Goals either side of half time from Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky saw Arsenal progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup at the expense of their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur this evening.
Cazorla pinged the home side in front on the half-hour mark before Rosicky stole the ball from Spurs defender Danny Rose and lifted it over Hugo Lloris to make it two in the 62nd minute.
Here, Sports Mole picks apart the action at the Emirates Stadium.
Match statistics:
Arsenal:
Shots 14
On target 5
Possession 46%
Corners 6
Fouls 7
Spurs:
Shots 13
On target 3
Possession 54%
Corners 8
Fouls 10
Was the result fair?
Oh, yes. Apart from the odd patch of pressure from the visitors, it was an easy afternoon for Arsenal as they outplayed their arch rivals. It is a first loss for Tim Sherwood since he became Spurs manager and he will be disappointed by how flat his side were today.
Arsenal's performance
When the draw was made, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would have been very wary of playing Spurs but his side performed excellently today. They started without a recognised striker, but Theo Walcott's pace up front had the Spurs defence extremely worried. He did leave the game injured, though, and Gunners fans will be hoping that it is not a serious injury. There were also excellent individual displays from Serge Gnabry on the right and Laurent Koscielny in defence. Plenty to be positive about for Wenger.
Spurs's performance
Coming off the New Year's Day win at Manchester United, Spurs should have been full of confidence but they never really got out of their shell today. The front duo of Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor did very little, while in midfield, debutant Nabil Bentaleb and Moussa Dembele were outclassed by the likes of Cazorla, Rosicky, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere. Spurs now only have the Premier League and the Europa League to focus on and the former is sure to be Sherwood's priority.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Santi Cazorla: The Spaniard hasn't had anywhere near the same input that he had for the Gunners last season, but today was one of his best games of this season. He influenced much of the Gunners' football going forward and put them ahead with a delightful and crisp strike.
Biggest gaffe
Clear winner here in Rose, who should have got rid of the ball or passed back to his keeper instead of trying to take on Rosicky. The Czech robbed him and finished well.
Referee performance
Mark Clattenburg had a fairly good game. He took quite a lenient stance from the start but perhaps should have awarded Spurs a penalty when Nacho Monreal barged into Kyle Walker.
What next?
Arsenal: Arsenal now have nine days until their next game, which is a Premier League match at Aston Villa next Monday night.
Spurs: Tottenham, meanwhile, host Crystal Palace in a week's time.
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