Arsenal 3-0 Villarreal: Comfortable in the end, now it's United in the Semis

I have to admit I was expecting that to be a bit closer and a bit more difficult than it actually was.

In the end it was a comfortable stroll for the Arsenal but really no less than we deserved. We had to cope with the loss of another back four regular as Bacary Sagna missed the game through illness which did make me a little more nervous but it mattered little in the end.

We started the game very brightly, the crowd were noisy and right behind the team from the off, and we troubled their defence from the start. Theo Walcott was causing Capdevila problems, in the sense that the Spanish international couldn't get near him, and it was fitting that he was the one who opened the scoring. Eboue played a ball forward, Cesc flicked it on, Theo got in behind the defence and just when you thought his touch had made life difficult for himself he chipped it over the keeper quite beautifully to make it 1-0 Arsenal.

I didn't know he had that kind of finish in him, to be honest, but it was fantastic to see and he's obviously high on confidence at the moment.

I thought we had most of the dangerous moment of the first half. A Robin van Persie free kick on the edge of their box was saved, Adebayor followed up with a header which was poor but hit off defenders and had to be cleared off the line. Theo was always a danger down the right, his crossing was excellent all night long, Robin van Persie was fighting for everything, and really the first half was all Arsenal.

We didn't start the second half so well though. Without really creating much Villarreal dominated possession and while they didn't necessarily have us on the back foot it did get a bit nervy. They were looking for the ball in behind the back four all the time but found Lukasz Fabianski in fine form, not as a keeper, but as a sweeper. Three or four times he was out of his area quickly to hoof the ball to the other end of the pitch. Simple but effective.

The second goal settled the nerves a bit. A nice move, started by a Cesc header, saw the ball come to van Persie on the edge of the box, he played a ball in to Adebayor whose first touch took him past the defender and he finished with the outside of his boot to make it 2-0. I don't think he had his best game for us, by any means, but he's got four goals in three games now. He's a streaky kind of a scorer and it augurs well for the games that lie ahead.

The third goal was controversial ... in Spain. The linesman gave a penalty after a challenge on Theo in the box. When I saw it I immediately thought 'penalty'. Villarreal didn't agree and the already booked Eguren got a second yellow for protesting. The fool. Robin van Persie stepped up, stuck the penalty away and made the game 3-0 on the night and safe for the Arsenal. It might have been a penalty but I thought he deserved a goal.

After that we brought Abou Diaby and Denilson for Theo and Robin with Bendtner replacing Adebayor a few moments afterwards. There was no chance of a Villarreal comeback at that stage and the game played itself out as you would expect.

It was an impressive win. When you think about the players we had injured, 80% of our regular back 5, it makes it even more so. Let's remember Villarreal have played United four times in the recent past and never lost. Kieran Gibbs had a fine game at left back, Sylvester and Toure looked solid enough in the middle despite a couple of scary moments from the former, Fabianski was good as previously mentioned and Alex Song had probably the best game I've seen him have for Arsenal.

We shouldn't underestimate this Villarreal team and for us to play the way we played and get the result we did last night is absolutely fantastic. No Almunia, no Gallas, no Clichy, no Djourou, no Sagna, to cope with that and win the game so well is a credit to the lads who came in.

Afterwards, Arsene said:

Overall I believe against Villarreal who have a very good technical level, we gave them problems where they didn't like it. That means going in behind them with the ball and being very explosive in our counter-attacking. We did that very well.

We have confidence and that is down to the slow progress we have accumulated from game to game in the championship. Confidence transfers from one competition to the other thats why we cannot choose any competition and just want to play well in every single competition.

There's no doubt we've got some real momentum going. We're on a tremendous run of form and the results we're getting are testament to that. And it's going to be important when you consider the games coming up. Obviously the win against Villarreal sets up a two-legged semi-final against Man United, who we also have to play in the league and who we could potentially meet in the FA Cup final.

We've got Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday, we still have to play Chelsea in the league and there's the small matter of a game against Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday. It's a punishing and difficult schedule but one we'll go into with a great deal of confidence, I'm sure.

Still, I'm sure the manager will be telling the players this morning 'Well done, now forget about it. Forget about Man United in the semis. Let's concentrate on Chelsea'. The most important game is the next game and we'll look ahead to that game tomorrow and Saturday.

Also, wasn't it fantastic to hear Robert Pires get the appreciation he's long deserved from the Arsenal fans. In an interview before the game he said:

I can't wait to go back to North London. I never got a chance to say goodbye to the Arsenal fans. They always supported me and there was more proof of this last Tuesday when 2000 of them sang my song at the end of the game. It made me so happy to know I hadn't been forgotten.

How could you forget a player like that? His name was sung throughout the night and it's brilliant to finally be able to doff our fan's caps at someone who brought so much to Arsenal FC. He is undoubtedly one of the best players I have ever seen at Arsenal, a proper gentleman and while I'm glad he didn't go home too happy from a football point of view I suspect his disappointment at losing the game was tempered by the reception he got from the home crowd. J'aime Le Bob.

So, we chug ever onwards. The Arsenal Juggernaut continues on its way towards silverware. After a fantastic night last night we're the famous Arsenal and we're going to Wembley on Saturday. FA Cup semi-final.

Cannot wait. More, and an Arsecast, tomorrow.