Goals from Mohamed Elneny and an Eddie Nketiah double gave Arsenal a 3-0 FA Cup win over Oxford United. But it wasn’t as smooth as the scoreline would have you believe.The famed third round of the FA Cup claimed the lives of quite a few Premier League teams. Newcastle, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest all lost to lower-division opponents, while Leeds barely survived. Arsenal were not one of those teams to suffer a “cupset”, but they certainly did a lot to frustrate their fans on Monday night.For over an hour, Arsenal’s weakened side struggled to break down the inspired hosts at Kassam Stadium, with the question marks above several players who are considered no more than backups.Mikel Arteta fielded a mix-and-match side, with Mohamed Elneny, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira.Some people got to see the game without paying for admission (©Getty Images)The first half brought a meek penalty shout for Lokonga and nothing more, so Arteta needed to shake things up and tell their men to stop messing around. The introduction of Granit Xhaka and Oleksandr Zinchenko gave the all-white-wearing Arsenal some urgency and would soon result in a breakthrough.Egypt international Elneny was left unmarked to head a corner into the net unopposed with 63 minutes on the clock. There was no turning back for the brave hosts, who were happy just to give their much-fancied opponents a good game.Eddie Nketiah got two goals in the space of just six minutes to settle the tie as the London side finally shed their invisible baggage.Arteta brought Emile Smith-Rowe for the first time after a four-month absence in place of Bukayo Saka, who seemed to have picked up a slight injury. It was great to see Smith-Rowe back on the pitch, and he nearly marked his comeback with a goal but could only fire narrowly wide from a good position.Arsenal will have a bit stronger opponent in the next round, with a trip to face Manchester City looming. Those two teams will battle for the Premier League title as well, so we could be watching the start of a special rivalry.Whatever happens, Arteta will hope his first-choice starting eleven stays fit because his squad seems ill-equipped to match the best teams in England.FA CUP Third round FridayManchester United – Everton 3-1 (1-1)/Antony 4, Coady 52 og, Rashford 90+7 pen – Coady 14/SaturdayCrystal Palace – Southampton 1-2 (1-1)/Edouard 14 – Ward-Prowse 37, Armstrong 68/Gillingham – Leicester 0-1 (0-0)/Iheanacho 56/Preston – Huddersfield 3-1 (0-0)/Lees 60 og, Diaby 73, Browne 85 – Kamberi 57/Reading – Watford 2-0 (1-0)/Abrefa 45+3, Long 90+3/Tottenham – Portsmouth 1-0 (0-0)/Kane 50/Blackpool – Nottingham Forest 4-1 (1-0)/Ekpiteta 17, Poveda 64, Hamilton 71, J Yates 87 – R Yates 90+2/Boreham Wood – Accrington 1-1 (0-1)/Ndlovu 78 – Astley 6/Bournemouth – Burnley 2-4 (1-3)/Christie 12, Solanke 48 – Benson 6, 57, Zaroury 39, 43/Chesterfield – West Brom 3-3 (3-2)/Williams 7, Dobra 36, 41 – Thomas-Asante 2, Grant 17, Asante 90+4/Fleetwood – QPR 2-1 (1-1)/Nsiala 40, Omochere 67 – Field 37/Hull – Fulham 0-2 (0-1)/Kurzawa 37, James 90+4/Ipswich – Rotherham 4-1 (1-0)/Humphreys 43, Chaplin 74 pen, Ladapo 79, Burns 87 pen – Washington 47 pen/Middlesbrough – Brighton 1-5 (1-2)/Akpom 13 – Gross 8, Lallana 29, Mac Allister 58, 80, Undav 88/Millwall – Sheffield United 0-2 (0-2)/Jebbison 23, Bogle 36/Shrewsbury – Sunderland 1-2 (0-0)/Pennington 80 – Stewart 90+1, O’Nien 90+4/Brentford – West Ham 0-1 (0-0)/Benrahma 79/Coventry – Wrexham 3-4 (1-3)/Shaef 36, Gyokeres 69, Palmer 76 – Dalby 12, Lee 18, O’Connor 45+6, Mullin 58 pen/Grimsby – Burton 1-0 (0-0)/Richardson 76/Luton – Wigan 1-1 (1-1)/Cornick 45+1 – Naylor 17/Sheffield Wednesday – Newcastle United 2-1 (0-0)/Windass 52, 65 – Guimaraes 69/Liverpool – Wolverhampton 2-2 (1-1)/Nunez 45, Salah 52 – Guedes 26, Hwang 67/SundayBristol City – Swansea 1-1 (0-1)/Semenyo 75 – Piroe 15/Derby – Barnsley 3-0 (1-0)/Collins 45+1, Barkhuizen 60, Knight 79/Cardiff – Leeds 2-2 (2-0)/Philogene 24, Ojo 31 – Rodrigo 65 pen, Perkins 90+3/Hartlepool – Stoke 0-3 (0-2)/Murray 16 og, Brown 43, Menayese 48 og/Norwich – Blackburn 0-1 (0-1)/Vale 31/Stockport – Wallsall 1-2 (0-0)/Madden 88 – Johnson 63, Williams 90+5 pen/Aston Villa – Stevenage 1-2 (1-0)/Sanson 33 – Reid 88 pen, Campbell 90/Manchester City – Chelsea 4-0 (3-0)/Mahrez 23, 85 pen, Alvarez 30 pen, Foden 38/MondayOxford United – Arsenal 3-0 (0-0)/Elneny 63, Nketiah 70, 76/FA CUPFourth round drawThe fourth round is scheduled to be played between Friday, 27 January 2023 and Monday, 30 January 2023, with a prize fund payment of $147,000 for the winning clubs.Preston North End v Tottenham HotspurSouthampton v BlackpoolWrexham v Sheffield UnitedIpswich Town v BurnleyManchester United v ReadingLuton Town or Wigan Athletic v Grimsby TownDerby County v West Ham UnitedStoke City v StevenageBlackburn Rovers v Forest Green Rovers or Birmingham CityWalsall v Leicester CitySheffield Wednesday v Fleetwood TownManchester City v ArsenalBristol City or Swansea City v Chesterfield or West Bromwich AlbionBrighton & Hove Albion v Liverpool or Wolverhampton WanderersFulham v SunderlandBoreham Wood or Accrington Stanley v Cardiff City or Leeds United
