Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen (R) challenges Aston Villa's
Alan Hutton during their FA Cup match at the Emirates
Stadium in London. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
Arsenal scored three goals in a seven-minute burst after
halftime against visitors Aston Villa, including two penalties
from Robin van Persie, as they staged a dramatic comeback to
win 3-2 and reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Arsenal trailed 2-0 at the break but Van Persie's spot kicks
either side of a Theo Walcott equaliser spun the match on its
head at The Emirates and sent Arsene Wenger's side through to
a tie at either Sunderland or Middlesbrough.
Sunderland were earlier held 1-1 at home by Boro with
halftime substitute Fraizer Campbell equalising for the
Premier League side after Barry Robson had put the
Championship (second division) outfit ahead early on at the
Stadium of Light.
Arsenal were booed off at halftime as Villa struck twice with
goals by Richard Dunne and Darren Bent.
They were given a lifeline shortly after the break when Dunne
brought down midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Van Persie beat
Villa keeper Shay Given from the penalty spot.
Three minutes later Walcott made it 2-2 when the ball
cannoned back into the net off the England winger from an
attempted clearance by Alan Hutton after the Arsenal player's
initial effort had been saved by Given.
The comeback was complete in the 61st minute when Bent's
mistimed sliding tackle on Laurent Koscielny gave Van Persie
the chance to score from the spot again and move level on 120
goals with fellow Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp on the Arsenal
scoring charts.
"If you're 2-0 behind it's always going to be hard to come
back," Van Persie told ESPN. "It was a crazy (first) 16
minutes in the second half, which changed the entire game.
"Credit to us all, because we worked hard and we're still in
it, which is vital.
"To score 120 goals for Arsenal is a big honour. Dennis
Bergkamp is a big legend and I have massive respect for him,
so to score as many goals as him at Arsenal is a great
honour."
In the early kickoff, Middlesbrough had threatened to shock
their north-east rivals when Robson volleyed them ahead.
However, Sunderland replied after the break when former
Manchester United front man Campbell, playing his first game
for 18 months after a serious knee injury, capitalised on a
Robson error to earn his side a replay.
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