Arsenal 5-0 Leyton Orient

Arsenal emphatically defeated Leyton Orient 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium last night to set up a mouthwatering quarter final at Old Trafford. Arsenal needed to bounce back from the disappointment of Sunday and they well and truly did so against Orient. Arsene rotated the side and gave Connor Henderson his Debut,and Ignasi Miquel his home debut. Therefore this wasn't Arsenal's strongest side and it also included reserve Keeper Manuel Almunia. Nicklas Bendtner also started in the absence of Robin Van Persie and was in top form scoring a superb hat-trick to give the fans more confidence in him.

 Arsenal started the game well, dominating possession and Marouane Chamakh scored an early goal, his first in 14 games. It was a well taken goal and will be a huge confidence boost for the Moroccan, and will hopefully inspire Chamakh to play like he did at the beginning of the season for the Arsenal. Connor Henderson was involved in the build up and he looks like to be another typical Wenger player who is very confident on the ball. Tomas Rosicky got the assist and this could also be a confidence boost for the Czech Republic international. Leyton Orient had a couple of good chances to equalize but Almunia made some good saves much to the surprise of the Arsenal faithful. Nicklas Bendtner was looking his typical self until towards the end of the second half. In the 27th minute Kieran Gibbs crossed for Bendtner to score a great header, which is something we simply don't see enough of from the big Dane. Bendtner then scored an excellent second goal, curling the ball into the bottom corner and leaving the Keeper with no chance whatsoever.

 Arsenal continued to look in control at the start of the second half and Kieran Gibbs won the side a penalty in the 62nd minute. Obviously Bendtner took the penalty and scored confidently to secure his second hat-trick for the Gunners. Tomas Rosicky was later substituted after suffering concussion, it was a disappointment as he had been playing well and looked far better than he did on Sunday. Gael Clichy then scored a late goal for the side, with a well placed finish into the bottom corner. This was only the French defender's second goal for the club but he finished it like he'd been scoring goals his whole career.

Chamakh scoring the important opener. 

 All in all this was a good game for the team, and would of reinstalled confidence throughout the side. Especially the fringe players who haven't played well lately, for example Squillaci and Eboue. The whole side played well and we will now face Manchester United in a tough quarter final. In my opinion the main plus point of the game was Nicklas Bendtner scoring a hat trick. It means he is now in good form and this is what we need when Van Persie is injured and we have many important games ahead of us, including a trip to the Nou Camp.