Wigan boss Graham Barrow has praised Arsenal’s professionalism in Sunday’s win, but striker Joe Taylor says playing the match wasn’t as nice as you might think.
Arsenal overcame Wigan Athletic with a 4-0 win in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday afternoon, racing into a convincing first-half lead before settling down and easing to victory after the break.
Wigan interim head coach Graham Barrow praised his opposition after the match, telling reporters Arsenal had shown them complete respect.
“They paid us the utmost respect,” Barrow said. “Obviously they can put two good teams out. They weren’t sloppy in any sense, which is something you maybe hope for, you think ‘maybe they think as though it’s going to be a breeze’.
“But no, they were very professional in everything they did, so to be honest they paid us the utmost respect, both the manager and the team.”
Wigan striker Joe Taylor also had praise for Arsenal in his own post-match interview, but he admitted it wasn’t as nice to play in this kind of match as you might think.
“It’s an FA Cup tie against arguably the best team in the world right now, and overall, we gave a good account of ourselves,” Taylor said.
“It’s nice to be out there at such a good stadium against good players, and it’s probably not as nice as you think, but the occasion was special, and it was nice to see so many Tics fans out there and supporting us.”
A trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal is often cited among the dream ties for lower-league footballers, especially with the Gunners leading Europe as they have this season. Every player wants the chance to compete against and potentially dethrone the best the sport has to offer.
Taylor’s suggestion that the game was “probably not as nice as you think” is likely due to Arsenal’s first-half goal blitz, giving Wigan a lot of hard work to do with no real hope of a result at the end of it.
In fairness, Wigan put that work in and ensured the scoreline didn’t get any worse after the break. It’s just not surprising they didn’t have much fun doing it.