Ten changes and a five-goal stroll: as comfortable an evening excursion as touchline-banned Arsene Wenger could have hoped for. Young players were given vital experience and though Theo Walcott grabbed a hat trick, the most heartening news was Danny Welbeck making an eye-catching, two-goal comeback.
Welbeck was making his first start since injuring his knee in May, but there was little rustiness in the calm finish that set Arsenal into a 15th-minute lead. The former Manchester United forward began his night on the flank, with Lucas Perez in the centre-forward role, and surged onto the Spaniard’s impressive angled flick from the left, barely breaking stride as he rattled the ball off the underside of the post with a poked chip.
His second goal seven minutes later was perhaps even better. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s long pass from the right flank was killed with his first touch and stroked in with the second. Finishing like that reminded that Wenger has a striking option beyond the Olivier Giroud-Alexis Sanchez conundrum that has recently been tying many Arsenal fans in knots.
Arsenal should have been three clear when Shkodran Mustafi headed wide from an Oxlade-Chamberlain free kick moments later. They would not have to wait much longer, as Welbeck turned provider in speeding to the byline and angling his cross into the path of Walcott. Wenger, beginning his four-match ban and sitting in the stands, was enjoying a peaceful, relaxed watching brief, and assistant Steve Bould was not required to issue too many instructions from the technical area.
Oxlade-Chamberlain played in centre-midfield, where Wenger used to place him during his breakthrough season of 2011-12, but where he now faces serious competition for a place. But with Santi Cazorla a long-term absentee, Granit Xhaka suspended again and Mohamed Elneny on international duty with Egypt, “The Ox” took his opportunity to assert himself. Yet to sign a new contract, this was a timely marker of a useful string to his bow.
Southampton manager Claude Puel clearly had little desire to follow up his team’s feat of reaching the EFL Cup final with another cup run. Until their Wembley date on Feb. 26, the Premier League — where his side are a disappointing 11th — has become the only show in town.
As Walcott fired in Arsenal’s fourth in the 69th minute and fifth with five minutes to spare, there were boos as fans peeled for the exits. Despite Saints’ midweek semifinal success at Liverpool, there are clearly doubts in the former Lille, Lyon and Nice manager.
With his team currently second in the Premier League, Wenger had his eyes on Tuesday’s home match with Watford and chose to shuffle his pack in the style of Jurgen Klopp and Mauricio Pochettino. But he did not suffer the embarrassment that Liverpool did at the hands of Wolves or the scare that Wycombe gave Tottenham.
That compatriot Puel had done the same ahead of a tricky trip to Swansea on Tuesday made life pretty much plain sailing for the Arsenal boss. Wenger was handed the chance to give young players Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Ainsley Maitland-Niles some low-pressure exposure.
Reine-Adelaide was granted Mesut Ozil’s free No. 10 role, a mark of Wenger’s great expectations. Despite his tender years — he turned 19 this month — Reine-Adelaide already has a mature physique that allows him to hold off defenders. He also possesses a visibly high cruising speed and a good grasp of when to release the ball; there was little in the way of over-elaboration when carrying it forward. He may have tired in the second half and was replaced by Alex Iwobi, but Wenger looks to have another gem on his hands.
Maitland-Niles, also 19, is a player of versatility, and was given a rather more functional role as anchorman midfielder. In tandem with Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arsenal dominated the centre of the pitch as Maitland-Niles kept his distribution simple.
Both teenagers and central defender Rob Holding, himself just 21, should expect to play a part in Arsenal’s fifth-round tie, scheduled for the middle of next month when Wenger turns his attention to the Champions League and Bayern Munich.
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