Martinelli's hat-trick enough to see off Portsmouth in the FA Cup

Tough nine days are ahead of Arsenal. The Gunners will face no less than four teams in this short space but Mikel Arteta is ready. This season he has almost two first-team squads to choose from. Logically, he decided to rest many of them in today‘s FA Cup game against Championship side Portsmouth but that still meant that players like White, Merino, Marinelli, Madueke, Jesus and Eze were starting the game. Too much for 21st -placed Portsmouth who caught the visitors off guard in the third minute but just couldn‘t pull of a surprise: Portsmouth – Arsenal 1-4.

The Gunners allowed a goal after only three minutes but soon composed themselves and won the game on the wings of Gabriel Martinelli and his hat-trick. Out of four goals today, Arsenal scored three from set-pieces and even had the commodity to miss the penalty kick and still win. With Portsmouth out of the way, they now face Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Inter, all away.

It was truly an action packed first half. The first goal was scored after only three minutes, and the scorer was Portsmouth captain Colby Bishop. The irony is that this was his first goal in the last 19 games (all were against Championship sides) but the surprise didn‘t last long. Portsmouth are the worst Championship team defending set-pieces and they faced the best team in the Premier League in set-pieces. The result? Two Arsenal goals from set-pieces in the space of 17 minutes. Dozzell scored an own goal in the eight minute after a confusion in the penalty area after a corner kick. Another one happened in the 25th minute and this time it was Martinelli who used Madueke‘s corner to turn the game completely. The Brazilian winger had a great opportunity in the 31st minute, but his volley went inches of the post. Madueke forced a soft penalty (there is no VAR at this stage of the FA Cup) but missed the goal completely and the result at halftime remained 2-1 for the Gunners.

Martinelli scored a brace to secure the game in the 51st minute, and surprisingly it wasn‘t a set-piece but rather a good action play, in which Gabriel Jesus made a fantastic pass to Martinelli who simply tapped in from the far end. Gunners‘ best player scored a hat-trick in 72nd minute, again from the corner kick. It was a perfect moment for Arteta to introduce some younger forces, but only Marli Salmon (16) was there to come in. Others were veterans Harvertz, Odegaard and Timber who made sure there were no surprises in this game but also got some playing time ahead of the tough schedule which awaits Arsenal.

FA CUP - ROUND 3

Sunday

Derby - Leeds 1-3 (1-0)

/Brereton Diaz 35 - Gnonto 55, Tanaka 59, Justin 90+3/

Portsmouth - Arsenal 1-4 (1-2)

/Bishop 3 - Dozzell 8 og, Martinelli 25,51, 72/

Hull - Blackburn 0-0 in progress

Norwich - Walsall (2-0) in progress

/Jurasek 15, Makama 24, 48,55/

Sheffield Utd - Mansfield (1-2) in progress

/Hamer 20, Bamford 61, Moriah-Welsh 65 og - Reed 13,44, Akins 50, Oates 57/

Swansea - WBA (0-0) in progress

/Eom 48 - Maja 53/

West Ham - QPR (1-0) in progress

/Summerville 45+10/

19.30: (1.88) Man.Utd. (3.60) Brighton (4.10)

***odds are subject to change***