Arsenal came from behind to beat Portsmouth 4-1 in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Gabriel Martinelli responded to his recent criticism by scoring a hat-trick for Arsenal in the 4-1 comeback win over Portsmouth to reach the FA Cup fourth round.
Mikel Arteta’s side were, however, given an early scare by the Championship side as Colby Bishop slammed Pompey in front after just three minutes, after Kepa Arrizabalaga could only palm Conor Chaplin’s strike from the edge of the box into his path.
But Arsenal were back level five minutes later through their first corner of the game. Eberechi Eze’s corner was flicked on a couple of times and while Christian Norgaard finished from close range to celebrate the goal, replays showed the ball went in off unfortunate Pompey defender Andre Dozzell.
It was Arsenal’s fifth own goal in their last eight games in all competitions, while Portsmouth’s set piece deficiencies are no surprise, given they have conceded the second-most goals from dead ball situations out of any Championship side this season.
So while Pompey threatened to retake the lead as Kepa saved well from Bishop and Chaplin – another Gunners set piece goal came with Arsenal’s second corner of the game.
Noni Madueke’s delivery was nodded in by Martinelli, who found the net to respond well to his criticism to the Bradley incident on Thursday night.
Arsenal should have added to their lead as Martinelli missed two good chances – including hitting the post from a couple of yards out with the goal gaping – while Madueke won a penalty to make it 3-1 off Zak Swanson, but put his effort from 12 yards wide.
That gave Portsmouth a bit of a lift and Chaplin could have equalised for the Championship side, only for Ben White to deny him with a good block.
And two minutes after that goal-saving challenge, Arsenal did make it three as Myles Lewis-Skelly released Gabriel Jesus down the right with a quick free kick – his cross was tapped home by Martinelli for an easy tap-in.
That allowed Arsenal to ring the changes as Kai Havertz returned for his first appearance since the opening game of the season. Marli Salmon also became the youngest Arsenal player in the FA Cup at 16 years and 135 days – but only after Martinelli had nodded another Madueke corner home, in a carbon copy goal from his first of the day.
The result puts Arsenal in Monday night’s fourth round draw – as the Gunners’ attention turns towards Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Chelsea.
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