Arsenal were victorious over third-tier side Portsmouth, going on through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win despite losing star midfielder, Lucas Torreira at the 13th minute of the match to a painful injury. 

The midfielder was caught by a tackle from Portsmouth centre half, James Bolton, with referee Mike Dean not seeing anything wrong with the challenge. 

After writhing in pain on the pitch for a while, Torreira was then carried out of the pitch in a stretcher to be replaced by Dani Ceballos. Arsenal new boy, Pablo Mari also featured for the first time this season. 

Reiss Nelson was the stand out player for the away side as he tortured Portsmouth with his pace and precision footwork, providing the assist from a pinpoint cross for the first goal that opened the game up in Arsenal’s favour.

Arsenal ultimately progressed through the tie courtesy of goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah, with the home side providing a stern test for Arsenal’s “big six team” credentials.

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After being eliminated from the Europa Leagye at the hands of Olympiacos, Mikel Arteta and his charges knew that they would have their work cut out for them against a resilient Portsmouth, but the record 13th time winner of the FA Cup had enough quality in the team to overcome the nervy moments and win the game.

Although Portsmouth did not register any goals, Arsenal still displayed the defensive frailties that have become a recurring theme over the past few weeks, and their weakness from set pieces should have cost them were it not for some wayward finishing from the home side. 

Arsenal fans would point fingers at Referee Mike Dean for not booking James Bolton for the tackle of Torreira but replays showed that the center half got the ball first.

They would also condemn the referee for awarding what seemed like a “petty” yellow card to Matteo Guendouzi but FIFA rules state that “A player who is guilty of dissent by protesting (verbally or nonverbally) against a referee's decision must be cautioned” so referee Mike Dean was well within his rights to caution the young midfielder for his sarcastic drop of the ball. 

In the end, Arsenal ran out comfortable winners and will look confidently to the quarter-finals with hopes of going all the way to win the trophy.