Soccer-Arsenal survive Mansfield Town scare to reach FA Cup quarter-finals with 2- 1win

2026-03-07 - 14:53

MANSFIELD, England—Arsenal beat third-tier Mansfield Town 2-1 to move ​into the FA Cup quarter-finals ‌on Saturday after Eberechi Eze scored a second-half winner for the Premier League ​leaders. Mikel Arteta named a much-changed ​side, starting teenagers Max Dowman and ⁠Marli Salmon, as Arsenal became ​the first Premier League side to ​start a competitive game with two players aged 16 or under in any competition. Feeding ​off a raucous home crowd, ​Mansfield created several early chances to unsettle Arsenal, ‌but ⁠it was the London club that went 1-0 up when Noni Madueke curled a powerful finish into ​the far ​corner. Mansfield ⁠substitute Will Evans capitalised on poor defending to equalise ​early in the second half, ​but ⁠Arsenal regained their lead when Eze fired a thunderbolt from the ⁠edge ​of the box to ​silence the crowd at Field Mill.