Arsenal ends Sutton’s dream run in the FA Cup

SUTTON, England — Relief for Arsenal, pride for Sutton United.

On the plastic patch at tiny Gander Green Lane stadium, the gulf in class between teams separated by 105 places in the English soccer pyramid but pitted against each other in the FA Cup was not always apparent.

Arsenal wasn’t simply allowed to stroll into the quarter-finals by its fifth-tier hosts playing the biggest game in their 118-year history. Arsenal took 26 minutes to break through the dogged resistance, and then winning only 2-0 on Monday.

“If you are 2-0 down you don’t want to get really hurt,” Sutton manager Paul Doswell said. “The players should feel very proud. The problem in sport is when you have lost, you feel disappointed but they put this club on a worldwide map.”