ALEXIS SANCHEZ SCORED on his return to Arsenal in a 3-1 victory for Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
United were not at their best but quickfire goals in the first half from Sanchez and Jesse Lingard, both of which were set up by Romelu Lukaku, gave them a 2-0 lead at the Emirates Stadium on Friday.
Arsenal hit back through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but could not find a way to beat David de Gea’s deputy Sergio Romero again, with Anthony Martial’s late third wrapping it up for United.
Victory for United means they have won eight games out of eight in all competitions under Solskjaer, while opposite number Unai Emery will rue injuries to defenders Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny.
Arsenal lost Sokratis to an early injury and things got worse for the Gunners when they conceded to an old hero with United’s first effort in the 31st minute.
Sanchez scored in Arsenal’s FA Cup final wins in 2015 and 2017 and he brilliantly rounded Petr Cech to finish from a tight angle after collecting a sublime reverse ball from Lukaku.
And the Belgium striker was involved again when United doubled their lead 149 seconds later.
Arsenal’s offside trap failed for the second time in quick succession with a rapid counter-attack freeing Lukaku to square a pass that Lingard controlled before finishing low past Cech.
Emery’s men gave themselves a lifeline before the break when Aubameyang tapped in at the back post following good combination play from Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette.
Romero saved brilliantly from Ramsey after the restart before Koscielny was forced off with a facial injury following a long delay after being caught by Lukaku’s boot.
And United booked their place in the fifth round when another counter-attack undid Arsenal in the 82nd minute. Paul Pogba’s driving run ended with a shot parried by Cech and Martial tucked away the rebound.
Just over a week out from the 2019 Six Nations openers, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey are joined by Bernard Jackman to look at Ireland’s bid for another Grand Slam:
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