Eze sends timely reminder to Mikel Arteta as Arsenal thrash Wigan in FA Cup

Arsenal continued their hunt for an unprecedented quadruple as they breezed past League One strugglers Wigan, with four goals in a devastating opening 30 minutes

Eberechi Eze refound his old FA Cup form - and showed he could help win the Premier League - as Arsenal eased a win closer to the Quadruple.

The England winger netted the winning goal in the final last season against Manchester City. But his career at the record FA Cup winners has stalled since his north London derby hat-trick against Tottenham in November - and he was hauled off at half-time at Brentford last week.

But back in the FA Cup, Eze produced two sublime assists - his first goal involvements since the Spurs game - as Mikel Arteta ’s reserve side romped to victory over League One Wigan. They strolled into the fifth round for the first time since their last FA Cup triumph - and trophy - back in 2020.

Bigger challenges face the Premier League and Champions League favourites this season, including a packed fixture schedule with Wolves visiting the Emirates on Wednesday night.

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That game has been rescheduled because the Gunners will take on Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on March 22. And Arsenal - and maybe Eze - will face Tottenham on Sunday.

Arteta will need all of his expensively assembled squad for potentially 24 more games this season, as shown by Riccardo Calafiori pulling out during the warm-up in a team already showing eight changes.

Bukayo Saka stepped in for the first half as Wigan conceded four goals in a nightmare 16 minutes and Eze showed glimpses of the talent which saw Arsenal pay £68m for his services last summer.

His failure to make an impact at the Emirates Stadium has had a much lower profile than Viktor Gyokeres but he still possesses the talent to change a game.

He played a perfect defence-splitting pass after 11 minutes to allow Noni Madueke to open the scoring. And eight minutes later Eze played in Gabriel Martinell, who netted a hat-trick in the last round at Portsmouth, to double the lead.

For Wigan, when it rained in North London, it poured as Gabriel Jesus diverted Saka’s pullback onto the head of Jack Hunt for an unlucky own goal. The Brazilian made no mistake after 27 minutes when he took Christian Norgaard’s pass and dinked his shot over Sam Tickle.

The 2013 FA Cup winners Wigan brought on Matt Smith who was on the bench when Arsenal won the 2020 competition.

And the Latics showed pride and spirit to avoid conceding again for the final 63 minutes. Half-time sub Gyokeres hit the post and Tickle saved from Martinelli.

Wigan, who sit 22nd in League One after four consecutive league defeats, host Luton on Wednesday. Arteta could look further into the future by giving late home debuts to defender Marli Salmon, 16, and goalkeeper Tommy Setford, 19.