PORTSMOUTH, England (Reuters) - Arsenal cruised into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win at Portsmouth thanks to goals by defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and striker Eddie Nketiah either side of halftime on Monday.
Third-tier Pompey had not beaten Arsenal since a 5-4 league victory in 1958, but they caused the Gunners plenty of problems before the deadlock was broken just before the break.
The goal seemed to give Arsenal an injection of confidence and Nketiah made it 2-0 six minutes after the break, controlling a cross at pace before bundling the ball home from close range. "Tonight I'm so pleased with the team, with everybody, with the young boys. They are improving a lot, every single week, they have a great mentality," Arsenal defender David Luiz, who wore the captain's armband, told BT Sport.
"In the second half we played a lot quicker and obviously that's when the gaps appeared and we were able to play our best football. We came out quite intense in the second half and obviously the early goal helped," the 20-year-old said.
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