Yesterday was as comfortable as you’re going to get as an Arsenal fan visiting the Emirates this season. We all kind of suspected it; after all, I’d spoken before the game about how Wigan had recently lost their manager, were not in form, and, frankly, they probably feel like they could do without this cup run, even if it does provide respite from their faltering League One campaign.

Arsenal still needed to do the job, though. There was still a need for professionalism from those Arsenal players. And that was as professional a display as you are going to get. There was no slaughter of Wigan, just a first half that ensured this tie was dead by the time the first Asahi hit the punters’ lips, with a couple of half-chances in the second to extend the score without really extending ourselves. In many ways, Arteta would have been delighted. Sure, as fans, when you race to a four-goal halftime lead you want to see eight’s, nine’s, or ten’s, but let’s be realistic; there’s no need to over-stretch for a ball that could mean you are out for a few weeks at a crucial time in the season.

Arteta named a slightly stronger squad than I thought he would, although Calafiori was once again injured in the warm-up, which meant Saka had to come in, and the MLS as a midfielder test-run was deferred. It’s a shame, because with Merino out, Dowman still very young and Nwaneri on loan, there may well be an argument to see Myles there as an option in case one of our existing guys goes down. Zubimendi and Rice play A LOT of football and I think most of us do harbour concerns over what happens if one picks up a knock. That’s why you could see Arteta keeping both out of the starting XI, although Zubi did get on for 10 minutes at the end, which I wasn’t 100% happy about. Saka, thankfully, only got 45 minutes; save him for other matches, Mikel, so happy that you pulled him after he’d completed a pretty solid 45 as a centralised number 10.

It was the turn of the rotated squad to show they can do the business and yesterday it was just too much to ask a Wigan team low on confidence to compete with an Arsenal side stocked full of internationals. Kepa, White, Saliba (again, wasn’t too sure about that one, but he appears to have got through it all ok), MLS, Norgaard, Eze, Madueke, Saka, Martinelli and Jesus – all have been capped at full international level – and you could see the gulf in class immediately.

A lot of it was, I am pleased to say (and we were all pleased to see), marshalled by the excellent Eberechi Eze. Yesterday morning, I had said that this game feels like one in which he has to take control, and that he certainly did with two great assists. The first no-look pass to give Madueke his goal was perfectly weighted. The second ball in behind for Martinelli meant that the Brazilian still had a little more to do, but he took his goal well and now has 11 goals and three assists to his name this season. If he gets to 20 goal contributions for the season, he has 100% done his job on the attacking side of the pitch.

Back to Eze, though, who I think we can all agree needed this, with all of the noise around him and a couple of his recent performances. He needed to play yesterday to give his confidence a boost, but then he needed to play well to show he belongs here. And he certainly did that. I thought he was lively, he was getting on the ball, he was taking shots – it was like the Eze from last season and the one that showed flashes of it towards the beginning of this season. With Odegaard out injured, this was exactly the tonic. If I were Arteta now, I’d even be tempted to start him against Wolves. Let’s see if a little run of games can unlock a player we will need on top form before the end of the season.

There was also time for our old friend ‘Own Goal’ to step up and add to their tally, as well as a really well-taken Gabriel Jesus dink over the ‘keeper that was the kind of nonchalant finish that makes you scratch your head when he misses chances with the increased volume that he does. He’s another one with whom I think most of us thought might just be relegated to token minutes this season, but for Gabby, that’s now five goals and one assist this season. If he gets to 10 G+As this season, he’s also done his part for this season’s campaign.

As already mentioned, that was basically that at halftime, with the second half feeling like two teams just playing out the remaining 45 because of the rules. If there was an opportunity to ‘throw in the towel’ and simply say “we’ve had enough, let’s head home”, I suspect Wigan would have done. Arteta wouldn’t have minded it either, I suspect, but the football formalities must be obeyed, so we got a second half in the rain that was pretty uneventful. Gyokeres hit the post, Eze hit the side netting, but that was about it, really. We headed home knowing our name was in the hat for round five, whilst those Wigan fans trudged back up north knowing that they still have a league season they have to rescue somehow.

The draw takes place this evening at 6.35 p,m and I think from an Arsenal perspective, there are a few ways of looking at it:

  1. A lower-league side at home that we can rotate (Wrexham, Mansfield, Norwich, Port Vale/Bristol City)
  2. An away game with a big allocation, so a few of us can go

The games are played around the weekend of 7th/8th March, in which we play Brighton in the midweek, then Everton the following weekend, but we’ll also have a Champions League first leg away before we play Everton at home, so I think I’m leaning more towards the first option above, ahead of the second option. We need to be able to rotate in between those games, and I think a home match against lower-league opposition would be good. Maybe we finally arrest the demons of 92 by beating Wrexham on our own patch this time?

I’ll save any of those thoughts until we know what the actual draw is. Until then, have a great Monday. I’ll catch you tomorrow as we prepare for the trip to Wolves. See you then.