The Gunners show up big in their FA Cup opener

There is a lot of positives that came out of Arsenal’s 3-0 FA Cup win over Oxford United…

1. Mikel Arteta reports Bukayo Saka is fine after being involved in a nasty tackle late in the game. One does wonder, however, why our young star was still playing at that point of the match.
2. Eddie Nketiah’s second half performance was terrific. His two goals give him five in his last five matches. Hopefully, the doubters will now shut-up.
3. Pablo Vieira had his coming out party in the Oxford United match. His perfectly placed pass to Nketiah resulted in Arsenal’s second goal. Once, Alex Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka came into the game, Vieira seemed to have more freedom to roam the field, resulting in more production from the Portuguese.
4. Mo Elneny opened the scoring with a terrific shot in the 63rd minute of the match. Elneny brings such joy to the pitch, and has become a real team favorite.
5. And, of course, hats off to Matt Turner for delivering a clean sheet. The American deserves more playing time, and I’m sure he’ll get it in the weeks ahead.
6. The Gunners will face Manchester City at the Etihad in late January in the FA Cup’s 4th Round. This is a positive because Arsenal needs to continue playing the best clubs to keep improving throughout the season. Again, winning the Premier League is still Arteta’s number one goal, but the FA Cup is so deeply embedded in the club’s DNA, it will be treated as a major goal as well.

So, the journey continues, and the road becomes even more difficult. The Gunners next five matches are Tottenham (A), Man City (A), Man United (H), Everton (A) and Brentford (H).

With that said, it becomes even more important to get the back-ups more playing time. With the long road ahead, every player on this team will need to contribute if the Gunners want to reach their ultimate goals.

Cheers.

Gunner1953