Arsenal beat Oxford United away from home at the fifth time of asking on Monday evening, putting them through to the FA Cup fourth round and ending the League One outfit’s unlikely feat of never losing at home to the Gunners – a claim also held by Barcelona. Having had to wait patiently for his opportunity, Fabio Vieira played a starring role at the Kassam Stadium to send a message to manager Mikel Arteta.
Arteta may not have thought too much about Arsenal’s poor record on Oxford’s ground before kick-off on Monday. The teams have met four times on the Yellows’ turf over the years with a pair of goalless draws between 1987 and 1988 preceded by a 3-0 hammering and a 3-2 defeat in the mid-1980s.
For much of the game, however, it did look as though Oxford would continue their unlikely streak – one which they share with Spanish giants Barcelona, who Arsenal have never got the better of at the Nou Camp. But the Gunners found their rhythm after the hour mark with Mohamed Elneny’s headed opener kick-starting a wave of dominance that saw Arteta’s side come away with a comfortable win.
Vieira whipped in a sumptuous ball for the Egyptian and his through pass to Eddie Nketiah was similarly incisive for the second of the night, as the stand-in striker for Gabriel Jesus rounded the goalkeeper to score.
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The 22-year-old has still managed to produce output while feeding off scraps, however, with six-goal contributions in 17 games so far this term. He was even more effective for Porto last season with a huge haul of 14 assists in the Portuguese league, with six goals to boot.
Odegaard’s scintillating form, coupled with the fact he lays claim to the Arsenal armband, makes him virtually undroppable under Arteta with the Gunners pushing for a first Premier League title since 2003/04. Manchester City are attempting to chase them down, while Monday’s victory over Oxford sets up a mouthwatering fourth-round clash with Pep Guardiola’s side.
Vieira could be in line to start against City if Arteta is keen to save his most important players for Premier League action, but that may not be such a bad thing, with former Arsenal and England star Karen Carney among those to lavish praise on the Portuguese after the final whistle.
“The delivery [for the first goal] in phenomenal,” she told ITV. “Every defender is petrified of that. You’ve just got to your head on that. It’s horrible because you the keeper can’t come out. You can practice that all day and it won’t get better than that. It’s perfection.”
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