The two bigger teams that really needed a win got what they came for, as Arsenal advanced to the FA Cup semifinal with a slightly deceiving 4-1 scoreline against Everton, while in the Premier League Manchester United claimed a 3-0 away win against West Brom despite not looking very impressive.
The Gunners are headed into one of these make or break months in every competition they still have. While the Champions League doesn’t seem like a likely place to put their faith in and the Premier League possibly slipping away, the FA Cup remains a logical dream after an enjoyable performance against Everton, although the final scoreline suggests a more one sided match than we actually saw.
Arsenal took the lead through Mesut Ozil, having one of his better matches recently, but Arsenal struggled to handle Romelu Lukaku and generally the Everton speed, conceding from the Belgian who looked very dangerous all through the match.
But while Everton struggled in making the most of their good stretches on both sides of the half time break, Arsenal were mostly clinical in their finishing, especially after a couple of annoying misses from Olivier Giroud. Mikel Arteta scored from the penalty spot although he had to take it again after Giroud entered the box too soon. From that moment, the 68th minute, Everton sent too many players forward, allowing a lot of room for Giroud to operate in, scoring two quick goals to finish the match, with Sagna and Ozil providing the assists.
At the Hawthorns, West Brom were the better side. However, all the good build up done by Zoltan Gera and Victor Anichebe was wasted time after time by a lack of finishing touch in the final third, while Manchester United made the most of their chances.
Phil Jones scored in the first half from a Robin van Persie cross. Van Persie should have been sent off in the second half, but for some reason wasn’t shown a second yellow card. David Moyes made the right decision to take him off after 62 minutes, knowing that red was in the air.
It resulted in the finishing touches from Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck (who came off the bench), giving Manchester United some hope about Europe next season, climbing, at least for now, to 6th place.
Image: Source