Arsenal through with comfortable win over Boro

Arsenal are through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a double from Olivier Giroud sealed a 2-0 win at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon. We were in action against a Middlesbrough side who had gone to the Etihad and beaten Manchester City in the last round so we had every right to be wary of potentially another shock. However, we managed to brush aside any threat from the Championship side as Arsenal put in a comfortable display to remain in the hunt for a successive FA Cup. We will of course have to face Man United though, as the draw was made the day after and I am writing this a little later than usual. Nonetheless it was a performance that sees our brilliant home form continue. Wojciech Szczesny was back in goal for the win as Gabriel made his debut in a team that was vastly changed from Leicester in midweek. Chambers, Gibbs, Flamini and Welbeck all came back into the team as Cazorla captained the side.

Giroud's brace took Arsenal through to the quarter-finals

It was always going to be a game that Arsenal dominated, but after the two goals we scored the same thing that usually happens with this Arsenal side happened; we sat off. It occured against Hull in round three and again against Leicester in the week. The difference from the week was that Middlesbrough weren't able to put as much pressure on us. However, the fact that we do have to withstand so much late pressure against many sides remains an issue and it's something that clearly needs addressing. Some may argue that we don't score enough goals, but it is important that we keep our leads, Anderlecht in the Champions League is an example of that. Against the smaller teams we do need to score more goals though, especially at home. A 2-0 win over a side that had beaten City in the last round is nothing to complain about but the feeling of the game petering out was rather disappointing as Giroud killed the game off with two goals in as many minutes. Both of his goals were of real quality though.

Santi Cazorla ran the game from a deeper position again and that's the position we could start to see him occupy more often with Ramsey and Wilshere injured, and with the return of Ozil and Walcott. However, Cazorla played a big part in Giroud's first goal. Such was Arsenal's dominance and ability to keep the ball that every member of the team touched the ball before it found the back of the net. The Gunners were devastating in and around the penalty area as Cazorla played a lovely ball out to Gibbs who then picked out Giroud who diverted the ball home. It was refreshing to see us score goals of such quality, but with relative ease. The second goal was exemplary of that. The Middlesbrough defence switched off from a corner as Sanchez's delivery found Giroud at the near post and he was able to volley home brilliantly.

Olivier Giroud's performances this season have been very good and it's very frustrating that he spent most of the first half of the season out with injury. Since his return in mid-December our form has picked up and we've looked like a better team because of having him as a focal point. The Frenchman has a very good return this campaign, scoring 10 goals in 18 games - long may his form continue!

Alongside Cazorla, Ozil put in another great display. The German didn't assist or score any this time round but you can see that his confidence is high. His performances since returning from injury have been excellent and he's trying things that he wasn't necessarily doing in his first season at the club. He's showing more of an urge to have a shot on goal. This was evident against Leicester in the fact that his shot ended up in Walcott's goal but a few times against Boro he showed his willingness to drive forward a little more and have a shot or play a telling pass. With him, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud and Sanchez firing on all cylinders we will be a very dangerous side.

Sanchez has looked a little off the gas since his minor injury in the past couple of weeks. Against Leicester he picked up a knock and therefore had a quiet game. I was quite surprised that he started against Middlesbrough considering the vast amount of options we have in that role. Unsurprisingly he wasn't at his marvelous best again and that was because of his injury. There were moments where we saw his spark but it may take him a few more games to find his ever fluent best.

One of the players that plays in a similar role to Sanchez on the pitch is Danny Welbeck. His summer arrival was met with optimism and criticism. A lot of people thought he would score more goals than he has done, and his injury wasn't really timed well as he missed quite a few games at the beginning of 2015. With Walcott's return to the side he really needs to start performing better than he is. He was rather non-existent against Middlesbrough and against Spurs the weekend before he was in similar sort of form.

The game against Middlesbrough gave us our first look at new Brazilian defender Gabriel. His debut was a very efficient one and there looks to be a lot of potential for him and Koscielny at the back. He looked solid and seemed to fit the bill of a ball playing defender. He made one or two crucial tackles and took a yellow for the team at one point when Boro could have been through. Overall the defence looked more comfortable compared to our previous game and so they should have done. The visitors didn't cause any trouble and I'm struggling to remember Szczesny making a strenuous save. Chambers staked his claim at right back whilst Gibbs looked very good going forward. Monreal's defensive game has been excellent of late and both of them offer very good options at left back.

Next up is a trip to Crystal Palace, a potentially tough away game as Alan Pardew has them playing well since he took them. After that, is the first leg of our Champions League tie with Monaco.

The team's line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Cazorla, Welbeck(71), Ozil, Sanchez(71), Giroud(82).
Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Monreal, Coquelin, Rosicky(71), Walcott(71), Akpom(82).

Middlesbrough: Mejias, Fredericks, Gibson, Omeruo, Friend, Clayton, Leadbitter, Tomlin(53), Bamford(53), Adomah, Kike.
Subs: Husband, Woodgate, Ripley, Whitehead, Reach(53), Nsue, Vossen(53).

My man of the match: Olivier Giroud.

Referee: Mike Dean.
Attendance: 59,823.