Arsenal avoided an upset and booked a place in the semi-finals of the FA
Cup on Saturday, but defeating fifth-tier Lincoln City 5-0 at Emirates
Stadium is unlikely to ease the intense scrutiny bearing down on manager
Arsene Wenger.
Strikes from Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey
and Luke Waterfall's own goal sealed the victory, but more protests
prior to the game called for the departure of the veteran manager, who
is out of contract at the end of the season and under pressure to walk
away having failed to win the Premier League since 2003-04.
A humiliating 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League in
midweek, which sealed a catastrophic 10-2 aggregate exit at the last-16
stage for a seventh successive season, could yet prove too great an
embarrassment for Wenger to bear when he comes to determine his future.
And ending lowly Lincoln's fairy-tale run in north London will do little
to assuage the concerns of Gunners supporters demanding action from the
club's board, who have staunchly backed the 67-year-old throughout a
long spell of capturing minimal silverware.
Wenger has only delivered three FA Cups since 2005 and he could still
lift the trophy again in May, Arsenal joining Manchester City in the
last four, with Tottenham at home to Millwall on Sunday and Manchester
United visiting Chelsea a day later.
But it is in the league where Wenger's future is likely to be
determined, with anything less than a top-four finish and Champions
League qualification expected to result in the departure of English
football's longest-serving active manager.
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