Second half surge sees Arsenal past Oxford to advance in Cup

A brace from Eddie Nketiah along with a Mohamed Elneny header secured Arsenal’s passage into the fourth round despite a valiant effort from their lower league counterparts

THREE AND EASY: Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah, left, scores his side's third goal past Oxford goalkeeper Edward McGinty during the English FA Cup soccer match between Arsenal and Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium. Pic: AP Photo/Frank Augstein

Oxford 0 Arsenal 3

Arsenal secured their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup after defeating League One side Oxford United 3-0.

A brace from Eddie Nketiah along with a Mohamed Elneny header secured Mikel Arteta’s side’s passage into the fourth round despite a valiant effort from their lower league counterparts.

This was the first meeting between the two clubs since they met in the FA Cup third round 20 years ago, and whilst the odds were stacked heavily in Mikel Arteta’s side’s favour with his side 59 league places above their hosts, they struggled to get a foothold in the early stages of the game. The heavy nature of the pitch not allowing the Gunners to play at their fast-paced, free-flowing best.

Although Karl Robinson’s men were lacking the quality of Arsenal’s star-studded line-up, their refusal to shy away from the challenge of the Premier League leaders was welcomed by the Oxford faithful, with a couple of fiery exchanges between Cameron Brannagan and Kieran Tierney the highlight of a tepid opening 20 minutes at the Kassam Stadium.

The usually animated Arteta remained tight-lipped on the touchline as his side’s lethargic start continued. Arsenal failed to have a single shot inside the first 30 minutes, but were unlucky to not receive a penalty after Albert Sambi Lokonga’s left-footed effort appeared to strike the arm of Oxford captain Elliot Moore. Referee David Coote waved away the desperate appeals from the Arsenal players, with VAR not in use.

A fantastic Djavan Anderson tackle in the 42nd minute put to bed a potentially dangerous Gabriel Martinelli-led counter-attack for Arsenal with neither side looking capable of scoring as the game ticked slowly towards the interval.

Eddie Nketiah’s opportunistic toe-poke over the Oxford crossbar followed by Tierney’s long-throw a minute later compiled what had been a poor showing from the North London outfit, as the teams went into the break even.

It was a very determined performance in the first period from the hosts, halting their guests at every given moment despite Mikel Arteta’s men dominating most of the ball throughout. Arsenal’s lack of squad depth was on show with Mohamed Elneny, Fabio Vieira and Lokonga all unable to make a proper impact.

Oxford came out from the break with the same intensity and immediately put Arsenal on the backfoot. The U’s were presented with the opening chance of the second half in the 49th minute as Cairon Brown’s hopeful hit up the pitch evaded the stretched leg of Elneny to release Matty Taylor, but with the goal at his mercy, his effort was denied by onrushing goalkeeper Matt Turner, as the Gunners breathed yet another sigh of relief.

In the 54th minute, Arsenal should have taken the lead. A long ball deep into the Oxford half found Vieira whose neat backheel pass found Bukayo Saka inside the penalty area, but the 21-year-old’s arrowing strike was cleared off the line by Leeds United-loanee Lewis Bate as Arteta’s side began to take control of proceedings.

From there on, Oxford began to feel the heat, Brown receiving the first caution of the evening 59 minutes in as the defender hauled Nketiah to the ground. Granit Xhaka and Oleksandr Zinchenko were called upon from the Arsenal bench to conjure up some Arsenal magic on the hour mark.

But in the 64th minute, Oxford’s efforts to keep out the Arsenal juggernaut came to an end as the Gunners seized the initiative to take the lead. Vieira’s in-swinging freekick from the left-hand side was met by Elneny and the Egyptian powered his header past the helpless Eddie McGinty to give the visitors a priceless advantage, much to the delight of the travelling supporters.

Karl Robinson’s side continued to try and find a way back into the match but in the 70th minute, it looked as if Arsenal’s progression into the fourth round was confirmed as they doubled their advantage. A sly pass from Vieira once again cut open the Oxford defence, and Nketiah was on hand to score yet again, his seventh goal of the season.

Nketiah doubled his goal tally for the evening six minutes later as the Gunners sailed into an unassailable lead. The 23-year-old was played through by Martinelli after another powerful, direct run from the Brazilian through the Oxford defence, and Nketiah did the rest, deftly flicking the ball over the onrushing McGinty to confirm his side’s passage into the fourth round.

Emile Smith-Rowe almost marked his return to the Arsenal side with a goal in the 80th minute, but his effort deflected narrowly wide of the post, but the three goals were enough for the Gunners, who will face Premier League title rivals Manchester City in round four.

Oxford: McGinty 6, Anderson 7, Long 6, Moore 6.5, Brown (Fleming 84’) 6, Brannagan 6, Bate 7, McGuane (Johnson 84’) 6.5, Bodin (Goodrham 76’) 6.5, Taylor (O’Donkor 76’) 6, Murphy (Wildschut 62’) 5.

Subs not used: Eastwood, Findlay, Negru, Sade.

Arsenal: Turner 6, Tomiyasu (White 81’) 5, Holding 6, Gabriel 6, Tierney (Zinchenko 61’) 5, Elneny 6, Lokonga (Xhaka, 61’) 5, Vieira (Marquinhos 81’) 7, Saka (Smith Rowe 75’) 6, Nketiah 8, Martinelli 7.

Subs not used: Hein, Butler-Oyedeji, Partey, Odegaard.

Referee: David Coote.