FA Cup final: Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa - 5 Talking Points

3. Christian Benteke’s flop-show

Per Mertesacker (hidden) scores after beating Benteke in the air

A lot of hype was build up around Aston Villa’s burly forward before the big Wembley final. Aston Villa’s hopes of an FA Cup glory rested solely on his shoulders. But it was a no-show from him today.

The Villa forward was simply nonexistent in the game and was hardly visible till the 60th minute in the game. But then too he wasn’t noticed for the right reasons, sadly, as his diabolical defending in a set piece which yielded Per Mertasacker’s goal.

On the other end of the pitch, he was bullied by the big German as he was completely negated by the Arsenal defender. He looked bereft of energy and zeal as he just hung in and around the Arsenal penalty box like a pole. The dampener of performance was partly due to some really erratic performance of his teammates.

Such performances would do him no good in his bid to move to a bigger club as his temperament would be severely questions and scrutinized.

2. Arsenal’s unsung heroes

Francis Coquelin (R) shields the ball from Fabian Delph

All the headlines after tonight’s win will be hogged by the Walcotts and the Sanchezs, but this dominating victory wouldn’t have been possible without the telling contributions from few of the unsung heroes. The troika of François Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Laurent Koscielny was the solid foundation on which this victory was built.

Santi Cazorla has simply been immense for Arsenal this season, especially in the second half of the season. Laurent Koscielny has been the plinth of Arsenal’s defence for the past four seasons, and he didn’t disappoint one bit today as he supported Per Mertesacker in his bid to keep Christian Benteke at bay.

But, one man who has actually announced himself today is François Coquelin. From being considered technically inept to being one of the key players of the first team, the young French midfielder has truly risen out of nowhere. He has seamlessly slotted into the holding midfield role and today was at his imperious best. His contribution was immense in both the aspects of the game, especially his piercing diagonals which switched the play with some vivacity.

Tonight is the night one should acknowledge the contributions from these grafters.

1. Walcott’s rejuvenation and Wenger’s glory

Theo Walcott (L) and Arsene Wenger

This final will be remembered for two reasons in the streets of North London, one for Theo Walcott’s startling return to the form and the 6th FA Cup crown for Arsene Wenger.

From the annals of anonymity in the physio’s room to glory at the Mecca of English football, this has been a season of poetic justice for Theo Walcott. He announced his return to the world by scoring a scintillating first half hat-trick against West Brom in last week’s season finale of the Barclays Premier League. But, he stamped his return to form by scoring a scrumptious goal in the FA Cup finals. Things are surely looking upwards the Englishman after the strong finish to the season.

Arsene Wenger too is having some moments of rejoice after a decade of obscurity and mediocrity. Two FA Cups in as many seasons is surely something to boast of and what more can add to the joy than to win the competition for the record number of times. As he led the Gunners to the record breaking 12th title, he also achieved a personal milestone as he won it for the 6th time as a manager. This triumph draws him level with the legendary George Ramsay, who also has won the competition for six times.

Things finally seem to materialize for the Gunners and as they say all’s well that ends well.