Unai Emery tells BT Sport that he’s very happy with his young team. And that’s pretty much that, on a night that’s raised the profile of Joe Willock and Tony Adams’ tailor. Night night everyone!
Updated
Blackpool boss Terry McPhillips talks! “We didn’t quite have the quality to hurt them tonight. We had some good play in both halves, and I think they know they’ve been in a game. And I thought the last goal was offside. But we’ve played Arsenal home and away and given it a good go. My players are honest, and keep going, and want to do well. We had more of a go here, and that leaves gaps. But I’m proud of the lads. In the end, they’re a top team. We move on now to Portsmouth.”
Meanwhile at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace left it late to see off Grimsby Town. Ed Aarons is your man for this one.
At Ashton Gate, Bristol City saw off Huddersfield. Does this really count as a shock? Stuart James has the verdict.
And now for the late kick-offs elsewhere. Louise Taylor was at St James’ Park to witness a salvage job by Matt Ritchie.
Andy Hunter was our man at Bloomfield Road. Here’s his take on a breezy night for Arsenal.
A very happy Joe Willock speaks to BT Sport. “It was a good night for me. But not just for me, for the team. We dug deep, the second half wasn’t as easy. I thought I had a hat-trick but the linesman took it away from me. But that’s how football is sometimes! I’m preparing myself everyday, competing with the best players in the world in training. It’s the best thing I can do, and I will try to make sure I’ll get in the team.”
Updated
There were four other late kick-offs in the FA Cup. Here are the results, with Huddersfield and Norwich both coming a cropper against teams from lower divisions.
Bristol City 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Crystal Palace 1-0 Grimsby Town
Newcastle United 1-1 Blackburn Rovers
Norwich City 0-1 Portsmouth
FULL TIME: Blackpool 0-3 Arsenal
The 13-time FA Cup winners are into the fourth round. Joe Willock, the 19-year-old midfielder, was their two-goal hero. Blackpool never seriously threatened a shock, but dug in well after a shaky start, staying in the game until late on.
90 min: Blackpool push forward looking for a consolation, but nearly concede a fourth instead. Arsenal break upfield, Ramsey is sent clear by Elneny. But Mafoumbi reads the danger, sliding out of his area and putting a stop to Ramsey’s gallop.
88 min: Jenkinson has a little burst down the right but can’t get a cross in. No matter.
87 min: Bola bursts down the left and finds Pritchard in the middle. But Pritchard can’t control and fails to get a shot away.
85 min: Iwobi is sent romping into acres down the left. He should feed Lacazette, free in the middle, but goes for goal instead, and slams a shot straight down Mafoumbi’s throat. It’s his last act of the night; he’s replaced by the 17-year-old Saka.
Updated
84 min: Both teams make a change. Arsenal send on Medley for Kolasinac, while Davies replaces Gnanduillet for Blackpool.
GOAL! Blackpool 0-3 Arsenal (Iwobi 82)
Lacazette swans in from the right wing. He slips the ball left for Ramsey, who enters the box down the channel. He toe-punts towards the bottom right. Mafoumbi saves well, but the ball breaks to Iwobi, who slots home at the far post. Iwobi was a touch offside when Ramsey took his shot, but the flag didn’t go up. There’s no VAR here tonight; that would have been chalked off if the technology was in situ.
Updated
80 min: Willock gets the ball in the Blackpool net for a third time. But he’s not celebrating his hat-trick, because Kolasinac, who had teed him up for a tap-in with a ball from the left, was found offside by Lacazette earlier in the move.
79 min: Iwobi and Lacazette combine down the inside-left channel and make it into the Blackpool area. But it’s all too intricate, especially when Willock arrives on the scene to completely clutter up the place. Blackpool clear.
Updated
78 min: Iwobi nearly slips Lacazette clear with a cute pass down the middle, but his radar’s just a little bit off. Nice try, though. Lacazette tries to keep the move going with some determined work down the left, but his flash across the face of goal doesn’t go anywhere near a dark-blue-and-purple shirt.
76 min: The tempo of this game has dropped, which will suit Arsenal just fine.
74 min: The corner’s taken, and it’s a waste of time.
73 min: Nottingham with a long throw out on the right. Arsenal deal with it easily and Ramsey breaks up the other end. He strokes a pass down the right for Maitland-Niles, who earns Arsenal’s sixth corner of the evening. Before the corner, there’s a bit of silly buggers between O’Connor and Lacazette, forcing the referee to remind both players that they’re grown men.
71 min: The substitute keeper still hasn’t got his hands warm, because the corner’s worked to Kolasinac, 25 yards out, and the resulting shot clears the Blackpool Tower.
70 min: Arsenal play it short instead, Maitland-Niles earning a corner. So that’ll be the first thing Mafoumbi has to deal with.
69 min: A very disappointed Howard trudges off the pitch. He’ll be replaced by Mafoumbi, who takes his own sweet time getting onto the field. His first job, once he eventually clocks in, will be to face a long Arsenal throw from the right flank.
68 min: Howard is down, and it looks as though Blackpool will have to change their keeper. It looks as though he’s pulled a muscle while taking a goal kick.
66 min: Willock, on the hat-trick hunt, dribbles into the Blackpool box from the left. He’s got options inside, but wants to shoot, understandably so. His effort is blocked, and falls to Elneny, who sends a shot wide from the edge of the box.
65 min: Lacazette comes on for Nketiah, who on another night might have had a hat-trick. Then there’s another corner for Blackpool down the right; O’Connor eyebrows this one wide left from close range. The home side really have had their chances.
63 min: More slapstick nonsense in the Arsenal box, as Pritchard’s right-wing cross balloons up off Elneny, then Sokratis, and falls from high towards Feeney, on the left-hand edge of the six-yard box. But O’Connor gets in the way of his own man, and Feeney ends up fresh-airing it. Peter Chelsom would approve, one suspects.
62 min: Pritchard comes on for Taylor, and immediately wastes a corner that’d been won by Delfouneso down the right.
60 min: Lichtsteiner passes back to Cech, who slips in the slapstick style while attempting to change his feet. He just about gets away with it, the ball somehow eluding the lurking Guy. He whacks clear, blowing out his cheeks, with a sweat on.
58 min: A nice period of Blackpool possession. They push Arsenal back, and back, and back. Then Bola bursts into a gap down the left, sent clear by Spearing. Bola pulls the ball back across goal. Nottingham races in from the right, leans back, and blooters a first-time shot miles over the bar. Blackpool have had their chances.
56 min: Delfouneso sails past Kolasinac in the midfield, and is dragged back in the cynical style. It’s the first yellow card of a match that’s been played in good spirit.
54 min: Blackpool pass it around the back for a bit. Then Guy, last man, is nearly stripped of possession by Willock, who had Nketiah in close attendance. Guy just about gets away with it, but for a split second a third goal looked on the cards.
52 min: A nice spin by Spearing down the Blackpool right. He dinks forward towards Delfouneso, who doesn’t really bother going for the ball, much to the home support’s irritation. But he knew full well he was a yard offside, and chose to save his energy.
51 min: A corner out on the left for Arsenal. They play it short. Iwobi draws a couple of tangerine shirts and slips the ball to Ramsey, who shoots from a tight angle. It’s deflected out for another corner, this one leading to nothing much.
49 min: Iwobi breezes down the left wing, a ball-glued-to-boot burst that Stanley Matthews would have approved of. He beats four men. The resulting cross isn’t up to Stan standards, though. Blackpool go up the other end, Gnanduillet dragging a poor shot wide left from the edge of the box.
Updated
47 min: Iwobi spins into space and is brought to an unceremonious halt by Guy. No booking, surprisingly, but it’s a free kick to Arsenal 30 yards out. Elneny takes. Sokratis wins a header but doesn’t get any goalward purchase on it. Delfouneso creams it away.
And we’re off again! Blackpool get the ball rolling for the second half. No changes.
Half-time entertainment. A paean to the seaside town of Blackpool, and its glorious showbiz tradition, directed by local auteur Peter Chelsom.
HALF TIME: Blackpool 0-2 Arsenal
There’s enough time for Nketiah to bring down a long ball down the middle, and bobble a shot towards the bottom right. He should have scored, but Howard tips round the post. And that’s that for the half. Willock has two goals; Nketiah should have had a hat-trick. Arsenal are cruising in some style, like you would in a Ford Mustang Escort.
Updated
45 min: Delfouneso cuts in from the right and has a blast. It’s blocked, but rebounds to Spearing. The Blackpool captain thinks about shooting but instead spreads the play back to the right for Nottingham, who fires witlessly into a forest of players. Arsenal clear.
43 min: Arsenal stroke it about the back again. Blackpool, once bitten, don’t bother pressing.
41 min: Replays suggest Iwobi did touch the ball with his arm. O’Connor was complaining, but nobody else, and the referee’s assistant saw nowt.
39 min: A suggestion that Iwobi might have brought that Jenkinson pass down with his arm, the ball rearing up off his knee. But the referee didn’t see much wrong. It was a really clever move by Arsenal, who teased Blackpool into the press before breaking up the other end in ruthless fashion.
GOAL! Blackpool 0-2 Arsenal (Willock 37)
This is a fine goal. Arsenal pass the ball around at the back awhile, drawing Blackpool onto them. They beat the press easily. Jenkinson sends a long pass down the right for Iwobi, who brings the ball down and slips it back to Jenkinson on the overlap. Jenkinson fires it low towards Nketiah by the near post; he flicks it further across the face of goal, and Willock arrives at the far post to bundle home.
Updated
35 min: Spearing sets Feeney away down the left with a lovely wedged pass. He’s got Gnanduillet and Delfouneso in the middle, with no defender in sight! For a second it looks as though Arsenal are in a world of trouble, but the flag goes up for offside. It’s the correct decision, though Blackpool aren’t particularly happy about it.
33 min: A long throw into the Arsenal box from the right. Cech flaps instead of punching, and the ball’s at the livewire Feeney’s feet, just to the left of the D. Feeney looks to curl one into the bottom right, but doesn’t set it out far enough, and it’s an easy gather for Cech this time.
31 min: Blackpool push Arsenal back a bit, Nottingham probing down the right, Feeney down the left. Arsenal hold their shape. Blackpool are slowly working their way back into this match, though. The Gunners will be desirous of another goal to settle their inexperienced team down.
29 min: Taylor curls the free kick into the Arsenal box. Gnanduillet meets it, clear, six yards out! But he heads weakly, straight at Cech ... and it turns out he was a fair distance offside anyway. Even so, he should have planted that one past Cech; a poor miss.
Updated
28 min: A long throw down the left. Iwobi shoves Feeney in the back. Free kick in a dangerous position.
26 min: One corner leads to another, and that second one’s easily headed clear by Spearing. Arsenal come back at Blackpool, Iwobi making a little space for himself down the inside-left channel, then dragging a low shot across goal and wide of the right-hand post.
25 min: Feeney makes good down the left and loops to the far post. There’s a mild melee. Gnanduillet nearly gets a header in. Sokratis eventually clears. Arsenal go up the other end, Willock winning a corner with a burst down the left.
23 min: Taylor nearly gets on the end of Delfouenso’s cross from the right, but can’t get his feet sorted. This is an impressive response by Blackpool, who were threatening to capitulate for a few minutes back there. As it is, having hung on, they’re now asking a couple of questions.
22 min: Delfouneso finds a bit of space down the right. He bombs down the wing and there’s folk in the middle waiting for service. But he shoots from a tight angle instead, and it’s easily fielded by Cech.
21 min: Gnanduillet holds the ball up well, before bringing Bola into the action down the left. There’s a brief skirmish in the Arsenal box before the ball is cleared. As bad as Blackpool have been in defence, they’ve asked a couple of questions down the other end, and should take heart accordingly.
18 min: Arsenal should probably have four goals already. But it’s a thin line between 0-4 and 1-1 ... erm, well, y’know ... and here Taylor spins by the right-hand edge of the Arsenal D, and sees his shot deflect and threaten to creep into the bottom left. Cech does well to gather at full stretch. That half-chance was set up by a lovely crossfield ball from Bola on the left to Delfouneso on the right.
Updated
16 min: Ramsey, deep on the right, finds Nketiah in the Blackpool box with a perfectly judged floating pass. Nketiah has gone too early, and though he chests down well, with a view to getting a shot away, it’s all in vain as the flag goes up for offside.
15 min: Spearing spreads the play by sending Feeney racing down the left. Feeney earns a corner, which becomes Blackpool’s second set-piece non-event of the match.
14 min: Blackpool are all over the shop here. Iwobi sends a looping cross from the left wing to the far post. Jenkinson should score from close range, but opts to head back across goal instead, allowing O’Connor to hack clear.
13 min: Willock tears down the left, sits down O’Conner, and nearly finds Nketiah in the middle. Then the livewire Maitland-Niles is sent clear through the centre by Iwobi, but the flag goes up for offside.
GOAL! Blackpool 0-1 Arsenal (Willock 11)
Ramsey looks for the top right with the free kick. The ball twangs off the right-hand post, via a deflection off Sterling in the wall, and sails across the face of goal. Willock, six yards out, stoops and heads into the empty net. Howard had no chance to react! And it’s fair to say that had been coming.
Updated
10 min: Nketiah hasn’t let those early misses get to him, and he dribbles stylishly down the inside-left. He’s brought down by Nottingham, just outside the area. Ramsey steps up to take the free kick, and ...
9 min: Ramsey sits deep again, and carves Blackpool open with another fine long pass down the middle. The impressive Maitland-Niles can’t quite take the ball down while in full flight.
7 min: Well, this match could, probably should, already be Blackpool 1-2 Arsenal. Jenkinson flicks a cute pass down the right to release Maitland-Niles, who immediately squares for Nketiah. The 19-year-old striker slices his shot wide left from six yards. Another poor miss from the young man. But he’s getting into the right places.
6 min: Cech plucks the corner from the clouds. Really not sure what Lichtsteiner was doing back there.
5 min: Gnanduillet dribbles with purpose down the inside-left channel. And into the area. Lichtsteiner backs off, and keeps backing off, allowing the tall Blackpool striker to Ormondroyd his way towards the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He gets a shot away, and Cech does well to smother. Corner.
Updated
3 min: Ramsey, quarterbacking from deep, finds Maitland-Niles on the edge of the Blackpool area. Maitland-Niles cushions a first-time pass left for Nketiah, who slams a shot into the side netting. He shouldn’t just have done better; one on one with Howard, he should have scored.
2 min: A slightly eerie atmosphere in this famous but empty old stadium. Arsenal songs echoing around, pinging off the walls.
Updated
And we’re off! Arsenal get the ball rolling. But possession’s soon lost. Gnanduillet beats Elneny to the ball down the left and sends Feeney scampering free. But Feeney’s a mile offside. Still, a promising start for the hosts.
The teams are out! Blackpool, led out by 2012 finalist Jay Spearing, take to the field in their famous tangerine shirts. Arsenal are in their second-choice blue and purple. There are around 5,000 Arsenal fans here, and they’ll greatly outnumber the home support, on account of the ongoing Oyston-out boycott. We’ll be off in a minute!
Updated
A late change to the Arsenal team. Laurent Koscielny has injured his back in the warm-up, so Carl Jenkinson steps in at right back, Stephan Lichtsteiner moving into the centre. Meanwhile Unai Emery has a quick word with BT Sport: “We want to win. This competition we use so many different players because it’s a good area to take responsibility. It’s a good test. It’s a big match.”
Corrections and clarifications dept. So it would appear that this is a Ford Mustang ...
... and the thing wheelspinning about Blackpool, demanding the removal of the Oystons in a made-in-Dagenham stylee, is a Ford Escort Mexico. Thanks to Colin Young and Craig McEwan for the heads up. “It’s a bit like calling a Hillman Imp a Bentley,” adds JG.
Updated
Fashion watch. In the BT Sport studio, Arsenal legend Tony Adams is sporting a powder-blue velvet three-piece suit. A powder-blue velvet three-piece suit! It’s a strong look, and to be fair he carries it off magnificently. To these untrained eyes, it’s a handsome combination. Where’s Hadley Freeman when you need her? In lieu of expert analysis, we’ll have to make do with Gary Lineker instead.
I’ll be surprised if Tony Adams’ suit doesn’t have its own Twitter account by the final whistle.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) January 5, 2019
Pre-match demonstration II. A tangerine Ford Mustang makes its point as it makes its way past Bloomfield Road.
Also, who’s this good boy? He doesn’t love the Oystons. But he loves you! A wet nose and a shiny coat. Such a good boy.
Pre-match demonstration.
Blackpool make one change to the team that lost 1-0 at home to Sunderland last week. Michael Nottingham comes in at the back for Ben Heneghan.
Arsenal make six changes to the side that beat Fulham 4-1 on Tuesday. Bernd Leno, Shkodran Mustafi, Matteo Guendouzi, Grant Xhaka, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang step down, allowing Petr Cech, Stefan Lichtsteiner, Mohamed Elneny, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah to take their place.
The teams
Blackpool: Howard, Nottingham, Daniels, O’Connor, Bola, Spearing, Guy, Taylor, Feeney, Delfouneso, Gnanduillet.
Subs: Mafoumbi, Anderton, Bunney, McLaughlin, Pritchard, O’Sullivan, Davies.
Arsenal: Cech, Lichtsteiner, Koscielny, Sokratis, Kolasinac, Elneny, Ramsey, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Iwobi, Nketiah.
Subs: Martinez, Jenkinson, Medley, Torreira, Guendouzi, Saka, Lacazette.
Preamble
Arsenal have won the FA Cup a record 13 times; Blackpool just the once. Even so, you could argue that these respective contributions to the competition’s legacy are six and half-a-dozen. The Gunners bring plenty to the table: the 1930 Graf Zeppelin final, Charlie George, 1979’s five-minute spectacular, Andy Linighan’s late, late winner, Ray Parlour, Vieira’s penalty, Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey. A list as impressive as it’s long. But Blackpool have the Matthews final, and nobody’s trumping that.
This match is a repeat of the 1953 Charity Shield, and neither club is currently the force it was back then. Blackpool were coming off the back of that famous final, holders of the cup, while Arsenal were the reigning league champions. Nowadays Arsenal are well off the pace at the top of the Premier League, while Blackpool languish in mid-table all the way down in League One. The chances of the Seasiders causing a shock is therefore low, but tonight’s hosts will take succour from their performance at the Emirates in the League Cup a couple of months ago, when they were an offside decision away from staging a two-goal comeback against their illustrious hosts. Another performance like that tonight, and it’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm.
