or 45 minutes of this recreation, Fabio Vieira seemed like he needed to be anyplace else apart from the Kassam Stadium.
The midfielder, like the remainder of this Arsenal staff, endured a torrid first-half as this third spherical FA Cup tie descended into precisely the form of scrappy contest Oxford needed.
Vieira was one of many largest victims of that and greater than as soon as he ended up in a heap on the ground.
On one such event centre-back Rob Holding urged the 22-year-old to rise up, whereas one other time Vieira yanked off his gloves and threw them off the pitch.
At 0-0, and with neither facet having a shot on track, the second-half was a second for Arsenal, and notably Vieira, to roll their sleeves up and the Portuguese midfielder impressed them to a 3-0 victory.
He completed the sport with two assists and it was a exceptional turnaround from a participant who was a passenger within the first-half.
Arteta had spoken this week about how Vieira is able to make an influence for Arsenal and, even when this was solely League One opposition, this efficiency can have finished the teen the world of fine.
He has to this point did not reside as much as the hype after his £34million transfer from Porto this summer season, however a disrupted pre-season and enjoying in rotated groups has not helped his trigger.
The latter was obvious right here at Oxford as Arteta made seven adjustments to his beginning XI forward of Sunday’s journey to Tottenham.
The front-three have been amongst these to maintain their locations – an indication of how quick Arsenal are for attacking choices – however they created nothing within the first-half. The one spotlight was a penalty shout for handball and the Oxford followers having a good time singing: “Boring, boring Arsenal!”
The second-half was a special story, although, and Arsenal set the tone by popping out early, with supervisor Mikel Arteta’s phrases little question ringing of their ears.
Regardless of the Spaniard stated it appeared to do the trick. First, Vieira gave Arsenal the lead by swinging in an excellent free-kick for Mohamed Elneny to go dwelling. That purpose got here within the 63rd minute and by the 74th it was recreation over.
Vieira was on the coronary heart of it once more, carving open the Oxford defence with a beautiful move that discovered Eddie Nketiah. The striker rounded the goalkeeper and completed with ease.
Moments later, Nketiah had his second and Arsenal their third. This time it was Martinelli who bought the help, however Vieira was concerned within the build-up.
A memorable evening for the midfielder when it had seemed set to be a forgettable one. Manchester Metropolis await within the fourth spherical, when Vieira will actually have an opportunity to make an impression.
