Premier League leaders Arsenal progressed to the quarter-final of the FA Cup after a hard-fought 2-1 victory against a spirited Mansfield Town side.
The hosts, who are just five points above the relegation zone, started the game in excellent fashion and threatened to open the scoring on several occasions through both Tyler Roberts with a curled effort and Rhys Oates, who could have done better with a volleyed effort shortly after.
Arsenal eventually showed their title-chasing prowess with an excellent strike from Noni Madueke, who found the net from the edge of the box just moments after forcing Liam Roberts into a really smart save.
The capital side have made light work of their last two lower-league opponents in the FA Cup to progress to this stage, but this was certainly not a routined victory for the Gunners, who were pegged back just moments into the second half when substitute Will Evans found the net with a composed strike from inside the penalty area.
Mansfield threatened throughout the second half to take the lead, but eventually succumbed to a powerful strike from England international Eberechi Eze.
Despite the loss, it’s a result which the Stags can take plenty of pride from at the full time whistle as attention now turns to the league campaign and the fight to secure survival in the third-tier after a series of challenging results.
Here are our Mansfield Town player ratings following a memorable match against an Arsenal side gunning for the Premier League title.

13. Will Evans - 8
Scored from the subs bench within minutes of being introduced. Made plenty of good runs and caused Arsenal lots of problems in the second half. He'll be pushing for a start on Tuesday evening. | UGC

14. Aaron Lewis - 6
Didn't make a huge impact on the game after appearing as a substitue in the final 30 minutes. | UGC

15. Oliver Irow - N/A
Was introduced in the final 10 minutes but didn't have enough time to impact the game. | UGC

16. Victor Adeboyejo - N/A
The former Bolton man didn't have a great deal of time to influence the game against a club that he spent time with as a youth player. | UGC


