a fine effort. The result ensured Arsenal’s place in the fourth round draw for the 19th successive season and left Hull contemplating how to secure Premier League survival. 

KEY MOMENTS PRE-MATCH: Walcott starts. Theo Walcott makes his first Arsenal start in exactly a year. 

4’ – CHANCE! Sanchez with a lovely through-ball for Campbell and the forward sees his low effort kept out by Harper. Clever one-two between the Arsenal men. 

15’ – OPENING FOR HULL! Former Inter Milan target Tom Ince weaves off the right touchline and fires a low shot into the side-netting. 

20’ – GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Hull. Mertesacker fixes his gaze on the ball, wanders to the edge of the six-yard box, and rises above everyone to head home the opener. Simple as you like. 

22’ – CHANCE! Rosicky squirms through the Hull defence before slipping a cute pass into the path of Sanchez. The Chilean does well to round Steve Harper, but is surprised to see McShane - yep, him again - slide across the turf to magnificently clear his goalbound shot away.

23’ – ALMOST AN OWN GOAL! The resulting corner hits a Hull player, rebounds off Harper and hits the post. Huge let-off for the visitors. 

66’ – WHAT A TACKLE! Maguire dives in to make a stunning challenge to prevent Sanchez scoring from close range. 

67’ - HUGE CHANCE! Walcott inexplicably lifts the ball wide of goal after being played through on goal. Has to score. 

74’ – CLOSE! Sanchez weaves across the penalty area, but inadvertently prods the ball with his standing leg as he's about to pull the trigger. Harper rushes off his line to save.

 82’ – GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Hull. Sanchez swivels with ease on the edge of the Hull box, and guides a fine shot into the bottom corner. Game over. KEY STATS Alexis Sanchez has now scored 16 goals in all competitions this season. Only Sergio Aguero (19) and Harry Kane (17) have more Per Mertesacker's last two goals for Arsenal have come in the FA Cup

TALKING POINT Is the FA Cup enough to appease Arsenal fans? The Emirates faithful were rightly relieved when their side ended a nine-year trophy drought by clinching the FA Cup in 2014, but surely they won’t be as accepting this time around. While the Premier League title is probably out of reach already, a favourable Champions League draw against Monaco suggests Arsenal should probably be focusing on European honours instead. 

MAN OF THE MATCH Santi Cazorla (Arsenal): Alexis Sanchez will take the plaudits for another tireless display, but it was the Spaniard’s probing play that repeatedly opened up the Hull defence. 

PLAYER RATINGS
 Arsenal: Ospina 7, Bellerin 6, Chambers 6, Mertesacker 7, Monreal 6, Coquelin 6, Rosicky 7, Cazorla 8, Walcott 6, Campbell 5, Sanchez 7. 
Subs: Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Akpom N/A, Maitland-Niles N/A.

 Hull City: Harper 7, Figueroa 6, Maguire 7, Davies 5, McShane 7, Ince 6, Huddlestone 4, Quinn 7, Brady 6, Aluko 5, Sagbo 5. Subs: Elmohamady 6, Hernandez 5.