Arsenal gained a measure of revenge and progressed to the
quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers' side hammered Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield in
the Premier League last weekend, but the London club restored some pride by
holding off a late Liverpool fightback to set up a last-eight encounter with
Everton.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain handed Arsenal an early advantage
after 16 minutes, sliding the ball home from inside the area to register a
third goal from his last three appearances at the Emirates Stadium.
Oxlade-Chamberlain then turned provider shortly after the
interval, pulling a ball back for Lukas Podolski after a smart one-two between
himself and Mesut Ozil.
Steven Gerrard's penalty gave Liverpool hope a minute
before the hour and the visitors were aggrieved when referee Howard Webb failed
to award another spot-kick after Oxlade-Chamberlain appeared to foul Luis
Suarez in the area.
Daniel Agger almost grabbed a dramatic equaliser with
four minutes left when he headed wide after Lukasz Fabianski came and failed to
collect delivery from Gerrard, but Arsenal stood strong to reach the
quarter-finals for the first time in three years. Liverpool, meanwhile, are left
to focus fully on the Premier League.
Daniel Sturridge had two early chances for Liverpool,
forcing Fabianski into an early save after just a minute before latching onto
Suarez's clipped throughball, rounding the goalkeeper and firing into the side
netting.
Yaya Sanogo, making a rare start in place of Olivier
Giroud, was then involved in a series of Arsenal half-chances before the
pressure told as Oxlade-Chamberlain fired home.
The England international was on hand to side-foot home
the loose ball after Sanogo's effort was blocked by Gerrard.
Liverpool recovered well and enjoyed a strong spell of
possession, but struggled to force Fabianski into any further saves.
A more accurate Podolski cross seven minutes before the
break would have offered Sanogo a chance to double Arsenal's lead, while Suarez
got a shot away on goal two minutes before the break, only for Fabianski to
palm away with a strong right hand.
Podolski doubled Arsenal's lead two minutes after the
break when he applied a sweeping finish to Oxlade-Chamberlain's cutback from
the byline.
Suarez hit a vicious dipping effort just over the
crossbar as he sought to bring Liverpool back into the game while Ozil's save
was kept out by Jones soon after.
Gerrard then handed Liverpool a fighting chance from the
spot after Suarez was brought down by Podolski in the area before Sturridge almost
drew Liverpool level, only for Fabianski to deny him when he looked to have
rounded him.
Liverpool felt they should have had another penalty when
Suarez appeared to be clattered by Oxlade-Chamberlain in the area, but Webb was
unmoved.
Agger then came close to hauling the sides level late on.
Having this week been described as a "specialist in
failure" by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who saw his side dumped out of
the competition by Manchester City on Saturday, Wenger will now be especially
keen to go all the way in the FA Cup after progressing past the fifth round.
Culled from Soccerway
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