Arsenal’s FA Cup win proves costly after losing two key players injured in tie with Mansfield 

Arsenal took a break from their Premier League chase and turned their attention to a fifth round FA Cup tie against Mansfield Town F.C. They came up with a narrow victory away from home, but their pass to the quarterfinals came at a heavy price ahead of the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.

Aresenal on but injured

Nonso Madueke put the Gunners up 1-0 in the first half, but the third tier side in English football equalized just four minutes after the break. Eberechi Eze’s goal gave the Premier League leaders the lead again in the 65th minute but it was a tense finish as Arsenal barely escaped One Call Stadium without extra time.

On top of the strenuous victory during one of the busiest times of the year, Mikel Arteta saw two of his stars go down in a match that he had already kept Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi off the squad list. Leandro Trossard and Riccardo Calafiori were both injured during the match and that has left a massive cloud of doubt over the two with a massive stretch of the season coming up.

Trossard was forced off the pitch in the 38th minute after going down off the ball. The medical team came out for a moment, but he was replaced by Piero Hincapie shortly after. Calafiori pulled up after feeling a pull of his hamstring in the 76th minute, and was forced to miss the rest of a match which proved to be more problematic than perhaps Arsenal were expecting.

Champions League lurking

Mikel Arteta knows that health is going to be instrumental down the final stretch of the season, and once each of his players noted something wasn’t right they were replaced to avoid any further damage. “Both of them [Trossard and Calafiori], they had little niggles. They were not comfortable to continue. And I knew that this could be a possibility, especially in the conditions that we’re playing today. So we had to take them off,” said Arteta.

Both players are regulars in the XI of Arteta, both in the league and in the Champions League, but only time will tell if they are ready for the midweek match in Leverkusen on Wednesday. In his second year with the north London club Calafiori has played 21 league matches and in four of the Champions League league phase encounters. Trossard has five goals and given five assists in 26 league matches and in five of eight Champions League matches.

Next up for the Gunners is the first leg of the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen, but they are still alive in all four competitions. Arteta´s side are leading the Premier League with a seven point cushion, have a Carabao Cup date with Manchester City in the final, and are on to the quarterfinal for the FA Cup after their win.

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