Sports
FA Cup: Arsenal thrash Lincoln to reach semi-finals
English Premier League side Arsenal bounced back from their Champions League humiliating exit to qualify for the English FA Cup semi-finals with a 5-0 win over non-League side Lincoln City FC at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Goals from Theo Walcot, Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and an own goal from Luke Waterfall waw Arsenal cruise through to their third FA Cup semi-final in four seasons.
Theo Walcott opened the scoring in the stoppage time of the first half, and Olivier Giroud doubled the lead ten minutes into the second half with a brilliant finish. Lincoln’s Waterfall then turned in Kieran Gibbs’ c
ut-back into his own net to in the 58th minute.
At 15 minutes before stoppage time, Sanchez made it 4-0, before Ramsey sealed the win for the Gunners in the 85th minute.
That was how Lincoln City’s astonishing run in the FA Cup came to an end.
”I thought we did really well for the first 45 minutes. It is very hard to get negative against them because they have such world-class players,” Lincoln Boss Danny Cowley said after the defeat.
Read Also: Man City cruise to FA Cup semi-final
It was ultimately a routine victory for Arsenal and perhaps eased some of the pressure on Arsene Wenger, who is bidding for his seventh FA Cup triumph as Gunners boss.
“There was always a level of anxiety because these boys are unpredictable. They knocked out Burnley, Ipswich and Brighton, so we have to respect them.
“It was all us in the second half but you have to congratulate Lincoln for what they have achieved in the FA Cup
,” Wenger said after the match.
The quarter-final matches left are those between Tottenham vs Millwall – to be played on Sunday – and Chelsea vs Manchester United, which comes up on Monday.
The FA Cup semi-finals draw will take place on Monday after the match at Stamford Bridge. And both of the semi-final matches will be played on Saturday April 22 and Sunday April 23 at Wembley Stadium
RipplesNigeria ….without borders, without fears
Click here to download the Ripples Nigeria App for latest updates
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...