Arsenal took a while to get going but eventually were able to progress into the FA Cup fourth round after winning 3-0 against Oxford United. Mikel Arteta named a rotated Gunners side but retained his key attacking threat of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah.
The Premier League leaders were left frustrated in the first half as they failed to find their rhythm in attack. Arsenal found a breakthrough in the second half as Mohamed Elneny powered home a header from Fabio Vieira's wicked free-kick.
Vieira popped up with another brilliant assist as he continues to try and force his way in Arteta's starting team, splitting Oxford's defence with a pass to Nketiah who rounded the goalkeeper and doubled the Gunners' lead. The young striker grabbed his second and Arsenal's third with a clever finish just six minutes later after latching onto Martinelli's pass.
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football.london takes a look at how the national media reacted to Arsenal's FA Cup win as they prepare to face Manchester City in the fourth round.
Arsenal will travel to Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup after beating Oxford 3-0 in a tough contest on Monday night.
Mikel Arteta's side struggled to break down the hosts at the Kassam Stadium but showed their class in the final 30 minutes of the cup tie to keep their hopes alive. Mohamed Elneny's header and a brace from Eddie Nketiah did the trick for the visitors. Arsenal will have to beat Pep Guardiola's side to keep their FA Cup run going. That's a daunting task, as they were hammered 5-0 on their most recent trip to the Etihad in August 2021.
There's always a temptation for Premier League managers to rest and rotate in the FA Cup. Arteta made some changes for Monday night's game but still named a strong XI - one that included the likes of Bukayo Saka, Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli. There were also starts for Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney. The fact those two are no longer guaranteed starters shows the quality and quantity Arteta now has at his disposal. Although Arsenal's squad depth is not as impressive as Man City's, it is getting stronger with each passing window - which is testament to the job sporting director Edu is doing.
As third round ties go this went by the numbers. Oxford United gave Arsenal a game for an hour, without threatening to make things more interesting than that, and could draw on enough positives to hope for a bright end to their third-tier campaign. The Premier League leaders eventually bucked up and picked them off with three goals in 13 minutes, meaning this went down as a job well done and banishing the looming spectre of a replay.
There was also the relief, six days before the north London derby, that Bukayo Saka had avoided serious harm. Mikel Arteta had picked what is, at least in the absence of Gabriel Jesus, his first choice front three and it appeared a costly decision when the player he can least afford to lose hobbled off before the third goal. But he confirmed afterwards that Saka was "fine", meaning Arsenal emerged unscathed on all fronts.
Further improvement may be needed if Arsenal are to overcome Manchester City in the fourth round, but this was an assignment ticked off neatly.
There have been good days for Arsenal on this season of wonder and hope and there have been great ones too. This was neither, but fair play to whoever coined that old phrase about scorecards having no need for pictures.
It was ugly and it was grim and for a shade more than an hour it had the slightest whiff of one of those cup ties where something special might be mined from the muck.
Only slight because Oxford weren't landing punches. They ran, they chased, they created a few nice patterns in midfield and they tried to make the climb. But it's a long way up from 15th in League One when the bigger boy is top of the Premier League. And so it didn't work out. Karl Robinson's side kept it tight and gave a decent scrap, with the score 0-0 until the 63rd minute. Quarter of an hour later, Arsenal had three that were neither against the run of play, and nor were they entirely deserved, with Mohamed Elneny kicking down the door and Eddie Nketiah adding another two.
It was flattering, but not all staging posts in a campaign can be memorable and jazzy and so the job that simply needed to be done, was done. Manchester City are up next in the fourth round – one suspects an improvement is necessary. For Mikel Arteta, victory through commitment has its merits, but perhaps he will be more satisfied in the isolated contributions of Fabio Vieira, who got two assists in his first start for two months – he will take a launchpad wherever he can find one.
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