Arsenal have set up an FA Cup quarter-final against Watford by beating Hull City 4-0 in their fifth-round replay at the KC Stadium this evening.
Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both scored twice as the Gunners ended a five-match losing streak in all competitions to knock Hull out of the FA Cup for the third straight season.
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The visitors went into the match looking to progress into a 15th straight round of the FA Cup having won the trophy the last two seasons, but they struggled to get going against their Championship opponents in a quiet first half.
Indeed, Arsene Wenger's side only had a counter-attack to shout about from the opening 40 minutes, with Joel Campbell curling an effort comfortably wide at the end of the quick break.
The half was disrupted by a couple of head injuries which forced lengthy stoppages and eventually resulted in Per Mertesacker having to go off for the Gunners, but not before David Meyler called David Ospina into action for the first time.
Arsenal failed to clear the danger from a cross into the box and, following a brief scramble, the ball fell to Meyler, whose low strike was pushed away by a strong one-handed reaction stop by the visiting keeper.
Meyler was at fault for the opening goal, though, as he played a blind square pass into his own area that went straight to Giroud, leaving the Frenchman with the simple task of sliding the ball beneath Eldin Jakupovic.
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While that was a gift for the visitors, Kieran Gibbs almost provided a treat of his own moments later when his curling long-range strike clattered off the crossbar with the keeper beaten.
It was the Gunners who had the first opening of the second half too, when Mohamed Elneny steered a first-time looping volley towards goal from the edge of the box that forced Jakupovic to backtrack and tip it over the top.
Hull had a rare sight of goal moments later when Mohamed Diame steered a header wide, but the hosts' threat began to grow over the following 15 minutes, during which Nick Powell dragged a shot wide and Aaron Ramsey, on as a sub for the injured Gabriel Paulista, glanced a header just past his own post.
Any Hull revival was nipped in the bud with just under 20 minutes remaining, however, as Giroud doubled his personal tally by steering a first-time volley into the bottom corner after being picked out by Walcott.
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Walcott got his own name on the scoresheet to kill the tie off shortly afterwards, collecting Campbell's precise through-ball before curling his finish into the bottom corner from inside the area.
Giroud and Alex Iwobi both had further sights of goal before the fourth arrived, with Walcott being played in down the right channel and seeing his low drive deflect off Alex Bruce and past Jakupovic at the near post.
That capped off the scoring to see Arsenal move into the last eight, although the victory did come at a cost for the injury-plagued visitors with Mertesacker, Gabriel and Ramsey all being forced off prematurely.
Wenger's side will now host Watford in the quarter-finals this weekend looking to return to Wembley for the third straight season.
Barney Corkhill
