There was to be no FA Cup upset on the south coast as Arsenal overcame a nightmare start to come from behind to beat a defiant Portsmouth in the third round.
The Premier League leaders travelled to Fratton Park to take on the side sitting one place and one point above the Championship relegation zone. And in doing so, Arteta made 10 changes from the team that drew against Liverpool on Thursday night, with Gabriel Magalhaes the only survivor from the starting line-up.
But such is Arsenal’s strength in depth following their summer transfer work, the Gunners still named an incredibly strong team, including the likes of Ben White, Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino as captain.
Gabriel Martinelli
Arsenal came from behind to beat Portsmouth (Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
However, the travelling support behind the goal were made to worry when the script was thrown out of the window after just three minutes when Colby Bishop pounced on a rebound to slot past Kepa Arrizabalaga. Pompey are the second-lowest scorers in the Championship but the cup tie appeared to provide a welcome distraction.
Portsmouth’s bright start was rewarded with their opening goal, though that buzzing feeling inside the ground was soon extinguished when an Andre Dozzell own goal just five minutes later levelled the scores.
After a brief pause in play as stewards and medical staff attended to an incident in the home end, Arsenal’s set-piece strength showed again to force the equaliser.
Andre Dozzell own goal vs Arsenal
Arsenal scored from three corners at Fratton Park (Image: PA)
The travelling support were soon chanting ‘set-piece again’ in the 25th minute when Gabriel Martinelli’s deft header put the Gunners ahead from a corner swung in from the opposite side.
But Portsmouth showed grit and rallied to force Kepa into three saves before Noni Madueke had the chance to take the sting completely out of the tie from 12 yards at the end of the first-half.
The England winger motored past former Gunners youth player Zak Swanson and was tripped in the box by the full-back. Madueke showed nerve to step up to take the penalty but attempted to be too nonchalant and clipped his effort wide of the post.
Some would say that corners are almost penalties for Arsenal given their proficiency from dead balls, but as it turns out, that’s not the case, with corners evidently easier to score for Arteta’s side.
Gabriel Martinelli
Gabriel Martinelli scored his first senior hat-trick (Image: Getty Images)
Madueke’s miss threatened to come back to haunt the visitors when Pompey started the second half on top in search of an equaliser, and a brave last-ditch Ben White block was needed to thwart Conor Chaplin’s goalbound volley.
But another set-piece situation just minutes later saw Martinelli score his second of the game and Arsenal’s third. Myles Lewis-Skelly took a quick free-kick from just inside the Portsmouth half to find Gabriel Jesus out wide in space. The Brazilian was able to get his head out and pick out an inch-perfect cross for his countryman to slide in at the back post.
With Viktor Gyokeres looking on from the bench, everyone connected with Arsenal will be hoping he had a clear view of what a striker should be doing out of possession with Jesus’ movement, and ultimately his quality in delivery and link-up play.
Portsmouth refused to roll over and Arteta was forced to introduce Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber to see through the result. Kai Havertz also made his injury from injury, featuring off the bench for the first-time since the opening game of the season at Old Trafford.
Eventually, Arsenal saw off their Championship opponents when Martinelli headed in his first senior hat-trick to seal a hat-trick of corner goals and increase their advantage to 4-1 with 20 minutes left to play.
Arsenal's set-piece ability is simply dominant. Arteta's side lead the way in the Premier League for goals from dead ball situations with 15.
The Gunners have joined Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa in the hat for the fourth-round, with Manchester United hosting Brighton later on Sunday and Liverpool entertaining League One Barnsley on Monday.