Club Focus – Arsenal – Orient Express threaten to derail the Gunners’ quadruple hopes
Arsenal suffered a setback on Sunday evening as Leyton Orient held them to a 1-1 draw in the fifth round of the FA Cup. The Gunners’ quest to land the quadruple continues, but fixture congestion may eventually prove an insurmountable barrier.
An additional fixture in the Gunners’ schedule will be to the delight of their title rivals Manchester United. Prior to Sunday evening’s match, the sixth round draw plotted a potential quarter-final match up between the pair and Arsene Wenger will have to manage his squad carefully in light of the gruelling schedule ahead. Ironically, it was the manager’s attempt to manage fatigue within his squad that ultimately led to Leyton Orient earning a replay.
Wenger made 10 changes to the side that beat Barcelona, with Alex Song the sole survivor from Wednesday’s heroes. Until the home side’s equaliser in the dying minutes, the calculated gamble appeared to be reaping dividends after Le Professeur’s side went ahead with Tomas Rosicky’s first goal in over a year. Seemingly inspired by their Catalan counterparts, Arsenal notched up in excess of 600 passes in the match. Indeed move leading to the opener encompassed over 20 passes alone. Yet, despite the fact they were coasting heading into additional time, they held only a slender lead and it was the failure to capitalise on their dominance meant that, despite having outclassed their opponents in every department, one lapse in concentration would force a replay 10 days later.
The warning signs were there when Orient carved open the Gunners’ defence as Jonathan Tehoue cut the ball back for Alex Revell, whose first-time shot was blocked courtesy of Sebastien Squillaci’s face. Eventually it was Tehoue who made the crucial breakthrough as he jinked between Kieran Gibbs and Ignasi Miquel to drill a low shot through Manuel Almunia’s legs. Gibbs has visibly struggled as he continues to recover from a string of injuries that relegated him from the fringes of England’s World Cup squad to the treatment room and confusion with the debutant Miquel allowed the Frenchman to break into the box. Miquel was making his full senior debut, and Orient’s equaliser blemished an otherwise very impressive showing from the young Spaniard.
Moments before the equaliser, Andrey Arshavin was inches away from extending Arsenal’s lead as his rasping drive struck the base of the post and bounced clear. The Russian was handed a starting role in the wake of his midweek heroics and it appeared to be the manager’s hope that this would prove the catalyst for a return to form. His recent displays have shown an improvement, both in terms of application and end product, but the feeling remains that the confidence player is still lacking this crucial commodity.
Arsenal again failed to see off lower league opposition in the FA Cup and have a replay pencilled in between the Carling Cup final and a league match at home to Sunderland. With the usual suspects likely to be drafted in for the replay Arsenal should progress, but the extra fixture and potential of a quarter-final clash with Manchester United make a quadruple an even more remote prospect.
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