Needing to bounce back from the bad loss mid week in the league to Southampton Arsenal began their defence of the FA Cup with a hard-fought win as Hull City failed to gain a measure of revenge for defeat in last year’s final. Per Mertesacker rose above the Hull defence to powerfully head in the opener from Alexis Sanchez’s corner. Arsenal controlled the first half and almost doubled their lead when Hull’s Paul McShane cleared off the line. Hull grew in confidence after half-time but Sanchez’s sharp turn and calm finish inside 18 yards sealed victory. The Chile forward has become Arsenal’s talisman since his £35m summer move from Barcelona and another moment of quality eased any lingering fears of Hull snatching a late draw at the Emirates.

The finishing needs to be more clinical for Arsenal. I do understand that Theo Walcott hasn’t played for a year being out with injury (except for a brief run in as a substitute) isn’t match sharp and would have killed the couple of chances that he missed. And then after scoring the opening goal it looked like Arsenal dropped a gear or two. Things were looking a bit too dull and pedestrian and the pace had dropped as well as the chances for a while, the defense needing to do more work and the midfield unable to string passes and Walcott & Sanchez seemed to tire. In truth, the Tigers rarely looked capable of avenging their dramatic 3-2 defeat at Wembley last May and this third-round tie failed to match the fever and tension of last season’s showpiece.

Positives : Theo is back but needs a few games to bring himself to full mach fitness because at his best he is excellent. Mertesacker had a decent game which is important. David Ospina looked solid and he is fully fit and could play a few games in goal for us. Joel Campbell finally gets a start and although he didn’t finish well, he was running back, tackling and defending all match. However, based on these last few performances I have seen, Arsenal will be lucky to get 4th. 6th is more likely where we will finish at the end of the season. This is why Arsenal are in 6th place. Can’t kill a game that they are dominating and have had so many chances.

New year but same old inconsistent Arsenal with a horrendous defensive display and a joke of a goalkeeping error. Southampton punished two errors by Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to stay fourth in the Premier League. Szczesny raced from his goal in the first half to allow Sadio Mane to curl into an empty net from a narrow angle. Saints’ keeper Fraser Forster superbly saved from Alexis Sanchez before Szczesny kicked a loose ball while on the floor to Dusan Tadic, who poked in. Southampton could have scored more, with Graziano Pelle’s shot cleared off the line, as Arsenal drop to sixth.

Without the suspended Morgan Schneiderlin – a reported target for many teams in January – Koeman’s side were solid all over the pitch, none more so than goalkeeper Forster, who saved brilliantly from Santi Cazorla and Sanchez either side of Mane’s opener. By contrast, Szczesny made errors which proved the difference between the teams. First, the Poland keeper raced from his goal to confront Mane, but the Senegal striker – soon heading for the African Cup of Nations – curled in his third goal in as many games with a measured finish from the byline. The Arsenal keeper then superbly denied James Ward-Prowse from 12 yards before the break, but panicked when grounded in his six-yard box before the hour mark and kicked a loose ball straight to Tadic, who scored his second Premier League goal. The Arsenal keeper instantly sipped his sports bottle with a bemused look on his face. It was the seventh goal his side have conceded from an error this season – only Everton, with 11, have more.

The Gunners nearly added to that tally when Szczesny was sold short by a backpass and Mathieu Debuchy was left to clear Pelle’s prod off the line. The home side were fortunate to end with 10 men when Florin Gardos – the last man – felled Alexis Sanchez with a quarter of the game remaining but the referee only handed out a yellow card. Theo Walcott was introduced in the 60th minute for Chambers but failed to even touch the ball for almost 20 minutes. Pathetic showing by the Gunners and deservedly losers. Now down to 6th on 33 points.