Theo Walcott clocked up his 100th Arsenal goal as Sutton United’s brave and brilliant Emirates FA Cup run came to an end in round five.
Lucas Perez opened the scoring midway through the first half and Walcott made certain of Arsenal’s place in the quarter final ten minutes into the second period.
Man-of-the-match Roarie Deacon – one of four former Arsenal youngsters in the Sutton ranks – almost gave the home fans something to cheer with an effort that rattled the crossbar.
And despite defeat, the night belonged to Sutton’s part-timers, 105 league positions below 12-time FA Cup winners Arsenal, who advance to meet another National League club in Lincoln City in the last eight.
Manager Paul Dowsell said: “It was a dream to watch my team play against Arsenal.
“I’m very proud, that’s the over-riding emotion. Roarie hit the bar, Jamie [Collins] had a chance from six yards and Adam’s [May] had a chance from six yards out. So that’s three very presentable chances and we’re disappointed that we couldn’t get a goal for the supporters here.
“But they saw a side that gave every bit that we could have given.
“It’s been our cup final and these players have done the club so proud. They’ll go down in history and they deserve it.
“The support we’ve had is amazing. We started with 800 against Forest Green and ended up with three lots of 5,000-sell outs [against AFC Wimbledon, Leeds and Arsenal].
“It’s all about the players. They have been magnificent and so have the volunteers.
“We’re a traditional non-League club and Lincoln and Sutton have done this competition very proud."
The tie was preceded by Sutton boss Paul Doswell embarking on a lap of honour around the Gander Green Lane 3G pitch, whipping up a frenzy among the 5,000 spectators, tightly packed in.
Predictably, Sutton were forced to defend extremely deep inside their own half in the opening 20 minutes.
But there was no sign of being over-awed as they kept their shape and stood tall, Simon Downer and Dean Beckwith both blocking Jeff Reine-Adelaide drives
Sutton were certainly holding their own, but the deadlock was broken on 27 minutes when Perez cut in from the right flank on to his left foot. He fizzed a low ball across goal, which Walcott hurdled just in front of keeper Ross Worner, who was left with no time to react.
Moments later, Worner made a fine stop to deny Nacho Monreal from a tight angle as Arsenal finally showed some swagger. Walcott was next to try his luck from 25 yards, but his fierce strike flew clear of the crossbar.
On the stroke of half time Gunners keeper David Ospina miscued a short pass to the edge of the box, gifting possession to Adam May, but the 19-year-old midfielder, on loan from Portsmouth, struck wide of the near post.
Ten minutes into the second half, Arsenal turned on the style and sealed their place in the quarter-finals. Perez zipped the ball into Alex Iwobi, who in turn fed Monreal. The left-back’s low cross came to the far post where Walcott was on hand to fire in from six yards.
Captain Jamie Collins then headed inches over the crossbar when he jumped highest at the far post to meet Deacon’s corner.
The National League club were enjoying a fruitful period and Deacon rattled the crossbar from 25 yards as Ospina stood rooted to the spot.
Arsenal though, had done enough, and boss Arsene Wenger said: “We did the job. It’s very different on this kind of pitch and it wasn’t an easy game at all.
“Every mistake we made they took advantage of, they played very well.
“They were better than I expected. It’s division five and when I arrived here 20 years ago division five teams were not as fit. But they didn’t drop for 90 minutes and they had a huge desire.
“I didn’t enjoy it. We had to do the job, it was tricky, but it was good for the confidence of the players.”
Sutton United: Ross Warner; Dean Beckwith, Jamie Collins, Simon Downer, Kevin Amankwaah; Craig Eastmond, Adam May, Nicky Bailey, Bedsente Gomis; Roarie Deacon; Maxime Biamou.
Substitutes: Daniel Spence for Beckwith 70, Bradley Hudson-Odoi for May 71, Dan Fitchett for Biamou 82
Substitutes not used: Wayne Shaw, Louis John, Jeffrey Monakana, Matt Tubbs
Manager: Paul Doswell
Arsenal: David Ospina; Gabriel Paulista, Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding, Nacho Monreal; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Lucas Perez, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott
Substitutes: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Elneny 46, Ainsley Maitland-Niles for Reine-Adelaide 74, Alexis Sanchez for Iwobi 74
Substitutes not used: Emiliano Martinez, Mathieu Debuchy, Kieran Gibbs, Per Mertesacker
Manager: Arsene Wenger
Goals: Lucas Perez 26, Theo Walcott 55
Referee: Michael Oliver
