Ton-up Walcott ends the Sutton fairytale
Breathe... and relax. arsenal were not the stooge victims of the biggest shock in the history of the Fa Cup last night. Shipping five goals in Munich will still, in all likelihood, be the low point of their season.
Full credit to Sutton, who never gave up and even hit the bar in the second half. But arsenal avoided this king-sized banana skin and progressed, almost smoothly, to a quarter-final tie against Lincoln City, another non-league side.
Indeed, if the Munich result had not left him under such pressure, one might say arsene Wenger has been lucky with his cup draws of late: most managers would accept the challenge of defeating two english National League teams to set up an Fa Cup semi-final. Could it be his year again?
he certainly seemed happy with the win. Nothing too blasé in the team he picked, or the way he celebrated arsenal’s goals. theo Walcott’s 100th for the club after 55 minutes took the game away from Sutton and gave arsenal an important two-goal cushion. Necessary, because Sutton then had two good chances to score.
Walcott’s goal looked to have ended the contest. Nacho Monreal and alex Iwobi combined in a neat one-two, with Monreal then picking out Walcott, who had the time to apply a simple finish.
Sutton, in that moment, looked done — then shocked everyone, even their own fans, by enjoying their best period of the match.
In the 60th minute, a corner found captain Jamie Collins, who took advantage of uncertainty from arsenal keeper David Ospina, but headed over the bar.
then, five minutes later, former arsenal man roarie Deacon struck a shot from 30 yards that hit the bar with such force the rebound took it clear of the penalty area. had that gone in, who knows what late chaos would have been unleashed?
Instead, arsenal were able to see out the evening in relative comfort. after the traumas of the last seven days, it must have come as some relief.
Wenger said at the weekend that he hoped the pitch would not be watered. It wasn’t: it was saturated. Maybe this was his double bluff — the water making the bounce more even, which would surely benefit arsenal — but it wasn’t as if he could have any say in the matter anyway.
the team bus got stuck in traffic, and arsenal only arrived one hour before kick-off, alexis Sanchez escorted through the crowd in a show of generosity by the hosts.
It was about the last. Once the game started, no quarter was given — the only reminder of the gulf in class between these teams coming through the tannoy system rather than on the pitch.
an announcement to keep off the scaffolding around the gantry, a request for reinforcements at rose’s tea Bar, an ambitious attempt to promote the next home fixture against Boreham Wood.
Wenger said he came from a club even smaller than this in France and spoke of his huge admiration for the ‘two or three’ people who tend to keep the Suttons of this world going.
It didn’t feel like a few last night, though. the town turned out, and not just to see the visitors. there is enormous pride in this team locally — still in the Fa Cup when the daffodils came out on the local verges — and so there should be.
they were never going to triumph in terms of possession — and were 28-1 to win the match — yet at the moment when arsenal took the lead in the first half, it’s fair to say Sutton were causing them a bit of grief.
rob holding, certainly, didn’t look entirely comfortable at the back, Iwobi seemed irritated by the physicality of Sutton, although only one challenge bordered on recklessness, while Granit Xhaka and Jeff reine-adelaide were the first names in the book for illegal challenges.
returning to their pokey, brown-painted dressing room at half-time, arsenal’s £133million starting XI most certainly knew they had been in a game.
their goal came at a time when Sutton were beginning to grow in confidence. Maybe that was the problem — too many gaps left at the back as Sutton’s players probed for a goal against all odds.
arsenal were always going to be dangerous on the counter, and so it proved. Lucas Perez may not feel he has a future at the club, but they were grateful for his presence here. he broke down the right, cut inside and struck a low shot goalwards. Walcott ran across the goalkeeper ross Worner, who had to move to prevent the flick, leaving a large area of his goal exposed. Walcott didn’t get a touch and Worner was out of position; Perez scored.
It was to Sutton’s credit that, a goal down after 26 minutes, they did not allow arsenal to build on their advantage before half-time.
Sutton’s best chance came in the 44th minute, when Ospina hit a clearance straight to adam May, but he snatched at his shot.
It was a moment when their non-league status looked all too apparent. thankfully, for romantics and neutrals, there weren’t too many of them.