Relief for Arsene Wenger as Arsenal advance

FA Cup fifth round

The embattled and brow-beaten Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger finally has some breathing space after his side navigated a potential FA Cup banana skin at Sutton United with a nervy but decisive 2-0 victory that, temporarily at least, takes him out of the firing line.

Goals from Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott, the 100th of an Arsenal career which has already spanned 10 years, secured a place in the quarter-finals against Lincoln City at the Emirates and prevented the kind of ugly headlines which would surely have greeted Wenger if things had gone wrong.