Arsenal: Danny Welbeck Performance More Than Just ‘One Game’

Arsenal handily advanced to the next round of the FA Cup by massacring Southampton, thanks in no small part to Danny Welbeck. Make no mistake, this isn’t just ‘one game’.

Arsenal may have had some second-guessing coming into another crucial match against pesky Southampton, but that was done away with quickly. In the end, the Gunners came away with the biggest FA Cup victor of the day, beating out even Chelsea, who had much tamer opponents Brentford.

Related: 5 Things We Learned Against Southampton

The final total was 5-0, with Danny Welbeck netting a quick brace and Theo Walcott rounding out the final three with a hat trick.

However, it was the return of Danny Welbeck that truly stole the show. The Englishman was handed his first start in nearly a year and it was up front, right where he wants to be. To say he made the most of it would be the understatement of 2017 (the year is still young).

Welbeck made the Southampton defense look helpless. His dribbling was on point but it was in his finishing that we truly saw greatness. The first goal, a cool chip off of a great find from Lucas Perez, started it off, giving him his first goal since he landed the header against Leicester City.

The second, from a magnificent long ball from the Ox, required a bit of a wrenching tap and while luck was involved, it still required him to put it on target, and he did that.

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One thing we really need to remember is that this is not just ‘one game’ as I assume critics out there are saying (I haven’t exactly gone to look yet). I wasn’t alone in my opinion that after that Leicester City header for the win, Welbeck would be different. The fact that he came down with an injury was the misfortune of all misfortunes.

Especially in its severity.

But the optimism around his return was not misplaced. Confidence has been the missing ingredient in Welbeck’s play and that Leicester goal installed it in ample quantities. All that was required of him was getting him back on the pitch.

And look what happened when that was accomplished. His confidence was right where he left it. His dribbling was even better than I remember and his finishing was pristine.

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This wasn’t a fluke. This wasn’t a one-off. Welbeck is capable of performances like this on a regular basis and even I, an eternal Giroud supporter, can see the logic in swapping the two sooner than not.