Arsene Wenger Comments on Arsenal's FA Cup Win over 'Astonishing' Sutton United

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted he did not enjoy his side's 2-0 FA Cup defeat of Sutton United on Monday and revealed he would never manage in non-league "because it is too difficult." 

Following a turbulent week in which Wenger came under huge pressure following a 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott prevented things getting any worse by netting either side of half-time to earn Arsenal a spot in the quarter-finals.

The Gunners will now face another non-league side, Lincoln City, at the Emirates Stadium in the last eight as they look to win the FA Cup for a record-breaking 13th time.

Wenger described Sutton's performance as "astonishing," as they were competitive at Gander Green Lane, and acknowledged the challenge of the National League, per Amy Lawrence in the Guardian: "It is basically division five, and they are 17th out of 24. I will never go down there to manage because it is too difficult."

However, he admitted that, following the chastening defeat to Bayern in Europe, he could take little enjoyment from his side's win as it was the least anybody expected, per the BBC (via ESPN FC's Mattias Karen): 

"

No, I didn't enjoy it really tonight, because we had absolutely just to do the job. And it's tricky. I thought it's important for the confidence of the players as well. And let's not forget, at Bayern at half-time we were at 1-1 and in the second half it did all go wrong. So even today at half-time we were 1-0 up, it was not finished.

"

Ahead of the fixture, Sky Sports News HQ highlighted the stark difference in quality and prestige between the two clubs:

While Wenger made a number of changes for the clash, he still put out a strong starting XI that included Walcott, Perez, Alex Iwobi, Granit Xhaka and Nacho Monreal.

Perez opened the scoring with a cross-cum-shot from the right edge of the box after 26 minutes to ease the nerves of Wenger and Arsenal.

Walcott then finished off a fine move to put the game to bed 10 minutes after the break.

Sutton had their chances, most significantly when Adam May failed to take advantage of a poor David Ospina clearance late in the opening 45 minutes, but the Gunners came through as expected.

Arsenal now have almost two weeks off as they are not back in action until a Premier League clash against Liverpool at Anfield on March 4, which is potentially a must-win game for Wenger's side as they bid to remain in the top four.