As a resident of the city I am very proud of Lincoln for getting as far as they did in the FA Cup as they are having one hell of a great season, but it was difficult to hide my delight as Arsenal returned to winning ways to reach the semi-final with a 5-0 win at the Emirates.
The Imps had already knocked out a Premier League side in Burnley to have got this far and, although the odds were stacked against them, they definitely did the city proud. Credit to Danny Cowley for the great job he has done at Lincoln and, although I'm glad we progressed in the cup at their expense, I hope they go on to win the league and gain promotion back to the Football League.
It was actually quite nerve-wracking knowing the score was still close going into the final moments of the first half and then Theo Walcott struck to turn the game on its head. Goals from Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey, along with an own goal from Luke Waterfall, completed the victory for the Gunners. Some people may say this isn't much to celebrate as we should be beating lower league opposition anyway, but with the superb form Lincoln were in and how low things had got for us lately, you can only play what is in front of you and we still had to go out there and do the job.
Arsenal could have taken the lead inside the opening quarter of an hour, but Walcott's sweetly struck volley was well tipped onto a post by Paul Farman in the Lincoln goal.
The hosts lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to injury before Lincoln came close to grabbing a goal at the other end. Nathan Arnold showed great trickery to get beyond Laurent Koscielny before seeing his curling effort excellently palmed away by Petr Cech.
Arsenal wasted another chance when Walcott shot straight at Farman following a fine pass by Sanchez, but the Gunners forward made no mistake as he broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time. Walcott played a one-two with Kieran Gibbs before slotting home his fifth goal in this season's FA Cup.
We really should have doubled our advantage within four minutes of the restart, but Gibbs wasted a golden opportunity. Giroud forced Farman into a decent save before Walcott sent the ball back across for Gibbs, only for the left-back to head over.
Arsenal did manage to add a second after 53 minutes following excellent work from Hector Bellerin. The Spanish defender played a neat give and go with Sanchez before setting up Giroud to slot home from close range.
Bellerin sent an effort wide before Arsenal increased their advantage with a third goal. Sanchez passed through to Gibbs, whose low cross was put into his own net by Waterfall shortly before the hour mark.
Sanchez was next to get his name on the scoresheet as the Chilean beat two players before placing a fine shot beyond Farman from outside the box 18 minutes from time.
Four became five just minutes later as Sanchez's cross deflected into the path of Ramsey for the midfielder to walk the ball into the net for an easy goal.
Lincoln continued to battle bravely and Alan Power tried his luck on goal, but his effort was well saved by Cech.
Sanchez hit the crossbar with a late free-kick as Arsenal continued to push forward, while Ramsey's follow-up effort deflected wide.
Arsenal progress into the last four, while Lincoln's superb cup run comes to an end, but what a journey it has been for Cowley's men.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Lincoln City fan Mark Whiley was full of pride for his side despite the result.
"What a day," said Whiley. "I know the Imps lost but it was a day I'll never forget. The players and the fans did the club proud. The Imps were outstanding during the first half and really made Arsenal sweat.
"Arsenal looked nervous in the first half but once Walcott's goal went in, they looked a different side. The confidence was back.
"Must say, what a smashing club Arsenal is. We were so well looked after and the staff were very friendly. Credit to their fans too for staying behind to clap the Lincoln players off. I hope Arsenal go on and win it so we can say we lost to the winners. I have my doubts though."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
The 5-0 win doesn't paper over the cracks from our Champions League humiliation, but I'm delighted we avoided a cup upset and were able to get back to winning ways with a big win.
Although we have failed in the Premier League and Champions League, which we really should have done a lot better in, I really do love the FA Cup and am over the moon that we are now just one game away from the final.
With Manchester City, Tottenham and one of Manchester United and Chelsea joining us in the semi-finals, winning the FA Cup is going to be harder than ever this year for whoever goes on to lift the trophy in May. We will have to be at our best whoever we get in the draw and we need to take it very seriously as not only does it present our only real chance of a trophy this season, but it really is a great competition.
We must now turn our attentions back to the league and the trip to West Brom. The title may be out of reach, but we need to restore some pride and put in strong performances from now until the end of the season. It won't really affect the end outcome as we'll have still failed to win the title, but we must make sure we get back to winning ways in the league and quickly!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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