LONDON: Sutton United's FA Cup fairytale ended as Arsenal forward
Theo Walcott scored his 100th goal for the club in a 2-0 fifth round
victory on a surreal night at Gander Green Lane on Monday.
England forward Walcott added to Lucas Perez's 26th minute effort
shortly after the break as the 12-times winners avoided what would have
been one of the competition's greatest shocks.
The 5,000 capacity crowd wedged into the Borough Sports Ground in
south London for the biggest night in the club's humble 119-year history
were even treated to a 15-minute cameo by Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez on
the glistening artificial pitch.
Sutton, 17th in the fifth-tier, 105 places lower down the English
football ladder than Arsenal, could be proud of their effort in matching
their famous visitors.
They will bank about 700,000 pounds for a fairytale Cup run that
included a famous victory over former FA Cup winners Leeds United in
round four.
"It was a dream to watch my team play against Arsenal. The quality of
the team they put out showed what's at stake," said Sutton manager Paul
Doswell, who works for nothing and loaned the club 450,000 pounds
interest free for its 3G pitch.
"I'm very, very proud. This was our cup final and these players will go down in history at the end of the day."
Arsenal will play Sutton's National League rivals Lincoln City in the
quarter-finals after they became the first minor league side for 103
years to reach the last eight by beating Premier League side Burnley
away on Saturday.
"They were organised and had a huge desire. If we were not
mentally prepared we would not have gone through today," said Arsenal
boss Arsene Wenger, who made seven changes to the side that lost 5-1 at
Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week.
"I didn't really enjoy tonight because we absolutely had to do the job and it is tricky."
NO CLASSIC
The match was not a classic and, after a big build-up in the media, never really looked like producing a footballing miracle.
But it created memories galore.
There was the streaker who interrupted play in the first half
sporting a rubber giraffe's head. There was the sight of children
scaling the scaffolding housing the BBC TV cameras, straining for a view
of Arsenal's superstars.
And there was Sutton's rotund reserve keeper Wayne Shaw munching on a pie in the closing stages.
Hundreds of fans had gathered outside the Plough pub awaiting the
arrival of the Arsenal team coach which rolled in little more than an
hour before kickoff.
Inside, the smell of fried onions and hot dogs wafted across the plastic pitch being liberally watered.
Tony Dolbear, match announcer for 30 years, politely but firmly told some over-eager youngsters to refrain from climbing.
Sutton went about their business diligently, hustling and hurrying Arsenal's thoroughbreds in the first half.
They even ventured forward on occasion with Roarie Deacon and Craig
Eastmond, who both once played for Arsenal, keen to make the most of
their chance to shine.
Arsenal went ahead when Granit Xhaka fed Lucas wide on the right and
he cut inside before skimming a low left-foot shot that gathered pace
off the plastic turf and beat the belated dive of Ross Worner who was
distracted by Walcott.
Arsenal keeper David Ospina almost gifted Sutton an equaliser with a
stray clearance just before halftime but Adam May sliced wide from a
promising position.
With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on as a substitute, Arsenal gave
themselves some breathing space 10 minutes after the break when Walcott
turned in Nacho Monreal's cross after a fine move.
However, Sutton would not be overwhelmed and deserved a goal, none
more so than the livewire Deacon who rattled the crossbar with a 25
metre thunderbolt.
The only sour note was some scuffling on the Gander Green Lane pitch
following the final whistle after some of Sutton's fans inexplicably
tried to break the crossbar.
(Additional reporting by Ian Chadband; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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