Theo Walcott scored his 100th Arsenal goal as Arsene Wenger’s side ended non-league minnows Sutton United’s FA Cup fairytale with a 2-0 victory in the FA Cup on Monday night.
 The England forward added to Lucas Perez’s opener as Arsenal returned to winning ways following their 5-1 drubbing by Bayern Munich last week and set up a home quarter-final with another non-league team, Lincoln City.
 But the narrow margin of victory belied the 105 places that separate the two teams in England’s football pyramid, with Sutton currently 17th in the fifth-tier National League.
 “We did the job,” Arsenal manager Wenger said. “It was not an easy game at all. We have to give them credit because every error we made they took advantage of on this pitch. They played very well.”
 South London club Sutton had hoped to emulate their famous 1989 win over Coventry City, FA Cup winners 19 months previously, but there was no disgrace in defeat in their first ever fifth-round game.
 Arsenal were given several uncomfortable moments on the 3G pitch at Sutton’s 5,000-capacity Gander Green Lane ground, which was full to bursting with fans in yellow Sutton T-shirts, hats and scarves.
 The home supporters almost had a goal to cheer as well, but Roarie Deacon, who began his career at Arsenal, saw his 25-yard effort cannon back off the bar in the second half.
 “It was a dream to watch my team play against Arsenal. I’m very, very proud,” said Sutton manager Paul Doswell. “This was our cup final and these players will go down in history at the end of the day.”
 Wenger will continue to face questions about his future but, for now at least, his dream of winning a record seventh FA Cup remains intact.
 He made seven changes to the team humiliated by Bayern in the Champions League, with only goalkeeper David Ospina, Shkodran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka and Alex Iwobi keeping their places.
 For all the international players in Arsenal’s ranks, there was no distinct gap in quality between the sides in the early exchanges as the visitors slowly got to grips with the unfamiliar surface.
 Arsenal’s first shot, a Mohamed Elneny effort that sailed miles off-target, drew hoots of derision from the home fans, but in the 26th minute the visitors went ahead.
 Perez swapped passes with Xhaka and then cut in onto his left foot from the right flank before sending in a skidding low cross that evaded everyone to nestle in the bottom-left corner.
 Briefly, Arsenal threatened to make their experience count, with Nacho Monreal drawing a smothering save from Sutton goalkeeper Ross Worner and both Walcott and Alex Iwobi going close.
 But Arsenal’s over-confidence at the back twice almost gifted Sutton an equaliser.
 Rob Holding nearly had his pocket picked on the edge of his own box and shortly before half-time Ospina passed the ball straight to Sutton’s Adam May, who fired wide with his left foot.
 An overhit Holding back-pass that sent Ospina scrambling had Arsenal’s fans holding their breath again within seconds of kick-off in the second half.
 They gave themselves breathing space in the 55th minute, however, when Monreal crossed low from the left and Walcott turned in his milestone goal from close range.
 But if Arsenal thought their second goal would put the game to bed, they were mistaken as Sutton produced their best spell of the game.
 Maxime Biamou shot straight at Ospina, captain Jamie Collins powered a header over the bar at a corner and Deacon, the ex-Arsenal trainee, cracked a shot against the crossbar from distance.
 The closing stages yielded the surreal sight of Arsenal’s Chilean star Alexis Sanchez, one of the world’s most feared forwards, making his entrance as a replacement for Iwobi.
 “Who are ya?” chanted Sutton’s fans, their sense of mischief intact until the end.
FA Cup quarter-final draw
Chelsea v Manchester United;
Middlesbrough v Huddersfield/Man City; Tottenham Hotspur v Millwall
Arsenal v Lincoln
(Ties to be played March 10/13th)


Wenger relieved to get past ‘astonishing’ Sutton
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said his team would have faced FA Cup humiliation against non-league Sutton United had they shown less application in their fifth-round victory.
 Arsenal won 2-0 in Monday night’s tie at Sutton’s 5,000-capacity Gander Green Lane ground, but they were given a real run for their money by a team ranked 105 places below them in the English league system.
 Goals from Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott, his 100th in Arsenal’s colours, earned the visitors victory, but Sutton pushed them until the end, even hitting the bar through ex-Arsenal trainee Roarie Deacon.
 Asked if it had merely been a case of ‘job done’, Wenger replied: “Yes, against a side that was astonishing. It is basically division five and they are 17th out of 24. I will never go down there (to manage) because it is too difficult!
 “We had to keep our focus. I must give credit to the players who were professional and kept their focus. If we had come here in a relaxed mood, we would have gone out tonight because they produced quality. They kept going and we were never really in a position where we could afford to have a little breather in the game.”
 Wenger made seven changes from last week’s 5-1 drubbing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League, which has left his long-term future at the club in doubt. But the blending of several full internationals with a handful of fringe players betrayed his eagerness to avoid yet more negative headlines.
 “We couldn’t afford to go out tonight. We can never afford it,” said Wenger, whose team will host another non-league side, Lincoln City, in the quarter-finals.
 A bottle appeared to be thrown towards the dug-outs at the final whistle, as fans launched a mass pitch invasion, but Wenger played down the incident. “I don’t know if it was at me or someone else or the referee, but there was a bottle thrown, yes,” he said.
 Sutton manager Paul Doswell condemned the unruly scenes. “It disappointed me at the end,” he said. “They don’t support Sutton. Absolute idiots.”
 Nevertheless, he said it had been “a dream” to watch his players play against Arsenal and professed himself “very, very proud” of their efforts. Sutton had previously overcome Cheltenham Town, AFC Wimbledon and second-tier Leeds United, all of whom are ranked above them.
 The club estimate the cup run has been worth £1mn ($1.27mn, 1.18mn euros) to them, which will be used to renovate the Gander Green Lane clubhouse.
 First and foremost, however, Doswell wants to make sure his side, currently ranked 18th in the fifth-tier National League, avoid sliding even further down the English football pyramid.
 Asked what the cup run meant to Sutton, he told reporters: “A legacy for the club, that allows them to go and put right all the things they wanted to put right.”
 “We’ve got to get safe in the National League to have really had a good season. If we finish 18th, with what’s happened (in the cup)...
 “It’s a remarkable thing that’s happened. Everything inside, all the toilets, everything you’d want your house to look like, we’re going to put our house in order. It won’t be spent on players.”
 Arsenal have pledged to put £50,000 towards two community classrooms, which Doswell said was “an amazing gesture”. Wenger, meanwhile, said Sutton’s humble ground had put him in mind of his formative football years at the tiny village club of Duttlenheim in northeastern France.
 “I come from a club that is smaller than that, so it reminds me of my childhood,” said the Frenchman. “The changing rooms for me were fantastic. The closer you are, the more united you are when you go out there.
 “When you are too far from each other in the dressing room with everybody having a chair, it is not so good. I prefer that — much more together,” he added.