Captain Van Persie Leads By Example As Arsenal Beat Plymouth

Three goals in six minutes early in the second half broke the deadlock with a vengeance at the Emirates, where Championship side Plymouth had kept their illustrious Premier League opponents at bay for the first 45 minutes.

Robin Van Persie scored Arsenal's first and third, and set up their second - an own goal by David Gray - while Karl Diguid briefly gave the Pilgrims hope.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is the second most successful manager in FA Cup history - and he paid due respect to the famous old tournament today by selecting a strong side to take on Devon's mid-table Championship side Plymouth Argyle.

Lukasz Fabianski was named as Wenger's goalkeeper for the FA Cup campaign this season, and Aaron Ramsey, a finalist last May for Cardiff, was given a start as Dutchman Robin van Persie was handed the captain's armband. Argyle manager Paul Sturrock gave a debut to David Gray, newly signed on loan from Manchester United, in defence.

The first serious effort on goal saw Van Persie take a shot which Pilgrims' keeper Romain Larrieu saved.

At the other end, with the Arsenal defence looking strangely hesitant, Jamie Mackie had an effort on goal from 12 yards blocked by Mikael Silvestre, before a Plymouth corner by Luke Summerfield was cleared by Nicklas Bendtner.

An Emmanuel Eboue shot was saved by Larrieu and a close-range header by Van Persie was wide of the target, before Samir Nasri's shot was blocked by Gray.

Barker blocked a William Gallas effort and Ramsey forced a save from Larrieu, but Arsenal had a problem when Silvestre suffered an injury on half-an-hour and had to be replaced by Kieran Gibbs.

But Plymouth were holding their own, Mackie's shot being blocked by Gallas and Fabianski making a save from a Paul Gallagher shot.

The enterprising Ramsey tried his luck from outside the penalty area with a shot that fizzed wide, and Eboue quickly followed suit in identical fashion.

A headed effort from inside the area by Bendtner went wide of the goal, and when Van Persie was fouled by Marcel Seip, Nasri produced a shot on goal direct from the free-kick, but Plymouth were decent value for their clean-sheet at the break.

However, Arsenal began the second period more purposefully and from a corner taken by Nasri on the left, Van Persie headed the Gunners in front on 47 minutes from inside the six-yard box.

Three minutes later, Arsenal were two-up. This time captain Van Persie was the provider, delivering the ball into the danger zone where Bendtner was just beaten to the ball by debutant Gray, who could only put the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of his own net.

However, Karl Duguid pulled one back for Plymouth almost immediately. The Pilgrims were awarded a free-kick for a foul by Diaby on Rory Fallon, Summerfield took the kick and there was skipper Duguid firing home from close-range with the aid of Gray's assist.

Eboue was replaced by Carlos Vela, and Gallagher by Steven MacLean, before Van Persie forced another save from Larrieu. Fallon shot over the bar at one end and Ramsey at the other, before Van Persie got Arsenal's third. His initial shot was saved by Larrieu, but he reacted quickly to despatch the loose ball.

Jack Wilshere replaced Bendtner late on, but the game finished with Nasri (twice) and Ramsey having shots saved by Larrieu - a pattern reflected in the match statistics, which showed that Arsenal enjoyed 69 percent of the possession, though Plymouth can hold their heads high after a spirited performance.

Arsenal: Fabianski; Sagna, Gallas, Djourou, Silvestre, Eboue, Diaby, Nasri, Ramsey, Van Persie, Bendtner.
Substitutes: Almunia, Vela, Wilshere, Adebayor, Bischoff, Gibbs, Randall.

Plymouth: Larrieu; Cathcart, Seip, Gray, Barker, Clark, Summerfield, Duguid, Mackie, Gallagher, Fallon.
Substitutes: Saxton, Timar, Folly, MacLean, Doumbe, Noone, Mpenza.