Lincoln’s giantkillers lie in wait for Arsene’s Arsenal

Arsenal ended the fairytale run of non-league Lincoln City, cruising to a 5-0 FA Cup win at The Emirates to take their place in the semi-finals.

Arsenal were thrashed 10-2 as a result of back-to-back 5-1 defeats to Bayern Munich as they were eliminated from the Champions League last 16 for the seventh consecutive season.

Midfielder Josh Ginnelly, on loan from Burnley, is also ineligible after he made an appearance in the FA Cup during a spell with Walsall, while defender Lee Beevers has been out since the end of October with a knee problem. He will undoubtedly be looking to trouble Arsenal’s centre-halves with his sheer strength.

The FA Cup experience has been wearying – “I’ll be glad to be fish and chip paper”, Cowley said – but his pride in what he had achieved in making his side the first from outside the league to reach the Cup quarter-final in 103 years was obvious.

” I think the team was unjustifiably criticised for our last game against Bayern Munich”.

It clearly did Wenger no harm either that his team should make another step towards a potential record 13th FA Cup triumph, even if to some fans winning silverware in that competition should not be enough to spare him.

“From a Liverpool perspective, I hope they lose every game they have left in the Premier League as that would give my team the best chance to finish in the top four, but you can never write Wenger and Arsenal off”.

“It’s up to us to have a game plan and do our job against them”, added Long.

Wenger, who has been in charge at Arsenal for 21 years, is yet to confirm he will accept a reported two-year contract extension and speculation has grown that he will quit when his present deal expires at the end of the season.

The non-league side ran out of gas in the second half, and goals by Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey, along with an own goal by Luke Waterfall, saw Wenger’s side take a comfortable 5-0 win to ensure a spot in the semifinals.

“It’s true people have been putting a lot of doubt on Arsene’s capability of managing the team, coaching the team but I think when you get to some of the situation, you have to as well look at the players”.

Lincoln manager Danny Cowley on Wenger: “He’s forgotten more than I know”.

Arsene Wenger believes footballing authorities could face future legal action if they fail to introduce video replays in the future.

“We had a big disappointment in the Champions League”.

“I haven’t decided yet on Mesut, he still felt not too well after the game”.