Arsenal survive Mansfield Town scare, reach FA Cup quarter-finals: Stats
07 Mar 2026

Arsenal have made it to the FA Cup 2025-26 quarter-finals after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over League One side, Mansfield Town.

The win keeps their hopes of a quadruple alive this season.

In front of 9,260 fans at the One Call Stadium, Mansfield put up a commendable show to scare the Gunners.

Eberechi Eze's winner in the 66th minute saw Arsenal make it through to the last eight.

Arsenal struggle to adapt to new formation
Match dynamics

Manager Mikel Arteta surprised fans by fielding a youthful team and switching to an unconventional back three formation for the match.

Arsenal's new formation and the state of the pitch unsettled them from the start.

The team struggled to adapt to their 3-4-3 formation, allowing Mansfield to take eight shots on goal compared to Arsenal's three in the first 15 minutes.

An injury to Leandro Trossard gave Arteta an opportunity to switch back to a more familiar back four shape, helping his side find their rhythm.

Eze seals victory for Gunners
Goal details

Noni Madueke, who had been playing as an improvised right wing-back until the formation change, scored just before half-time to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead.

However, their dominance was short-lived as 16-year-old Marli Salmon's mistake led to substitute Will Evans equalizing for Mansfield five minutes into the second half.

Despite the setback, Arsenal managed to regain control with Eze scoring with a rocket after coming off the bench.

Arsenal's young guns shine in FA Cup victory
Match conclusion

Despite late pressure from Mansfield, Arsenal held on to their lead and secured a place in the FA Cup quarter-final draw.

The match was a testament to the resilience of Arteta's young squad, which included two 16-year-olds in their starting XI for the first time in Premier League history.

Here are the match stats
Fact

Mansfield registered 18 attempts with 5 shots on target. The Gunners had 8 shots on target from 19 attempts. In terms of touches in the opposition box, Arsenal (55) dominated Mansfield (30). Arsenal had 66.50% ball possession.

Massive records for the Gunners
Opta stats

Arsenal haven't lost any of their 14 games when defender Cristhian Mosquera has been named in the starting XI (W12 D2). This is the best unbeaten record of any Premier League player when starting in all competitions this season.

Arsenal have won 35 games in all competitions this season (D8 L3).

This is more than any other big five European league side in 2025-26 and their outright most wins in a single season under Arteta (previously 34 wins in 2023-24).

Substitutes glory and goal-scoring delight for the Gunners
Opta stats (2)

In the Premier League era (since 1992-93), only in 2005-06 (20) have Arsenal had more goals scored via substitutes than their 19 so far in 2025-26. The goal from Eze resulted in this feat.

Arsenal have become the first Premier League team to reach 100 goals in all competitions this season (101) and just the third big five European league side to reach that milestone this term after Bayern Munich (128) and Barcelona (110).