Afternoon. Arsene Wenger must be feeling like the parent who's picked up his teenage child from a party at 3am, only to be met with a surly silence for the duration of the car journey home. After everything he's done for Arsenal, this is the thanks he gets. There was full-on mutiny at the Emirates last weekend - it's rarely been louder - when Wenger refused to introduce fan's favourite Andrey Arshavin until the 74th minute, when he finally relented and gave the people what they wanted. Arsenal fans would do well to remember precisely what Wenger's done for their club when informing him he doesn't know what he's doing. And they should be careful what they wish for. It's never entirely transparent whether Wenger does have money to spend and he chooses not to, but if the opposite is true, then he is the best man to have around. They wouldn't be so feeling clever if Wenger calls the ingrates' bluff and heads off to Real Madrid (where he would lose every Clasico 14-6 to Barcelona).

That said, he has made mistakes, not least that substitution. Against United, their fallibility in the full-back positions was embarrassing and though there are injuries to key players, surely a stop-gap could have been bought by now. Wayne Bridge isn't that bad. But the absence of adequate players beyond the first eleven means that Arsenal are likely to finish out of the top four for the first time under Wenger, which means they cannot afford to be as snooty about the FA Cup as they have been in recent years, especially as the Manchester clubs are out. Seven years and counting, the elephant in the room.

Of course, Arsenal ought to have rid themselves of the stigma of not winning a trophy since 2005 when they met Birmingham in last season's Carling Cup final and Laurel and Hardy bungled it up in the last minute. Wenger may well remember that sorry afternoon when he looks over and sees Alex McLeish in the Aston Villa dug-out. Now there's a man who knows a thing or two about abuse from fans. In his case, it's arguably deserved. His Villa team has played Buzz Killington football all season, serving up negative filth which should really be beneath them. They're buoyed by wins at Chelsea and Wolves though, and ex-Tottenham striker Robbie Keane may be relishing the chance to deepen Arsenal's gloom. Assuming he doesn't bring the clown shoes he wore during his time at West Ham.

Team news: Andrey Arshavin is surprisingly left on the bench for Arsenal, who'll be delighted to see Bacary Sagna joining him there after his return from a bad injury.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Coquelin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Song, Ramsey; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Walcott; Van Persie. Subs: Szczesny, Sagna, Arteta, Park, Henry, Benayoun, Arshavin.

Aston Villa (4-4-2): Given; Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock; Ireland, Clark, Petrov, Agbonlahor; Keane, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Heskey, Bannan, Weimann, Lichaj, Baker, Gardner.

Who is Wenger's worst ever signing? I was discussing this with a couple of Arsenal fans last night and we settled on Igors Stepanovs. There were honourable mentions for Nelson Vivas, Pascal Cygan and Carl Jenkinson as well.

Evan Fanning will be covering the draw for the fifth round over here. Follow it.

The winner of this tie will have a trip to either Sunderland or Middlesbrough in the fifth round. Incidentally Gaizka Mendieta still lives in Middlesbrough, which is nice. "Surely Wenger's worst ever signing would be 'fox-in-the-box' Franny Jeffers at £10m?" says Barnaby Pole. "As an Evertonian, I've always been very grateful for that bit of business." Poor Franny Jeffers.

Martin Keown's a pundit alongside Neil Warnock. On the pitch. It would be terrible if something like this happened again. Emile Heskey's in the Villa squad, so you never know.

The teams are out. The camera pans to the 'In Arsene We Trust' sign. Until he puts Thierry Henry in goal.

Peep! We're off, but not before Arsenal fans inform us that Arsenal are by the greatest team the world has ever seen. Villa, attacking from right to left, get us going. "I made this point during Boro vs Sunderland; but no-one e-mailed in, so I'll push this again," says Adam Timmins. "Two ideas for paritally restoring the FA Cup : A) make it like the Copa Del Rey - i.e. all matches to be played in midweek, or B) ditch the League Cup and run it along the similar lines - first ropund played before the start of the season, third round in September, and play the Final in March. What do people think?"

2 min: Arsenal stroke the ball around midfield in true Arsenal style. "Hey, just think it is a little too tough on Jenkinson to brand him as Wenger's worst ever signing," says Naman Vijay. "He has looked decent in his few appearances so far." There are plenty of empty seats in the stands. The magic of the FA Cup with Budweiser.

4 min: Ramsey has a dig from the edge of the area, but it's straight at Given. Is anyone else getting hacked off with the constant mention of sponsors? Owen Coyle's a major offender with the Barclays Premier League and all we've heard this weekend is that the FA Cup is sponsored by a rubbish beer.

5 min: Robbie Keane handballs it around 35 yards from the Villa goal. He's been spending too much time in America. It's too far out for Van Persie to shoot, so he rolls it to his left for Vermaelen, who spanks the ball towards the top-right corner with some venom. Given tips it over the bar. Great shot, great save. The corner's a waste of time.

7 min: Hutton hares down the right, but Oxlade-Chamberlain gets back and tackles him. See that Andrey? Arsenal pour up-field and Walcott gets clear, before finding Van Persie on the right side of the Villa area. He can't get the ball on to his left foot to shoot though and has to settle for a corner. "The Arsenal fans may be getting a little tetchy with Wenger, but they wouldn't revolt over putting Henry in goal," says Chris Langmead. "It wouldn't be as bad as giving Fabianski a game. Eh? Oh..."

8 min: Budweiser.

9 min: The FA Cup is sponsored by Budweiser. "The cup is basically the same as week in week out football, but with (generally) different teams playing each other," says Benjamin List. "This has to change.

1. Rush keepers. Less a rule, more a stipulation. They have to attempt to score. When they go forward, a pre-determined defender goes in goal.

2. Seeing as The Cup is sponsored by Budweiser, the players must be drunk.

3. If the game is tied, the last 10 mins are played with no offside.

4. Squads are picked from a hat, like the draw.



This would make it the best competition in the world. Of any sport."

10 min: Villa haven't been able to get anything going yet, so Fabianski decides to make things interesting, dilly-dallying over a clearance and nearly allowing Keane to charge it down. He's had one too many pre-match Budweisers. "Could someone please enlighten me as to what's so side-splittingly hilarious about Jeffers' no doubt proud mum & dad putting a happy birthday message in the local fish & chip-wrapper?" says Mrs Jeffers Tom Prankerd. "I thought it was quite sweet when I first saw it. It's not like professional footballers' birthdays are generally celebrated by a Red Arrows flypast and a front page mention on the Times, is it?" Oh come on, it is quite funny.

12 min: Theo Walcott isn't going to make it, is he? Rosicky finds him in space outside the Villa area. He shows great speed, mainly due to being really fast, to speed through and dodge a challenge from Warnock that nearly sends him flying. But once into the area, he has a clear sight of goal and should at least get his shot from 12 yards out on target. Instead he loses all his composure and slices a dreadful effort horribly past the near post.

15 min: Budweiser. BUDWEISER. Malkovich, Malkovich, BUDWEISER.

17 min: As you'd expect, Arsenal are utterly dominant and could well be ahead. But Villa aren't giving away too much at the back and are doing well to frustrate Arsenal, for all their possession. If only they'd show some possession. "Is it possible to get drunk on Budweiser?" says Tom Prankerd. "It's been a while, but I always remember boredom used to arrive before inebriation... And I was married to Jeffers for a short while, but kept my own name to keep away from the tabloid glare. True story."

19 min: Ramsey wins the ball with a strong challenge inside Villa's half, and then sets Walcott clear down the right. He whips a lovely low cross into the near post, but Van Persie can't flick the ball goalwards under pressure from Cuellar and Dunne. The ball comes out to the edge of the area and the accident-prone Warnock steps on Ramsey's ankle in the middle of the D. This is an excellent opportunity for Van Persie.

20 min: But the free-kick was well below the standard we've come to expect from Van Persie. He doesn't make proper contact with the ball, which is easily blocked by the wall. It rebounds back and Arsenal end up conceding a free-kick.

21 min: Darren Bent scored twice when Aston Villa won 2-0 here last May, and he should have opened his account just now. The chance arose from a typical Arsenal-style calamity at the back. Hutton drove in-field from the right but overran the ball, only for Koscielny's challenge to rebound back off the defender and spin through to Bent in the middle. He just had to head it past Fabianski and into the empty net, but was put off by the goalkeeper's flying challenge and in the end he made no contact with the ball at all.

22 min: The increasingly useless Warnock loses the ball again and Oxlade-Chamberlain cuts in from the left and drags a poor shot wide of the near post.

25 min: Suddenly Villa have a break on, with Arsenal caught short at the back. Keane finds Agbonlahor on the right, and he dashes past Coquelin, only to fire his cross over Bent at the far post. That was a waste. "To add a bit of zest to the competition they could introduce a rule that goalkeepers are not allowed to catch or hold the ball, they can only use their hands to punch or parry the ball away," says Tom Shaw.

27 min: Villa's BUDWEISERthreat is growing. BUDWEISERKeane tries to find Bent in the areaBUDWEISER again, but gets the pass wrongBUDWEISER.

29 min: Have Arsenal ever been any use at corners? Rosicky's latest effort is headed away by the first man.

30 min: Barry Glendenning has just asked whether Crawley can count a home draw against Stoke as a glamour tie, bringing a unanimous no from the entire sports desk. Still, maybe they'll get some free BUDWEISER.

32 min: Actually, this game could be improved if every player was forced to down three cans of Budweiser at half-time.

GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Aston Villa (Dunne, 33 min): This wouldn't have happened if Arshavin was on the pitch. Arsenal fail to react to a short corner routine by Villa, as Petrov and Keane combine on the left. Ramsey has no support at all and can only watch as Petrov backheels the ball back to Keane, who hangs a cross up to the far post, where Dunne thumps a header past the helpless Fabianski. Bring on the Budweiser.

35 min: Arsenal can't score from corners and they can't defend them either.

36 min: Arsenal nearly come up with an instant response to Villa's opener. Coquelin slaps a low cross into the middle, which Cuellar carelessly knocks straight out to Rosicky. He places his shot straight at Given, who makes a mess of it, but luckily for Villa, he plunges on the ball before Van Persie can put the rebound away.

37 min: Arsenal are rocking all of a sudden. Cuellar strides forward from the back and slides a delicious ball through the middle for Bent, Arsenal's defence parting like Scott Parker's hair. The pass is just too heavy for Bent to control though, although his first touch very nearly took the ball past Fabianski. He saves. If he didn't, there may well have been a mushroom cloud developing over north London right now.

39 min: "Have Arsenal ever been any good at corners? How about this glorious moment," says David White. That goal was scored 19 years ago. You're making my argument for me.

41 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain skitters to the left byline and chips a cross towards Van Persie. He was getting ready to slam the ball home, only for Dunne to flick the ball away with his head. Moments later, Coquelin has a pop from 15 yards out. It might have been going wide, but a Villa defender gets a foot in the way just to make sure.

43 min: Alan Hutton tries to be too clever for his own good and ends up looking very foolish. He had the ball in his own area and should have hoofed it clear, but instead tapped a pass to Ireland, who wasn't even looking. The ball rebounded off the back of his heel and back to Ramsey, who tricked his way past Cuellar, reaching the goal-line. With the angle tight, Given made it impossible for him to do anything with it, and blocked his cutback behind for a corner.

45 min: Given comes to Villa's rescue again, beating Oxlade-Chamberlain's firm drive from 25 yards away from danger. Arsenal are starting to turn the screw. Meanwhile Dunne has been booked for a foul on Rosicky.

GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa (Bent, 45 min+1): What an ice-cool finish. Arsenal don't bother with boring things like defending again as Villa stream away on the counter once more. Keane works the ball to the right for Ireland, who plays Bent in behind Coquelin on the right side of the Arsenal area. He whips an instant shot towards the near post, which Fabianski pushes aside. It looks like the danger has gone, but somehow Bent, with the use of a protractor and compass, somehow squeezes the rebound into net from an absurd angle on the right, beating Song on the line. That was brilliant from Bent, but dire defending from Arsenal again.

Peep! Peep! The half-time whistle is blown and loud boos greet it from the home fans. Arsene Wenger looks thoroughly fed up; he might even disappear into his coat at this rate.

Half time: Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa. It's not even surprising any more.

Half time emails:

"Is it too late for Theo to enter the 100m this summer?" says Mark Jelbert. "Makes more sense than his current pursuit."

"I'd like to think that there will be hordes of young Crawley fans waiting for the Stoke team bus to turn up so that they can get the autographs of Rory Delap, Jerome Cameron and more excitingly Big Bob Huth," says Ian Burch.

"Given the pace of this match I feel myself aging," says Thomas Esch. "I know I'm getting older, Budweiser."

"The other way to make this match more interesting is to bring in Henry," says Mario Rustan. "I just noticed that Aston Villa fields in five Irish players. And uh, two Americans to defend the virtue of BUDWEISER."

"The atmosphere before Dunne's goal was flatter than the beer you're so fond of mentioning," says Brynmor Pattison. "Arsenal fans need to get their act together.. And when did Villa turn into Club Ireland? Given, Dunne, Keane etc.. It's the reason they're playing steely and determined, if completely unspectacular football. Flat football, flat atmosphere.. My god, Budweiser are the perfect sponsors for this game!"

"And there it is," says Damian Durrant. "Usual pattern: early Arsenal swarming pressure, missed chances then caught on break plus some lousy defending. Arsenal descend into second half funk and concede again. Wenger makes excuses about players being tired, bio rhythms off etc. How much longer do we have to endure this guff ? PS Koscielny as much as we want to believe in something at Emirates -- isn't... that... good."

This is just off the top of my head, but I'm guessing that Arsenal haven't come back from 2-0 down since the 2-2 draw with Barcelona in April 2010. I haven't had time to check though.

46 min: We're off again. There are a lot of empty seats dotted about the place; no doubt the Arsenal fans are drowning their sorrows with some Budweiser. "Arsenal is a lost cause!" fumes Imad Sabi. "And the manager they should hire to replace Wenger is the guy who has been frustrating Arsenal at Birminigham and, now at Villa: McLeish!"

48 min: Arsenal go so close to making the perfect start to the second half. Van Persie curls a corner in from the right and Mertesacker's towering header is cleared off the line by Ireland, who was well placed by the left post. Andy Gray will be pleased about that. Which means we should all be pleased.

50 min: Petrov produces a magnificent tackle to stop Walcott blazing a shot miles over the bar. He was played into the area by a backheel from the mostly anonymous Ramsey, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Petrov slid in, timing his tackle to perfection.

51 min: Another chance for Arsenal already. Walcott returns the compliment, teeing up Ramsey on the edge of the area, but his reluctance to use his left foot lets him down and he ends up poking it awkwardly at Given with his right.

53 min: PENALTY TO ARSENAL! It had been coming. Song slides Ramsey into the area and his touch takes him past Dunne, who sends him flying through the air. It's a clear penalty.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Aston Villa (Van Persie, 54 min): Was there ever any doubt about the outcome of this? Van Persie places it with his left into the bottom-left corner, Given going the wrong way. Richard Dunne is very lucky to still be on the pitch. It probably wasn't a red card, but he should have been booked, and he's already on a yellow card.

FARCE! Arsenal 2-2 Aston Villa (Walcott, 56 min): Right, Theo Walcott has scored, but he should never be allowed to set foot on a football pitch again. To be fair to him, he created this goal with a fine scamper into the area, helped in no small part by a stupid lunge from Warnock. From close range, he tried to dink the ball past Given, who blocked with his chest. The ball squirted through and was heading goalwards, but Hutton got back and looked set to deal with it, only to hammer his clearance against Walcott, the ball looping back and into the gaping net. Walcott runs off with and does a silly little dance on the touchline, making out he's just recreated Diego Maradona's goal against England in 1986.

59 min: Arsenal are rampant.

60 min: PENALTY TO ARSENAL! VILLA'S ABJECT CAPITULATION IS NEARLY COMPLETE! Darren Bent takes out Koscielny before he can get to the ball and Mike Jones points to the spot.

IT'S JUST LIKE WATCHING ARSENAL! Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa (Van Persie pen, 61 min): This time Van Persie goes for the opposite corner, and fools Given, who goes the wrong way again. Everyone's happy inside the Emirates now. Arsene Knows again. They've been brilliant since the start of the second half.

63 min: Arsenal's fans are now taunting the Villa fans with chants of "You're not singing any more!" The irony, of course, is lost on them.

65 min: Ireland swings a delicious cross into the area and the much-maligned Mertesacker gets a vital header on it with Keane lurking behind him.

66 min: "What the hell just happened?" says Dr Manoj Joseph. "I'm absolutely stunned... Villa just imploded. Absolute frigging shambles."

68 min: A BUDWEISER reminder BUDWEISER from BUDWEISER ESPN BUDWEISER that BUDWEISER you BUDWEISER can BUDWEISER vote BUDWEISER for BUDWEISER your BUDWEISER man of the match.

69 min: Walcott drives forward again and brings a fine save out of Given with a stinging effort from 20 yards out. He's such a strange player. That complete fluke seems to have done wonders for his confidence.

70 min: All of a sudden, Arsenal go to sleep at the back as Koscielny's slip allows Petrov in. A better touch would have allowed him to surely score from six yards out, but it took him slightly away from goal. He tried to cut it back for Bent, but Mertesacker's positioning was impeccable.

72 min: Mikel Arteta replaces Tomas Rosicky for Arsenal, while Gabby Agbonlahor, who must have picked up an injury, is off for Gary Gardner.

73 min: More good work from Walcott, who terrorises Dunne on the right and pulls the ball back for Van Persie, who swivels and clips a shot harmlessly over the bar from the edge of the area.

74 min: "What in the hell was Darren Bent of all people tackling someone in the penalty area?" demands Brandon Clements. He didn't realise the first half was over.

76 min: Villa have barely done anything in this half. What did McLeish say at half time to inspire such a collapse? "To be fair, this probably disappoints Arsenal's fans more than Villa's, who will be delighted at this opportunity to lay into McCleish," saus Elliot Carr-Barnsley. "I think at 2-0, EVERYONE knew it would end up 3-2. However bad Arsenal are, this is what Villa do. We've done it for years and we're not going to give up now."

78 min: Arsenal almost come unstuck at another Villa short corner, even though they sent out two players to deal with it this time. Villa were still able to get Ireland into a crossing position and his cross was glanced goalwards by Clark. But straight at Fabianski, who well to hold it.

80 min: Koscielny is booked after fouling Bent. Either for the foul or for kicking the ball away. The free-kick is hoicked in, Dunne heads it back across goal and from five yards out, Keane takes a comedy air-swipe at the ball, completely missing his kick. Still got it.

82 min: Petrov goes off, replaced by Barry Bannan. "Just another two or three goals then and Arsene will be able to bring on Arshavin with impunity," parps Steven Hughes.

83 min: Now Arsenal are being asked to defend their lead, and are starting to creak a little. A long ball over the top finds Ireland all alone on the left side of the area, but he gets caught in two minds and instead of shooting, he tries and fails to set up Bent. Arsenal escape.

86 min: Fabianski does a catch!

87 min: The electric Oxlade-Chamberlain swivels and pings a wonderful cross-field pass from left to right for Walcott. He's got plenty about him. Walcott runs at Warnock again, and plays in the overlapping Coquelin, whose shot is deflected wide.

88 min: There'll be no Andrey Arshavin today. Bacary Sagna and Thierry Henry come on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott. Huge cheers for everyone involved in that substitution.

90 min: There will be four minutes added on.

90 min+2: "Well what an exciting game," muses Iain Chambers. "It has put me in the mood for a refreshing, light, sparkling alcoholic beverage. But for the life of me I can't think of which brand to choose. Could you or any of your readers, or perhaps someone at the Football Association, help me out?" BUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISERBUDWEISER

90 min+3: Nearly the perfect ending for Arsenal as Henry is played through in the area. He takes too long to shoot though and is eventually tackled. He really Arsenaled that up.

Peep! Peep! Peep! The final whistle blows and Arsenal are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup. It didn't look like there was going to be a happy ending when they went in at the break 2-0 down, but a phenomenal 15-minute period at the start of the second half turned the match in their favour. A sheepish Aston Villa depart, off to contemplate how they're all going to fit in their clown car. Thanks for reading. Bye.