FA Cup Third Round day is always one of my favourite days of the season. People go on about "the magic of the Cup", but it really is good to see big teams forced to play against those annoying smaller teams - and of course, to see which of them come unstuck in the process. The draw was good this time around - a home draw against Plymouth, which meant a fairly easy game (one hoped) for Arsenal; and 9,000 Plymouth fans in town for an almighty day out. Always a very good natured day, and being a Saturday 3pm game made it all the better. Surprisingly, Arsenal started the game with pretty much a full team - the only first teamer that didn't start was probably Adebayor (although on his current form, whether he should be making a first choice XI is quite debatable - only the fact that Bendtner is worse would save him). For most of the first half, Arsenal were cagey - or it could be that Plymouth were doing very well in front of their massed fans. They even had a couple of decent chances, and with a bit more luck, could have caused us a few real problems. At the other end, Arsenal had a couple of sniffs, but not much more than that. A decent first half for Plymouth - Arsenal were not a class apart by any means - but it was hard to tell whether that was because Plymouth were bright, or Arsenal were quiet.
Very early in the second half (in fact, the seats were still only just filling up after half time), Robin Van Persie (who was captain for the day) put Arsenal ahead. This kind of killed the game as a contest somewhat, at least for a few minutes - and you couldn't help thinking that Arsenal had just been toying with Plymouth, before finally deciding to put them out of their misery. We weren't in total control by any means, but the goal showed that bit of class that Plymouth just didn't have themselves - so it really seemed to highlight the difference between the 2 teams.
A few minutes later, it was 2-0, then 2-1 - Bendtner looked like he forced a Plymouth player to turn into his own net, one of the few decent things that he did, during another disappointing and frustrating performance. Almost immediately afterwards, Plymouth went up to the other end and scored - I wasn't really paying attention to the game at the time, but it certainly drew a decent cheer from the 9,000.
So, 2-1 for the majority of the second half, and it stayed that way until right at the end, when Van Persie added a third. Being the FA Cup, we also got to see a few of the younger players - Kieran Gibbs came on as a first half substitute, and looked very impressive I thought, to the point where I hope he starts next week against Bolton. We also got to see Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshere again, although neither really had enough time to make that much of an impact.
All in all, a very professional job was done today. Looking at how Chelsea and Man City got on, there are always a few teams that slip up in the FA Cup Third Round - so you always breathe a little sigh of relief when you get through unscathed. Plymouth obviously raised their game because it was a big occasion for them, so it was more difficult that it may otherwise have been. Arsenal weren't exactly sparkling, but seemed to do just enough to get what we needed. Onto the draw for the 4th Round.
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