A jovial Theo Walcott made The National sport front page on Sunday, May 31 after he scored for Arsenal in their 4-0 victory over Aston Villa in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
It was manager Arsene Wenger’s sixth FA Cup title as Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez capped off a memorable first season for the Gunners with a typical performance of pace, power and skill illuminated by a stunning 25-yard strike to give his team a two-goal cushion.
Read more:
– Cup finals from England, Scotland, Germany, France and Spain – in pictures
Wenger had been reluctant to play Walcott in his preferred role spearheading the attack, but the gamble of moving him in from the wing paid off.
The speedy 26-year-old menaced throughout and was unfortunate not to find the net before he eventually broke the deadlock on 40 minutes, giving his manager food for thought and serving notice to France’s Olivier Giroud that he has competition through the centre.
Much of the pre-match talk revolved around Villa’s highly-rated 19-year-old Jack Grealish after he impressed on the big stage against Liverpool in the semi-final.
But the midfielder was tightly marked by Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin, and, despite occasional sparks, found it difficult to create any openings during Villa’s sporadic attacks.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
