Arsenal was ousted from the FA Cup by Stoke on Sunday with a 3-1
loss to give Sol Campbell an unhappy return to the team after
almost four years.
Just 70 seconds into Campbell's second Arsenal debut, Rory
Delap's first trademark long throw-in flew over the 35-year-old
defender and Ricardo Fuller headed powerfully past Lukasz
Fabianski.
The visitors leveled just before the break through Denilson's
deflected strike, but Fuller headed in from Delap again in the 78th
and Dean Whitehead sealed Stoke's fourth-round win.
Manchester City were drawn to play Stoke after Roberto
Mancini's side beat Scunthorpe in Sunday's other match, with
Robinho rounding off a 4-2 victory before departing on a likely
loan move to Brazilian side Santos.
With Liverpool and Manchester United already eliminated in
the third round, Chelsea is the only member of the Premier League
traditional "Big Four" remaining in the world's oldest knockout
competition.
Campbell was one of nine changes Arsenal manager Arsene
Wenger made from the side that beat Bolton in midweek to remain
firmly in the league title race. Arsenal has crucial league matches
against Aston Villa, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool in a
14-day spell coming up.
"Our selection was simple, take a look at our schedule and
you must see we cannot play the same 11 every time," Wenger said.
Campbell hadn't appeared for Arsenal since the 2006 Champions
League final when he scored in the 2-1 loss to Barcelona before
leaving for Portsmouth.
After leaving Pompey in July when his deal expired, Campbell
joined fourth-tier Notts County in September, but played his one
and only match of the season before walking out on a five-year
contract.
At Stoke, the former England international had an encouraging
second Arsenal debut, but the team struggled against a tenacious
Stoke.
Arsenal did level in the 42nd minute when Cesc Fabregas'
short free kick was squared to Denilson, whose low striker clipped
two defenders before flashing past Thomas Sorensen into the bottom
corner.
Wenger brought on regular starters Andrei Arshavin, Eduardo
da Silva and Aaron Ramsey to replace Emmanuel-Thomas, Theo Walcott
and Coquelin with 20 minutes to play.
Their introduction brought an immediate improvement with
their quick passing moves, but Stoke regained the lead in the 78th
when Mamady Sidibe surged down the right and fired over a cross
that Fuller headed home.
Stoke grabbed a third when Whitehead turned home Matthew
Etherington's cross.
"The spirit was fantastic from our lads," Stoke boss Tony
Pulis said. "We knew that whatever side Arsene Wenger selected, it
would always be a quality team. For Arsene to say we were dangerous
is a compliment."
City's match at Scunthorpe could be Brazil forward Robinho's
last match in England for now. Robinho told Brazilian radio ahead
of the match he wanted to return to his former club Santos -
probably on loan - because of his lack of action at City.
He started Sunday and finished a flurry of step-overs by
setting up Martin Petrov on the left, and the Bulgarian sent a
powerful left-foot shot into the top corner to give City the lead
after just three minutes.
Paul Hayes volleyed a 29th-minute equalizer for second-tier
Scunthorpe, but Nedum Onuoha restored City's lead at the end of the
first half with a neat finish from Stephen Ireland's deft through
ball.
Sylvinho extended City's lead in the 57th, unleashing a
left-foot strike from 25 meters (yards) into the top of the net.
But Scunthorpe had renewed hope of causing an upset when
Grant McCann floated in a corner from the right and captain Cliff
Byrne's shot went in off City defender Dedryk Boyata in the 69th.
But Robinho sealed the win by firing the ball into the roof
of the net from inside the area after being put through by Petrov
six minutes from time.
