Arsenal came from behind for FA Cup win

 

Strikes from Joel Campbell, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud gave the Gunners a comfortable victory following Jeremain Lens's opening goal in north London

Arsenal came from behind to beat Sunderland in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Arsene Wenger has never lost at this stage of the competition and is on track to become the most successful manager in FA Cup history - no manager has ever won it seven times - thanks to the victory over Sam Allardyce's spirited side.

Jeremain Lens scored his third goal of the season to give Sunderland a surprise lead, but Joel Campbell equalised for Arsenal less than 10 minutes later.

The Gunners, who left Mesut Ozil out of the matchday squad and lost David Ospina to a groin problem earlier on Saturday, struggled to give Sunderland's debutant goalkeeper Jordan Pickford much to do in a balanced first half, but the England youth international kept his side in the encounter as Arsenal increased the pressure in the second half.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Steven Fletcher both hit the woodwork, but substitute Aaron Ramsey - whose last goal in the tournament came in the final win over Hull City in 2014 - scored from close range before Olivier Giroud made the win safe five minutes later.

Kieran Gibbs tested Pickford early on, but it was Sunderland who struck first after 17 minutes. Laurent Koscielny dithered on the ball on the edge of the Arsenal area after a poor pass from Gibbs, and Lens took it from him before rifling right-footed past Petr Cech.

Arsenal responded, Pickford racing off his line to thwart Alex Iwobi's fine run into the box before some poor defending from the visitors allowed the holders to draw level after 25 minutes. Theo Walcott cut in from the left and clipped a low cross to the far post, where Campbell arrived completely unmarked to slot home first time into the bottom corner. At the end, the gunners showed off the quality. Good match all the same.