Hull vs Arsenal match report: Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott seal FA Cup quarter-final place

Hull City 0 Arsenal 4

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud (Getty Images)

The Premier League title may elude them again and their progress in the Champions League is certainly hanging by a thread but there could again be an FA Cup to soften the disappointment and deflect some of the mounting criticism of Arsène Wenger.

No team has won three FA Cups in a row since Blackburn Rovers 130 years ago but Arsenal’s comfortable victory over the Championship side that held them to a goalless draw at the Emirates two and a half weeks ago means they are now only two wins away from another final.

Steve Bruce’s Hull never really looked capable of adding to Wenger’s woes, even if they did turn up the pressure briefly after Olivier Giroud’s goal had given Arsenal a half-time lead.

Giroud scored a second 19 minutes from the end, at which point Arsenal’s place in the last eight looked assured, even without the two late goals from Theo Walcott that put the issue beyond any doubt.

The only regrets from the night for Wenger were injuries to Per Mertesacker, Gabriel and Aaron Ramsey.

A bruising first half had seen Arsenal gain a gift goal but lose their captain and defensive lynchpin Mertesacker, who suffered for an early clash of heads with Nick Powell, after which they required lengthy treatment. Both continued, Powell’s head swathed in a bandage, but after playing on for 15 minutes or so a swelling over one eye forced Mertesacker to withdraw.

Even with the Cup the only realistic opportunity to win a trophy, Wenger rested key players, retaining only five of the side that started in Saturday’s drawn north London derby, although with Walcott and Giroud among those recalled and Mohamed Elneny retained after an impressive performance against Tottenham, it was hardly a line-up the Championship side could expect to bully.

Moreover, the presence on the bench of Mesut Özil, Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez was a fair indication that Wenger intended to be facing Watford at home in the quarter-final on Saturday rather than West Bromwich in the Premier League.

In the event, it was Arsenal who were the more inclined to be physical. After Giroud had bloodied Harry Maguire’s nose with a high boot, Calum Chambers took out David Meyler somewhat cynically and Elneny was booked for tugging at the same player’s shirt. A dangerous late challenge on Curtis Davies resulted in a booking for Giroud as well.

Arsenal dominated the early part of the contest, although the first save of note came from David Ospina, moving smartly to his right to keep out Meyler’s low drive.

Indeed Hull, for whom Bruce had made eight changes from his most recent Championship selection, might have looked back on a satisfactory opening half had Meyler not messed things up, handing Arsenal the advantage with a woeful misjudgement that spoiled what until then had been a solid, hard-working contribution from the Hull midfielder.

Tracking back to help his defence as Arsenal attacked the right flank, Meyler for some reason chose not to thump the ball upfield but to pass it across his own penalty area, which is never advisable, and certainly not against opponents of Arsenal’s calibre. Giroud was alive to his folly and nipped in sharply to slot the ball past Eldin Jakupovic and give Wenger’s side a platform for the second half.

The goal, his first in 12 matches, ended the Frenchman’s longest drought since he became an Arsenal player, stretching back to his double strike against Liverpool in the 3-3 thriller at Anfield on 13 January.

Moments later, the Premier League side almost doubled their lead when a speculative long-range effort from Kieran Gibbs struck the bar.

Hull looked for a rapid response at the start of the second half. Mohamed Diamé, who was too anxious to regain the ball after substitute Nacho Monreal had dispossessed him, was booked for tripping the Spaniard, but the home side quickly swept forward again with Adama Diomandé stretching the visitors’ defence.

Arsenal needed the insurance of a second goal, more so after an injury to Gabriel forced Wenger into another reorganisation at the back, Mathieu Flamini dropping to right-back, Chambers going to the centre and Ramsey coming on to take over Flamini’s duties in midfield.

Elneny forced a fingertip save from Jakupovic with a dipping effort that almost crept under the bar but as the match moved into the final half-hour there was sustained pressure on Arsenal’s goal for the first time, bringing a scare when Ramsey almost directed a cross from Ahmed Elmohamady into his own net.

The second goal finally came when Giroud pounced on a deflected cross to steer the ball home with calm assurance. Arsenal then lost Ramsey, withdrawn after only 16 minutes on the field, before two more goals, both from Walcott, emphasised the gap between the sides.

The third was steered elegantly past Jakupovic by Walcott after he was picked out by Campbell’s fine pass, and the fourth was lashed in from the right, taking a deflection off Alex Bruce on its way into Hull’s goal.