“Proud” was the magic word on triumphant manager Arsene Wenger's lips after guiding Arsenal to a record-breaking 12th FA Cup Final victory at Wembley Stadium.
After Theo Walcott's first-half opener, the Gunners turned up the heat on Aston Villa in the second period with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and substitute Olivier Giroud.
Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa
The FA Cup Final
Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Saturday 30 May 2015
The north London club have now won the FA Cup more times than anyone else and for Wenger it was his sixth triumph – a record for an overseas coach in the competition.
The 65-year-old said: “I'm very proud. We all want to achieve things that are difficult and for the club it is great, we have won it 12 times more than any other club.
“I have played in seven finals and we have won six, so I am very proud of that.
“We want to show this level of performance next season. It is about consistency at the top level and we have shown signs of that.
"In the past when we have won leagues we have been consistent. We are the only team that did not lose for 49 games.
“We feel we have made progress since the start of the season in the way we play and manage our games. There is a certainty about our football. We finished third, we won the Cup, so it's a good platform to do better next year.”
“We were at it from the first to the last minute. I never felt our focus or quality dropped”
Arsene Wenger
After Aaron Ramsay twice went close the deadlock was broken five minutes before the interval to the relief of the Gunners fans, decked out in their changed yellow strip, behind the goal they attacked.
Left-back Nacho Monreal stood up a cross to the far post, which Sanchez headed back across goal for Walcott to thump in on the half volley.
Five minutes after the restart Sanchez swerved in his 25th goal of the season from long range and Arsenal continued their dominance when Mertesacker nodded in Santi Cazorla's corner unchallenged on the hour.
Giroud put the icing on the cake when he converted fellow substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's low centre in the dying seconds, completing the heaviest FA Cup final defeat since Manchester United defeated Chelsea by the same score in 1994.
“We were at it from the first to the last minute. I never felt our focus or quality dropped,” added Wenger.
“Overall it became comfortable. We had two important moments with a goal just before half-time and just after half-time and we had too much quality for Villa.”
