Lincoln City’s fairytale run ends
LONDON: Lincoln City’s fairytale FA Cup run ended at the quarterfinal stage as Arsenal put aside its own problems to crush the fifthtier side 50 at the Emirates Stadium yesterday.
It took a labouring Arsenal until firsthalf stoppage time to take the lead through Theo Walcott, but the 12time winner made its superiority count after the break.
Goals from Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and an own goal from Lincoln skipper Luke Waterfall gave Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger some cheer after the midweek humiliation by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
‘‘Recently we have disappointed our fans. We want to go again to Wembley to win,’’ Wenger, who led Arsenal to backtoback FA Cup triumphs in 2014 and 2015, said.
‘‘We had a big disappointment in the Champions League. After that we have to respond and we needed players solid mentally.
‘‘It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup.’’
Lincoln became the first minor league side for more than a century to reach the FA Cup quarterfinals when it knocked out topflight Burnley in round five, having disposed of Cham pionship outfits Ipswich Town and Brighton and Hove Albion.
The 9000 fans they brought to north London were determined to enjoy their day and they had every reason to dream of one of the greatest cup shocks of all time in the first half as they proved an obdurate opponent.
Danny Cowley’s side even threatened on occasions before eventually getting overwhelmed.
‘‘We had a tough second half against worldclass players,’’ the former PE teacher said.
‘‘When they scored on the edge of halftime it was always going to be difficult.
‘‘But we’re the first nonleague team in over 100 years to get to the last eight of the FA Cup. We need to be proud of what we’ve done.’’ Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was a happy man after his team cruised into the semifinals with a comfortable 20 win at Premier League rival Middlesbrough in yesterday’s early game.
David Silva gave it a thirdminute lead and Sergio Aguero struck again in the 67th minute, with the visitors missing numerous chances to win by a bigger margin.
‘‘We are so happy to be there,’’ Guardiola said after a solid display ahead of Thursday’s Champions League last16 return leg at Monaco, where City will defend a 53 lead.
‘‘We made a good performance. We were there from the beginning. The game should be over 30 minutes before but we missed a few chances.’’