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Sunday Night Takeaway: Same old Arsenal, a different Spurs and West Ham Payet forward

Apart from fans of Manchester United, many might wish West Ham well in their FA Cup replay agains...



Sunday Night Takeaway: Same ol...
Soccer

Sunday Night Takeaway: Same old Arsenal, a different Spurs and West Ham Payet forward

Apart from fans of Manchester United, many might wish West Ham well in their FA Cup replay against the Reds - but not because of any ill-will against the Old Trafford club.

With Everton, Crystal Palace and Watford already in the semi-finals, the addition of West Ham to the final four would make for an extraordinarily exciting ending to the competition as the last time either of those clubs picked up the trophy was way back in 1995 when the Toffees defeated Man United at Wembley.

Payet paying off

West Ham are already having a very positive season even if they lose the replay at home to Man United. Payet's free-kick today put the Hammers in front, to follow up a similar goal from the fifth round victory over Blackburn Rovers.

With double figures for goals in all competitions this season and seven assists, the fact that West Ham advanced as far as they have in the FA Cup and within touching distance of the Premier League Top Four has much to do with Payet's mercurial form.

The Hammers have tied him down to a new five-and-half-year deal and with a move to the 54,000 seater stadium (a jump of almost 20,000 seats from their current ground), long runs in competitions could start becoming a regular occurrence.

As for Man United...

West Ham United's Dimitri Payet (right) goes down in the box under a challenge from Manchester United's Marcos Rojo but is not awarded a penalty. Picture by: Mike Egerton / EMPICS Sport

Man United misfire

The Reds dominated possession at Old Trafford but it took them until the second half to muster the first of two shots on target.

Indeed, leading into this game, they had not managed more than a shot on target in eight of their past 30 Premier League matches.

The one positive is that they fought back from that Payet goal to equalise and force a replay as they get a second chance to reach a semi-final and keep what looks like a final hope of a trophy alive.

Same old Arsenal

The Gunners had the chances, but as so often happens, they were stung by the opposition.

This time, it was the Hornets of Watford who stung them and left more questions about Arsene Wenger and his team.

Having won the FA Cup two years in a row, exiting this year and concentrating on the league will do them no harm.

But the sense is, they are petering out with an injury list growing again and a sense of disgruntlement emanating from the fanbase to the team.

Arsenal know victory in every single game until the end of the season is what they need to try and pip Leicester and Tottenham, but performances like today suggest that they will always find a way to slip up along the way.

Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game. Picture by: Tim Goode / EMPICS Sport

Tottenham tilting in the right direction

Spurs were always likely to beat Aston Villa but sometimes those games can see teams slip up.

However, Tottenham continue to confound past stereotypes about the club by doing the business and getting all three points thanks to Harry Kane's double.

Leicester still lead by two points at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand, but there is something different and durable about this Spurs side which suggests that if the Foxes do lose their way, it will be Tottenham who will take the title back to White Hart Lane for the first time since Billy Nicholson's 1961 vintage - and that will only make Arsenal fans even more irate.

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