Arsenal vs. Aston Villa: Winners and Losers from 2015 FA Cup Final
Arsenal deservedly triumphed in the 2015 FA Cup final at Wembley, comfortably beating Aston Villa by a 4-0 scoreline on Saturday.
The Gunners dominated throughout and had already been denied a number of times by desperate blocks before Theo Walcott controlled a volley inside the near post to give them the lead at half-time. Soon after the break, Alexis Sanchez netted the second from range before Per Mertesacker's header made it three. Late on, Olivier Giroud scored a close-range finish to wrap things up.
Here are our big winners and losers from the showpiece event as the 2014-15 season came to a close in England.
Winner: Arsene Wenger with the Walcott/Alexis Switch
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There were a few people surprised to see Theo Walcott given the nod to start as the No. 9 for the Gunners, but Arsene Wenger's choice paid off handsomely.
Walcott had missed a couple of chances early on—a block by Kieran Richardson being one in particular—but after Wenger switched him left and put Alexis Sanchez through the middle for a brief spell in the first half, Arsenal found the breakthrough.
Alexis won the ball aerially and it was Walcott who finally broke the seal, driving in at the near post with his left foot.
Both players worked hard and made plenty of running into space, with Alexis particularly sublime at times on the ball.
Loser: Christian Benteke
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While it can be argued he had next to no service, Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke was totally anonymous at one end of the pitch and worse at the other.
The Belgian made a couple of offside runs, failed to hold up the ball when dropping deeper to receive possession, didn't really track back with any great energy to help out the midfield off the ball...and was found badly wanting on the third, killer goal as he failed to mark or compete in the air with Per Mertesacker.
Rated at more than £30 million and probably in demand over summer, Benteke will be expected to be much better than this in future big games.
Winner: Santi Cazorla
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Man of the match Santi Cazorla put in a sublime display at Wembley, running the game from the centre of the park and keeping Arsenal on the front foot and playing at a high tempo throughout the 90 minutes.
The Spaniard, in a central midfield pivot role but with licence aplenty to attack along with the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil, was heavily involved in Arsenal's quick press in the middle third, their recycling of the ball to evade Villa's first line of defence and then finding gaps to help create chances inside the penalty box.
BBC Sport's Martin Keown commented on air after the game that Cazorla was the "glue" that held the team together and was the brave one who continually sought to pick up possession from deep.
Loser: Tim Sherwood's Setup
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Tim Sherwood has done well this season to save Aston Villa from relegation and help them reach the FA Cup final, but in time the only things that will be remembered will be that they finished 17th in the league and were heavily beaten at Wembley.
On the day, Sherwood perhaps will regret not starting with natural midfield destroyer Carlos Sanchez, with too many in the centre of the park not getting close enough to their Arsenal counterparts.
In addition, it took Villa too long to get Jack Grealish involved in the game, and fellow wide forward Charles N'Zogbia was ineffective and clearly lacking in capacity to affect the flow of the game, on or off the ball.
Winner: Substitutes' Impact
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Arsene Wenger had to make decisions over who started and who missed out, and there's no doubt the likes of Olivier Giroud would have been disappointed not to make the starting XI for the cup final.
It is to their credit, then, that after the game was already effectively won and with time ticking down, Arsenal's three changes still had the quality and the intent to come on and continue the push forward for more goals.
Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud himself were all involved in the creation and finishing of the fourth and final goal of the game, shortly after the trio were introduced off the bench by Wenger on a day when every choice the manager made turned to goals and gold—or, more properly, silver.
