As third round ties go this went by the numbers. Oxford United gave Arsenal a game for an hour, without threatening to make things more interesting than that, and could draw on enough positives to hope for a bright end to their third-tier campaign. The Premier League leaders eventually bucked up and picked them off with three goals in 13 minutes, meaning this went down as a job well done and banishing the looming spectre of a replay.
All three of Arsenal’s goals were created by Fabio Vieira, whose display epitomised that of the collective. Nothing went right for the Portuguese schemer,…
