THE FA Cup might be way down on Arsenal’s list of priorities this season but as the most successful team in the history of the competition they still have a genuine affection for the old trophy.
And no one takes the tournament more seriously than manager Mikel Arteta, whose 2014 winners’ medal was arguably the highlight of his playing career.
So even the prospect of a fourth-round trip to Manchester City was never going to take the gloss off this hard-fought victory as Arteta’s shadow squad graduated with honours at Oxford.
Three goals in the space of 13 second-half minutes were enough to see off the League One minnows who gave their all but were never able to bridge the gulf in class.
Now Arsenal head into Sunday’s North London derby on the back of a five-game unbeaten run and with their confidence sky high.
And with England midfielder Emile Smith Rowe making his long-awaited return to action as a late sub, it was just about the perfect night for the Premier League leaders who are daring to dream that 2023 is going to be a special year.
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In a match which had the distinct feel of the Europa League about it, Arteta started with his strongest available front three with the aim of quickly putting the tie to bed.
But the early breakthrough eluded the Premier League leaders as their makeshift midfield struggled to impose their authority on a well organised Oxford side.
Just as in last season’s third-round tie at Nottingham Forest, Arteta had made seven changes in the belief that the quality of his squad players would be good enough to see them through.
But they had been found sadly lacking in that embarrassing defeat at the City Ground when Arteta was so angry with the attitude of some of his players that he hauled Nuno Tavares off ten minutes before half-time.
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And there was no way the demanding Arsenal boss was going to tolerate such a half-hearted performance again exactly one year on from that Forest debacle.
At least his players were willing to roll their sleeves up and slug it out with their lower league opponents this time.
Takehiro Tomiyasu twice went down clutching his face after copping a wayward arm and Bukayo Saka was none too impressed by a challenge from full-back Ciaron Brown which caught him on the ankle.
The very last thing Arteta needed was any further injuries to his paper-thin squad which is already starting to feel the pace with more than half of the season still to play.
And his mood was not helped when his team were denied a huge penalty shout with their first meaningful shot of the evening.
Albert Sambi Lokonga was absolutely convinced that his 34th-minute effort had struck Elliott Moore on the hand when the Oxford captain threw himself into the path of the ball to block.
But ref David Coote was only prepared to award the visitors a corner and with no VAR available to help him out he was never going to overturn his decision.
TV replays, though, suggested it was much more of a spot kick than the one which Arteta claimed had been “scandalously” denied his team against Newcastle last week.
With white numbers on the back of their all-white strip worn to support their “No More Red” charity initiative against knife crime, Arsenal were almost unrecognisable in more ways than one.
Their midfield was being bossed by Oxford’s Cameron Brannagan, an industrious Liverpool cast-off relishing the opportunity to prove himself against top level opposition.
And Marcus McGuane, who had played with many of this Arsenal team in the Europa League five seasons ago, certainly didn’t look two divisions lower than his former colleagues.
Despite dominating possession, the visitors were creating virtually nothing around the Oxford penalty area until Saka latched on to Fabio Vieira’s 55th-minute flick for a shot which was heading for the far corner until Lewis Bate booted clear.
So it was little surprise when Arteta decided it was time to send on the cavalry, with Granit Xhaka and Oleksandr Zinchenko both being introduced on the hour to bring more purpose to their attacking play.
It was a change which brought instant dividends when Vieira’s inviting 63rd-minute free-kick into the six-yard area was met with the firm header from Mohamed Elneny which it was crying out for.
It has taken the lightweight Vieira quite some time to make his presence felt since his £34million move from Porto in the summer.
But no one has ever doubted his ability on the ball and he underlined his quality with a slide rule pass which allowed Nketiah to go past keeper Eddie McGinty for a cool as you like finish in the 70th minute.
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And six minutes later it was all over for Oxford when Nketiah netted again, chipping one into the far corner from Gabriel Martinelli’s through ball.
It was Nketiah’s fourth goal in four games since replacing the injured Gabriel Jesus to confirm Arteta’s belief that he has enough strength in depth to compete on more than one front this season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
