Arsenal have reached the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Gunners had every possible difficulty with Oxford United, active in the third level in England, but eventually won: 0-3. Thanks to a goal from Mohamed Elneny and two goals from Eddie Nketiah, the formation from north London secured a confrontation with Manchester City in the next phase of the English cup tournament.
The attitude of manager Mikel Arteta proved that Arsenal took the game against Oxford United very seriously. He left four players compared to the 0-0 draw with Newcastle United and had basic places in store for Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Rob Holding, among others. On the side of the home team, a Dutchman was kicking off with right back Djavan Anderson and there was also one on the bench with Yanic Wildschut. The wing attacker was allowed to come on in the 62nd minute.
Oxford United, the number fifteen of the English League One, previously made it difficult for Manchester City in the EFL Cup. Then Arteta was on the bench as an assistant to Pep Guardiola the Citizens and also as head coach of Arsenal he had to deal with the urge to act the Us. They enthusiastically sought their way forward and via the cunning Matt Taylor the ball was occasionally held dangerously in the Arsenal penalty area. There were no opportunities, but the million-dollar team from London did little in return.
Only after rest the Gunners slightly more grip on the game, although it took until minute 63 for the opening goal to be scored. Shortly after Wildschut came on, Fábio Vieira planted a free kick on Mohamed Elneny’s forehead, whose header was unstoppable for Oxford goalie Edward McGinty: 0-1. Less than ten minutes later, Eddie Nketiah decided the game. Vieira prepared a goal for the second time by wonderfully hiding the English striker and he did not fail face to face with the goalkeeper.
And there is also the decision right away! ??
Oxford makes a mistake in the back and Eddie Nketiah doubles the margin: 2-0 ??#ZiggoSport #FACup #OXFARS pic.twitter.com/KUcwKv4B4y— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 9, 2023
That gave Arsenal confidence and in the final phase the guests from London ran even further away. Nketiah also won his second one-on-one with keeper McGinty after a good action by Gabriel Martinelli (0-3) and then Arteta’s men had had enough. The game was played out quietly and Oxford United, who did everything they could to get on the scoreboard but failed, left the cup tournament with their heads held high after ninety minutes. The evening got a nice touch for Anderson, as he was named man of the match.