Hull City 0 Arsenal 4
Arsenal are into the FA Cup quarter-finals though the scoreline should not mask a disjointed display that is unlikely to quieten the Arsène Wenger naysayers.
On Sunday the Gunners continue this term's defence of the trophy against Watford at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to two goals each from Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott, the former's strikes coming after Wenger stated he hoped Monday's arrival of a son would "inject confidence" into the forward.
It did, but how real the succour Arsenal can take from this victory remains a valid question. On a night in which their centre-backs, Per Mertesacker and Gabriel, both exited injured and were followed by the latter's replacement, Aaron Ramsey, they might have folded and lost against a superior opponent.
As a feature of every Gunners campaign these days is a “Wenger in crisis” narrative at some point, the Frenchman had duly arrived at the KC Stadium requiring safe passage to avoid the knives being further sharpened for him.
This was due to a dire run of only one win in the last six outings and was reflected in an XI that, though showing six changes, still featured Giroud, Walcott along the left, Mathieu Flamini as a holding player, and the captain Mertsacker partnering Gabriel.
During a scrappy opening in which each side failed to control proceedings Mertesacker was involved in a clash of heads with Nick Powell. This came as the 20-minute mark approached and was about the “highlight” of the tie’s slow start. When play resumed quick work from Walcott preceded the ball being switched to Calum Chambers, and though a cross aimed at Giroud went straight into Eldin Jakupovic’s hands at least here was some direct play.
Steve Bruce had made seven changes from Thursday’s 1-0 defeat at Birmingham City, and before kick-off said: “We’re going to have to defend as well as we did last time around. We’ve got to make sure it is a cup tie, get in amongst them if we can.”
After half an hour this is precisely where Hull were during a scramble that caused mayhem in Arsenal’s area. Powell took a free-kick that dropped like a bomb among a crowd near the penalty spot and eventually David Meyler’s shot was repelled by David Ospina as the flag went up for offside.
At this juncture the supposed pattern of Arsenal dominating had been disrupted. A measure of this was found in first Mohamed Elneny being booked - for pulling at Meyler – and then Giroud, for scything down Curtis Davies, one of the trio of centre-backs in Hull’s 3-5-2 formation.
In between, Mertesacker’s head injury had forced him off as Nacho Monreal came on and so this furthered the sense that Hull had Arsenal precisely were they would wish.
But now, having gained a foothold, disaster struck. For a fathomless reason Meyler decided to turn the ball from the left towards Jakupovic only to pass straight to Giroud, and the Frenchman made no mistake for his 19th strike of the season.
If this was celebrated by a Bebeto-esque baby-rocking motion by the scorer, it was the poorest possible way for Hull to concede a first home goal in 652 minutes and for the captain to be the culprit a further morale sapper.
Forty-one minutes had been played. Within seconds the Gunners came close to doubling their advantage via a 30-yard curling Kieran Gibbs effort that exploded off his left boot and beat Jakupovic but crashed from the frame to leave the defender clutching his head.
The Arsenal fans’ glee was brief. From a Powell free-kick Arsenal were again in tatters defensively as Alex Bruce rose unchallenged in the area to unload a header but his radar was awry and the ball missed to Ospina’s right.
A one goal lead is always shaky and so, as they should, Arsenal pressed for a second after the break. Walcott buzzed in a free-kick and when this dropped to Elneny his 20-yard effort was saved superbly by Jakupovic.
By the 54th minute the visitors’ second centre-half had gone down, Gabriel limping off for Ramsey in a reshuffle that dropped Flamini into right-back and had Chambers moving inside to partner Monreal.
This uncertainty in the rearguard meant Arsenal rocked whenever Hull roved forward. A slick surge from Tom Huddlestone opened them up but after Powell collected the ball his 30-yard shot disappointed. Next up, Ramsey’s errant header beat Ospina and flashed marginally wide of the right post.
This roused the home crowd but their optimism was about to dissolve. A Walcott cross came to Giroud and he smacked home and then, after Ramsey hobbled off, the England man made it comfortable, finishing a neat pass from the thus far muted Joel Campbell.
Walcott’s second came with the match over and, while a win is of course a win, Watford could and should prove a far sterner test in Sunday’s early tie.
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