Mansfield Town 1-2 Arsenal: Eberechi Eze and Noni Maduke scored important goals for the Premier League leaders who were given a game to their League One opponents.
Arsenal beat a brave Mansfield Town to advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals (Image: Getty Images)
After scoring his eighth goal of the season in a classic celebration, Eberechi Eze was inspired by his hometown team in Mansfield. But he did smile at his fans, and to be fair, they returned the favor.
It was perfect. Eze’s stunning match-winning finish cannot be loved enough. There’s no way I could love enough of the heart shown by Nigel Clough’s side.
It’s an FA Cup cliché, but the fact that Eze was called up by Mikel Arteta was a compliment to the Ligue 1 side. However, while the contest was a close one, it once again demonstrated Arsenal’s depth and strength across the age groups.
Against the Stags, Arteta brought out a group of young players and on a surface where grass is at a premium this was probably a challenge that Max Daumann and Marli Salmon were not too familiar with.
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In some cases, it appeared. As Dowman and Salmon quickly discovered, pimple-ridden League One pitches are no place for drag-backs and flicks. But the two were great until Sermon made a mistake before Will Evans’ tying goal in the second half.
Arteta’s bold decision to play two 16-year-olds was certainly bold and marks the first time a Premier League manager has done so in any competition.
And that audacity should have paid off early on when Dowman accepted a loose offer from Mansfield keeper Liam Roberts but failed to convert a very decent chance.
It says a lot about the boy’s standards that he was so hard on himself for failing to capitalize on Roberts’ mistakes. It’s no secret that Dauman is a special player, and once he got used to the environment and his opponent’s approach, he showed it.
Ebelesi Eze scores a stunning second goal for Arsenal against Mansfield (Image: Getty Images)
And, as you would expect from a prodigy who grew up in Arsenal’s academy, Dauman and Salmon have a physical resilience that belies their age.
Late in the first half, Salmon was left one-on-one with muscular Rhys Oates, a 31-year veteran of nine EFL clubs. And the 2009-born defender was too strong for his opponents.
That wasn’t necessarily the case with Arsenal’s backline as a whole, with Oates in particular causing a lot of problems for Noni Madueke’s left foot as the Premier League side took the lead.
However, Arsenal’s substitute players are also facing relentless momentum. For all the debate over their style, charm, dignity, or lack thereof, the simple fact is that this team rarely loses a game of soccer.
Noni Madueke puts Arsenal ahead with a brilliant strike (Image: Getty Images)
He has now played 46 games this season, with 35 wins, eight draws and three losses, with three of those losses coming on late goals. It was Arsenal’s 100th goal of the season in all competitions this season, when Maduke beat Roberts with some solid curling, following some action from Gabriel Martinelli.
And those goals have been scored by 19 different players. Last season, the Gunners achieved the 100-goal landmark on April 20th.
It’s just that they are boring and rely heavily on set pieces.
They were certainly more open than usual. In the first 45 minutes, they faced 11 shots, the most in a first half this season. So it was no surprise that Evans hit a Mansfield-level shot early in the second half.
Will Evans gives the Gunners a scare by scoring for Mansfield (Image: Alex Pantling)
A missed pass from Salmon was the root of Arsenal’s problems, but Cristian Mosquera lacked enough decisiveness in dealing with Evans, and the Stags substitute charged forward and finished with conviction.
Dowman first put his arm around Salmon and immediately tried to break through the home defense to ease the pain of his fellow youngster, but Roberts made a fine save.
This was one of Roberts’ great stops, but Eze’s hit didn’t even give the keeper time to flinch.
It was true international quality and Mansfield’s continued display of determination was enough to keep Arsenal on fire on all fronts.
boring? Not the slightest bit.
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