Eberechi Eze blasted Arsenal into the quarterfinals of the FA Cup on Saturday and kept alive the club's hunt for a quadruple of trophies this season.
Eze stepped off the bench and fired a thunderous effort into the top corner to see off the challenge of third-division Mansfield, sealing a 2-1 win at Field Mill.
Premier League leader Arsenal is also into the Champions League round of 16 and the English League Cup final. But it was given a stern test
by a Mansfield team that is in the bottom half of League One and leveled the game in the second half through Will Evans.
“We wanted to make it a proper cup tie and a tough game for Arsenal and I thought we did that,” Mansfield manager Nigel Clough told TNT Sports.
Noni Madueke had given Arsenal the lead with first-time curling effort into the top corner after 41 minutes. But substitute Evans seized on a loose pass by Marli Salmon five minutes into the second half and fired low past Kepa Arrizabalaga to send the home crowd wild.
“I was gutted to not start the game. I thought if I got any chance today I've got to prove a point — not just to the team, but to myself as well,” Evans said.
Eze had only been on the field for four minutes when he struck his 66th-minute winner and fired Arsenal into the quarterfinals for the first time since last lifting the Cup in 2020.
“It was a proper FA Cup game and credit to Mansfield, the stadium, the atmosphere that the fans created,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who named two 16-year-olds in his starting lineup — Salmon and Max Dowman.
Wrexham hosts Chelsea in the Cup later Saturday and Manchester City travels to Newcastle.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
