কাল পহেলা ফাল্গুন, বসন্তের সঙ্গে ভালোবাসার দিন
· Kaler Kantho
Mikel Arteta has outlined his expectations ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup tie with Wigan Athletic, stressing the need for higher standards after the Brentford draw.
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Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal must be “excellent on the day” as attention turns from a frustrating league draw to the FA Cup, with Wigan Athletic visiting Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
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After a 1-1 Premier League stalemate at Brentford, Arsenal return to the Emirates aiming to reach the fifth round of a competition they last won in 2020. Since that triumph, progress beyond the fourth round has proved elusive, a record Arteta is determined to address.
“Every three days we are playing different competitions so we are so used to it,” he said.
“So, we will reflect on the game [v Brentford], take the positive, the learnings for sure that we have to improve and go on Sunday again with the energy and the batteries fully charged to go and win the game.
“It’s an opportunity for the team, again, with another competition, and the history that we have related to that competition, it’s amazing. We’ll play at home again. I’m really excited to recover and go again.”
Wigan arrive in north London after five consecutive defeats and having parted company with their manager last weekend, but Arteta made clear that reputation and status count for little in knockout football.
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“We haven’t been good enough on that day, and when you come to a competition, you have to be excellent on the day, and the rest, the shirt that you wear, or the badge that you wear, is irrelevant. So we’re going to have to prove that against Wigan again on Sunday,” he added.
Arsenal and Wigan have played each other 21 times, with Arsenal winning 16 and drawing two. The sides have not faced each other since a 1-1 draw in the 2014 FA Cup at Wembley. A Jordi Gomez penalty in the second half had given Wigan the lead before Per Mertesacker equalised in the 81st minute, taking the game to extra time and then penalties. Thanks to Lukasz Fabianksi, the Gunners progressed 4-2 after the shootout.
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Arteta played in that game and said after the match, “It seems like at the moment we need to suffer and really earn things but I think we’ve done it today.
“We were unlucky to go a goal down the way the game was going but I think we showed a lot of character as well. We gave everything we had, we went forward, we created chances. It took us until the end to score and as for the penalties I think we were cool.
“I think Lukasz was fantastic and he really helped the team. The atmosphere was one of the best I’ve seen in football.”
