Arteta had told reporters of seeing the Gunners ease their way past Wigan with the minimum of fuss: “It was great. Straight away you could see that things were clicking. Players were really alive, really sharp. And yeah, we caused a lot of damage to them.
“Very happy we are in the next round. That’s what we wanted to achieve and I think the manner that we’ve done it as well, making a lot of changes. But the team showed a real desire first of all, which is the most important thing when you play these kinds of teams in the competition.
“Then cohesion, which normally is not there from the beginning because of the amount of changes that you’ve made. But the team, I think, played with a lot of intensity, great intentions to play forward, to constantly threaten the opposition, and we scored some incredible goals in the first half. That made a difference.”
Arsenal - who are into the FA Cup fifth round, the Carabao Cup final and last 16 of the Champions League - will be back in Premier League action on Wednesday when taking in a trip to rock-bottom Wolves. They will enter that contest sat four points clear at the top of the table.