Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah scored and they sent Arsenal to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after the win against Portsmouth with 2-0
The first goal of the game came in the added time of the first half after a great delivery into the penalty area from Reiss Nelson and a great finisher by Sokratis.
With that goal Arsenal went to the dressing room with one goal advantage.
Nelson was at the top of his game last night as he assisted twice. Right after the start of the second half Nelson delivered for his team mate Nketiah who was ruthless in front of goal and scored from close range to double their advantage.
The Gunners are now going to the quarter-finals and this is for the first time in three seasons.
Nelson played just perfect last night and it's not a surprise that he was named man of the match. If he continues to play like this soon he might be part of the starting XIs.
Last night we saw for the first time Pablo Mari who joined Arsenal back in January. That was a promising start for Mari as he partnered with Luiz very well.
The Spanish defender first touch was crucial. He put his body in the way of Gareth Evans who made a powerful shot from long-range.
Portsmouth were the better side at the first half and they were pressing Arsenal very well and that led to some mistaken passes from the Gunners. Portsmouth threw everything to win this game, but Luiz and Mari were very solid in defense.
Arsenal completely took control over the game in the second half and that allowed Mari to be more confident with the ball. He was great with his long balls. Overall he made 77 passes with a 89.5 percent success rate and completed successfully 13 of 17 attempted long balls.
Afterall Mikel Arteta was very pleased with Pablo Mari performance. After the game Arsenal's manager spoke about Mari saying: "He was steady, he was calm, and he was comfortable on the ball. I was very pleased with him."
