9 Jan 202317.05 ESTThank you very much for joining me.
The wonderful Nick Ames has written a report in Oxford.
Karl Robinson: “We lost control of the game in the middle of the second half. I question if it was a free-kick for the first. I think the scream helped win it.
“My players did the club proud, we fought in all areas of the game. We did not look like a team so far apart from Arsenal. I am proud of them.”
Man of the match Eddie Nketiah: “We came here and knew it wouldn’t be easy. The pitch is tough to play on. We had to up the level and we did that in the second half.
“They wanted it to be a rushed high tempo game – we had to slow it down.
“The second one was a nice little dink, so that one probably pleased me more.”
9 Jan 202316.50 ESTIt was all pretty routine. I did suggest Arsenal would win 2/3-0 so I will take that. Oxford just completely blunt in the final third, hence their League One struggles.
9 Jan 202316.49 ESTFull-time: Oxford 0-3 Arsenal
The Premier League leaders struggled for long periods but eventually their quality showed through thanks to three fine assists and finishes. Oxford, frankly, never looked like scoring.
9 Jan 202316.47 EST90 mins: Two minutes added on.
9 Jan 202316.44 EST88 mins: O’Donkor is tripped by Zinchenko. The teenage substitute is set to play at the Kassam tomorrow night in the FA Youth Cup. Not a bad week for the lad. Long heads the free-kick towards the corner but there is no power in his effort and Turner grabs hold.
9 Jan 202316.43 EST86 mins: The win for Arsenal means they will play Manchester City in the fourth round. That should be a lively match at the Etihad.
9 Jan 202316.41 EST84 mins: Johnson and Fleming are on for Oxford. A nice chance for them to play against Arsenal.
9 Jan 202316.39 EST82 mins: Smith Rowe receives the ball in the box but takes a poor touch and then his shot is weak. He is unsurprisingly rusty.
White and Maquinhos are on for Arsenal. Tomiyasu and Vieira off.
“Hi Will,” says Justin Madson. “I am not sure if the holiday season being over has made me a curmudgeon, but it feels like nearly every whistle (or non-call) both players from each side are demonstratively yelling at the ref. Fifa could do with taking a moment away from whichever large money pile they are currently chasing to support their referees. They are people too, and as far as I know AI is barely okay at making offside calls, much less being able to replace real referees.”
9 Jan 202316.36 EST80 mins: Arsenal are killing time by keeping possession and doing it with relative ease, even if the home fans think the press might win the ball back at any second.
9 Jan 202316.35 EST78 mins: Oxford have worked really hard throughout but they have found out in three key moments how much quality Arsenal possess.
9 Jan 202316.33 ESTGOAL! Oxford 0-3 Arsenal (Nketiah, 76)
Arsenal break on Oxford through Martinelli, he holds the ball and slides the pass through for Nketiah at the perfect time, allowing the striker to take a touch and calmly dink over the goalkeeper. I think in a VAR world, that goal would be chalked off for offside. Oh well.
74 mins: Oxford win a corner on the left but in the meantime some changes need to be made.
Saka is down on the turf and looks like his game is over. Smith Rowe will replace him.
Oxford are bringing on Goodrham and O’Donkor.
9 Jan 202316.29 EST72 mins: Are we accepting that is game over? I cannot see Oxford scoring twice here.
Two moments of quality from Vieira have made the difference thus far because the rest of the game has been poor.
GOAL! Oxford 0-2 Arsenal (Nketiah, 70)
Vieira slides the ball through the defence for Nketiah to latch onto, he rounds the goalkeeper and taps into an empty net.
69 mins: Another long throw from Brown makes it into the box but it is headed out to the edge of the area where Brannagan is waiting. The midfielder sends a looping volley at goal that fails to trouble Turner.
Why is David Platt at the match? I thought he was out of professional football.
9 Jan 202316.24 EST67 mins: Moore whacks into the back of Vieira as he tries to chest down the ball. I would describe that as a League One challenge there. I think that deserves a booking simple due to needless use of force.
9 Jan 202316.22 EST65 mins: Robinson and Craig Short are plotting on the sidelines as they look to find a way back into the match.
9 Jan 202316.20 ESTGOAL! Oxford 0-1 Arsenal (Elneny, 63)
Anderson catches Martinelli on the knee to give Arsenal a free-kick in a dangerous position on the left. Vieira swings the ball into the box and Elneny is there to head home from six yards.
61 mins: Tierney and Lokonga are off, Xhaka and Zinchenko on.
9 Jan 202316.17 EST61 mins: Gabriel goes down due to Taylor wrapping his arm around the defender’s neck. The Brazilian is understandably unhappy.
Brown goes in the book for pulling down Saka.
Arsenal are planning some changes …
9 Jan 202316.16 EST59 mins: Brown, who has a really long thrown, launches the ball into the box but Tomiyasu is there to meet it with his head. The full-back crosses the ball in next time but Gabriel is there on this occasion to clear.
9 Jan 202316.14 EST57 mins: Saka curls a corner in to the front post, forcing McGinty to come through bodies to punch to prevent the ball going straight in.
Some bad news from the car park in Oxford: the hi-viz brigade have turned up to move people on from watching the match on top of a van.
9 Jan 202316.12 EST55 mins: A direct ball over the top gets Arsenal up the pitch. Vieira gets hold of it and flicks the ball to Saka, who cuts inside and shoots beyond McGinty but Bate is on the line to stop the shot.
9 Jan 202316.10 EST53 mins: “There’s nothing happening in the middle of the park for Arsenal,” suggests Charles Antaki. “Lokonga is doing a very thin impersonation of Granit Xhaka, and Elneny just can’t do the take, turn and distribute that makes Partey so influential. Changes?”
Things do not seem to be improving.
9 Jan 202316.07 EST51 mins: Martinelli shows some skill on the left to turn Anderson inside and out but his cross is straight at a yellow shirt. The ball goes behind but the officials give a throw-in for some reason. Tierney launches it and Anderson clears.
9 Jan 202316.06 EST49 mins: Brown sends a hopeful pace that goes between two Arsenal defenders, allowing Taylor a chance of reaching it but Turner comes out quickly to smother his toe-poke.
47 mins: Nketiah drives for the area and has options either side; he could play in Vieira on his right but fails to do so and eventually the danger is alleviated. Arsenal’s decision making is poor.
9 Jan 202316.02 ESTSecond half
Here we go again!
9 Jan 202315.55 ESTWe have a broad appeal.
@Will_Unwin Oxford fan in Australia here. Tuning in with my Arsenal supporting son. Football’s the winner here this morning💛💙 #OxfordUnited #FACup #oxfordvsarsenal
— aleksw (@aleksw11) January 9, 2023“Why a harsh penalty?” asks Tim Stappard. “It was a penalty nowadays. Arsenal look rubbish.”
I just think his arm has to go down like that to break his fall.
9 Jan 202315.49 ESTMary Waltz wants to take the positives out of that half: “Keeping a clean sheet against the Gunners, even for just one half, is a small victory for Oxford. They will lose but they have to be happy.”
I would like to apologise for suggesting that Arsenal looked half decent at one point.
9 Jan 202315.46 ESTAndy ‘not that one’ Flintoff: “Re Stuart Campbell at 38 mins - as soon as the referees clamp down on unsporting behaviour (shouting at assistants, arguing with the ref, diving etc), they get pilloried for victimising players, when all they’re doing is enforcing the laws of the game, so they can’t really win. Admittedly, it would help if the various FAs supported them in doing so, rather than back down as soon as there’s any blowback.”
9 Jan 202315.46 ESTHalf time: Oxford 0-0 Arsenal
We are yet to have a shot on target.
9 Jan 202315.45 EST45 mins: One minute added on.
9 Jan 202315.44 EST44 mins: A long Tierney throw is flicked on to Nketiah inside the six-yard box but he mistimes his shot and volleys the ball nowhere near the net.
9 Jan 202315.42 EST42 mins: Martinelli gets the ball off Anderson on the halfway and looks to sprint away. He makes it to the edge of the box but the defender gets back to him and performs a perfect tackle.
9 Jan 202315.40 EST40 mins: Arsenal seem to be getting a little frustrated with themselves at their inability to threaten the Oxford goal. We are yet to have a shot on target.
9 Jan 202315.38 EST38 mins: Samuel Campbell ponders: “Although I think that probably could have been a penalty why is the referee allowing the Arsenal players and Gabriel in particular who will have run from centre half, to surround him and get in his face like that. Start handing out cards and it will soon stop. For some reason the powers that be in football seem to want to encourage this behaviour.”
I suspect the lack of VAR will have Arsenal more keen to put pressure on the referee.
36 mins: Lokonga thwacks a shot at goal but it hits Moore on the arm and goes out for a corner. It would be a harsh penalty but that does not stop the Arsenal players surrounding the ref. There is, however, no VAR tonight.
9 Jan 202315.34 EST34 mins: Tierney drives from the left flank into the box, laying it off to Saka, who can’t find space to shoot and sends it back to Vieira to put in a bad cross.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6fpMGjrculZqWhppp8c3yRbGajmZ5kfXp7zrGdqKqUYsKvtdOem2auXZa%2FtLHNmqNmnpFisLa8jK2foqqUYr%2Bwwc2dZKWhppp6tK%2FOq5xmraCZrrWx0g%3D%3D