FA Cup - Third Round

Burnley 0
Arsenal 2 Eduardo, Bendtner

Eduardo da Silva is fast becoming another gem unearthed by Arsene Wenger. The Brazil born Croatian who was virtually unknown outside his adopted country of Croatia before this season has increased his goal tally this season to 11 in all competitions after putting the Gunners into the lead at Turf Moor this evening.

Perhaps Wenger has finally found the fox in the box he really sought for so long, with failed experiments such as Francis Jeffers, Kaba Diawara and a few others that have long gone from our memory.

The good thing is about Eduardo is he is not just a fox in the box but a fox in the box that comes with a wide array of variation to his game. He is equally comfortable playing on the flanks despite not having the pace of the illustrious but already departed Thierry Henry.

One thing about him that will put him above the Frenchman in my book is his willingness to get stuck in physically when Henry would just stop and give the offender the look while expecting the referee to share his point of view and award him a free-kick.

The opening goal certainly illustrate my point to a certain degree. Running to a wonderful pass from Kolo Toure, Eduardo shrugged off the challenge from Burnley's Steven Caldwell before slotting the ball past Gabor Kiraly with consummate ease.

It was not all Arsenal in a match that saw the Championship side putting up a more fluid display of passing than the Premier League leaders. Perhaps if they were clinical in their finishing the scoreline would be a bit different.

Wenger admitted later that it was Arsenal's fortune that Burnley did not make the most of the chances that came their way, aided by Armand Traore and Phillipe Senderos lax defending. But after the dismissal of Burnley's Kyle Lafferty for an open stud challenge on Gilberto Silva the match was effectively over.

But it did not stop Eduardo from capping a memorable evening with a wonderfully weighted pass that put Niklas Bendtner through and the big Danish international did not have any problem beating Kiraly to secure Arsenal's path to the next round.

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