Three Things We Learned After Arsenal's Win At Mansfield As FA Cup draw looms

Two classy finishes help overcome a possible FA Cup scare as Arsenal reach the quarter finals.

Here's Gooner Fanzine print writer Ian Mills with his take from the Gunners excellent victory at Field Mill

1- Super Max shines again:

 – Max Dowman become our youngest ever player to feature in the F A Cup when he started this fifth-round tie aged just 16 years and 66 days old and he gave a such an assured performance you would think he had playing in the first team for years.

He seized on an early error by Roberts in the League One side’s goal but his run into the box was thwarted by Roberts’ save. He then had another effort saved when teed up by Leandro Trossard. After the interval, he had another fine run  which saw his shot well saved by Roberts. He also set up Jesus who should have done better from close range.

He continues to impress whenever he features and whilst we are undoubtably heading into the ‘business end’ of the season, he will surely have his part to play.

2 - A day of records:

 – Dowman was joined in the starting line up by another 16-year-old, Marli Salmon as we became the first Premier League side in history to field two players in a competitive game aged 16 or under in any competition. While Jaden Dixon, a recent signing from Stoke City, also made his debut.

We scored our 100th goal of the season in this game, the first Premier League side to reach that landmark this term – only two other clubs in Europe’s top five leagues have scored more, Bayern Munich (128) and Barcelona (110).

Our 101 goals is our best goals to game ratio since the 1950’s with 18 different players on the scoresheet- it doesn’t quite fit the boring Arsenal tag does it?

We have won 35 games from the 46 we have played so far which is the most by any side in the big five European leagues in 2025-26 and the highest under Mikel Arteta in a single campaign.  

3 - Mansfield impressive in defeat:

 – given the home side’s relegation battle in League One, they gave a great account of themselves and of course they had dispatched Premier League opposition in the Fourth Round with a stunning victory at Burnley.

They had 11 shots against us in the first half – the most we have faced in any opening forty five minutes of any match since April 2022.

Noni Madueke put us in front with a tremendous shot however Evans equalised to raise hopes of another Cup upset until Eberechi Eze’s thunderbolt settled both our nerves and the destination of this tie.

Attention now turns to the Champions League Round of 16 First Leg versus Bayer Leverkusen where we should be able to welcome back several players rested from our weekend endeavours.