Lincoln City's fairytale FA Cup run ended at the quarter-final stage as Arsenal put aside their own problems to crush the fifth-tier side 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal's Olivier Giroud. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
It took a labouring Arsenal until first-half stoppage time to take the lead through Theo Walcott but the 12-times winners made their superiority count after the break.
Olivier Giroud side-footed Arsenal's second after 53 minutes and five minutes later Lincoln's hopes were extinguished as their skipper Luke Waterfall turned in Kieran Gibbs' cross into his own goal.
Alexis Sanchez, on from the start added a classy fourth and Aaron Ramsey made it 5-0 to the Premier League side who were humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.
Lincoln, who became the first minor league side to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for more than a century by knocking out top flight Burnley in round five, had delighted their 9,000 travelling fans in the first half with a gritty display.
They even went close to taking the lead when Nathan Arnold weaved in from the right and forced Petr Cech into a fine save.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was a happy man after his team cruised into the semi-finals with a comfortable 2-0 win at Premier League rivals Middlesbrough.
David Silva gave them a third-minute lead and Sergio Aguero struck again in the 67th minute, with the visitors missing numerous chances to win by a bigger margin.
Tomorrow Tottenham play Millwall and on Tuesday Chelsea play Manchester United.
-Reuters
