As Oleksandr Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka stood on the touchline, Arsenal were well past the point of knowing they were in an FA Cup tie. For 60 minutes, Oxford United had played up to their role of frustrating the Premier League leaders and Mikel Arteta’s side were forced to withstand some awkward moments, leading to the Arsenal manager coming to the conclusion that reinforcements were necessary.
But 10 minutes later, any thoughts of a closing giant-killing to wrap up a weekend of FA Cup shocks had been swiftly put to bed. Two incisive moments of quality from Fabio Vieira broke Oxford’s resistance, first setting up Mohamed Elneny’s thumping header with a whipped free kick, before playing through Eddie Nketiah to double Arsenal’s lead. After rounding goalkeeper Edward McGinty to finish his first, Nketiah scored his second with a delightful dink. It steered Arsenal into the fourth round, where they will face title rivals Manchester City in an early preview of their upcoming Premier League battles.
