Slick Gunners put Villa to sword and take cup

the competition.

Arsenal quickly established their smooth passing rhythm to pen Villa deep in their own half.

Sanchez was at the heart of all their best moments and he worked space to clip a cross towards Laurent Koscielny, whose header forced a fine onehanded save from Shay Given.

Aaron Ramsey should have scored when a fortunate deflection presented him with a clear sight of goal just inside the penalty area, yet the Arsenal midfielder couldn’t hit the target with a rushed effort.

Villa seemed completely bewildered by the speed and movement of Arsenal’s attacks.

They were prised open when Mesut Ozil’s ball in the six-yard box was met by Walcott with a lunging volley that looked goalbound until Kieran Richardson made a last-ditch block.

Walcott had been preferred to Giroud in the central striker’s role that he has spent years telling Wenger he could thrive in, but the Arsenal boss responded to that miss by shifting the winger to the left flank and moving Sanchez into the middle. It proved an inspired switch as the pair combined to break the deadlock in the 40th minute.

Once again, a blur of Arsenal passes went unchecked by the bedraggled Villa rearguard before Nacho Monreal lofted a cross that was bravely headed back across goal by Sanchez.

With Villa’s defenders too slow to react to the danger, Walcott pounced, arriving unmarked from the left to lash a ferocious left-foot shot past Given.

Walcott’s seventh goal of an injury-ruined season was no more than Arsenal deserved and, with their confidence now sky-high, they took just five minutes after half time to press home their advantage.