Gunners show real steel to keep Cup hopes alive
Having gone two goals down at half-time and booed off the pitch by their own supporters, the pressure looked to be on Arsene Wenger once again.
With the club out of the running for the Premier League title, the FA Cup and Champions League represent the only chance of winning a major trophy this season.
The north London club have not won a trophy since 2005 and the Arsenal manager must have wondered if his players were going to throw the towel in once again.
But a crazy spell at the start of the second half with three goals in the space of seven minutes completely turned the game around.
Robin Van Persie kept his nerve to score twice from the penalty spot while Theo Walcott also got among the scorers.
Despite reports of unrest in the Arsenal camp, there are no doubts that the players are fully behind Wenger with this battling display.
Wenger said: “It was a good test for us to show we have the mental qualities to come back. When you come out of a bad period you can feel sorry for yourself or show you have the mental qualities to play for this club.
“I was proud they came out and showed they didn’t want to lie down.’’
Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish was bitterly disappointed that his side threw away their advantage and was more angry with the fact that Van Persie was allowed to stay on the field after he appeared to elbow Carlos Cuellar in the face on 64 minutes.
McLeish believes referee Michael Jones should have taken stronger action against the Arsenal captain and believes the Football Association should take a look at the replays.
McLeish said: “I thought it was an elbow in the face, a clear elbow but the referee didn’t seem to think it was anything. I thought he hit him, I thought he put (his) elbow towards his face. He is not a guy to lie down and would get up quickly.
“Would I like them (the FA) to look at it? — if it was an elbow in the face then yes. I saw it in real time and it looked like a gesture.”
The outcome could have been a lot different if Aston Villa had worked harder to protect their two goal advantage from the first half.
Richard Dunne scored the opening goal on 33 minutes and you have to question the poor marking in the Arsenal defence once again.
Robbie Keane’s cross picked out Dunne who towered above Koscielny and powered the ball home from close-range and Darren Bent doubled Villa’s lead on the stroke of half-time.
Stephen Ireland laid the ball into the Villa striker who saw his first shot palmed away by Lukasz Fabianski. The rebound fell to Bent again who, from the tightest of angles managed to strike the ball home and put the away side in pole position.
Arsenal players were booed off the pitch, and rightly so, following another poor display.
But whatever Wenger said to his players during the half-time interval seemed to work as Arsenal staged a remarkable comeback. The first goal came on 54 minutes when Aaron Ramsey was brought down inside the box by Dunne.
Referee Michael Jones had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Van Persie kept all his composure to strike the ball into the corner of the net.
The equaliser came just three minutes later when Walcott weaved his way into the penalty box and saw his first shot saved by Shay Given.
You could sense it was not going to be Villa’s day after Alan Hutton went to clear and fired the ball straight into the chest of Walcott and the ball flew into the back of the net.
No-one inside the stadium could have seen this coming but Arsenal stunned the Villa players and supporters when they added a third on 61 minutes.
Bent was adjudged to have brought down Koscielny and Jones pointed to the spot once again. Van Persie sent Given the wrong way once again and you could see the relief among all the Arsenal supporters.
Arsenal now face a trip to Sunderland or Middlesbrough in the fifth round of the competition.
ARSENAL: Fabianski 7; Coquelin 7, Mertesacker 6, Koscielny 6, Vermaelen 7; Ramsey 7, Song 8, Rosicky 6 (Arteta 72mins 6); Walcott 8 (Sagna 89mins 6), Van Persie 9, Oxlade-Chamberlain 8 (Henry 89mins 7).
ASTON VILLA: Given 7; Hutton 5, Dunne 6, Cuellar 6, Warnock 6; Petrov 6 (Bannan 82mins 6), Clark 6; Ireland 7, Keane 6, Agbonlahor 6 (Gardner 71mins 6); Bent 6.
Referee: Michael Jones.
