Mikel Arteta will hope the issue is not serious.
Arsenal were forced to make a late change to their starting XI for Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Wigan Athletic after Riccardo Calafiori was injured in the warm-up, though it did not stop them running riot and taking a 4-0 lead into half-time.
Calafiori was restored to the line-up for the fourth-round tie, having been left on the bench for Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Brentford.
But the Premier League leaders suffered a setback as Calafiori had to withdraw from the team due to the injury, with Arsenal turning to winger Bukayo Saka to fill the void. Myles Lewis-Skelly, who was initially picked as part of the midfield three, dropped back to left-back.
Yet the change in personnel did not stop Arsenal from taking control of the tie against the League One strugglers.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring in the 11th, slotting confidently into the bottom-left corner after latching onto Eberechi Eze’s superb throughball.
Gabriel Martinelli doubled the Arsenal lead seven minutes later, racing onto another well-weighted Eze pass and firing across Wigan goalkeeper Sam Tickle.
Things got worse for the Latics when Jack Hunt put through his own net to make it 3-0, and the game was turned into a rout by Gabriel Jesus’ lofted finish, Wigan paying the price for a high line as the Brazilian beat the offside trap to latch on to Christian Norgaard’s pass.
Martinelli replicates Ian Wright with Arsenal second
While he has scored just one Premier League goal this season, Martinelli has been in excellent goalscoring form in the other competitions for Arsenal in 2025-26.
The Brazilian’s goal to put them 2-0 up marked his 10th of the season across European and domestic cup competitions.
By reaching double figures, Martinelli became the first Arsenal player to score 10 or more goals across European and domestic cup competitions since Ian Wright in the 1994-95 campaign.
Six of Martinelli’s goals have come in the Champions League, with his strike against Wigan following a hat-trick in the previous round, which ensured a 4-1 away win at Portsmouth.
Though his latest effort came in a one-sided contest with lower-league opposition, Martinelli’s goalscoring record outside of league games highlights the attacking depth Arsenal have at their disposal.
Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus are ahead of him in the pecking order up front but, with Kai Havertz once again set for a spell on the sidelines with a muscle injury, Martinelli could see greater opportunities come his way in the coming weeks.
The supplier of Martinelli’s goal also made history, with Eze enjoying arguably his best performance of what has been a difficult 2026 to this point.
In supplying assists for each of the opening two goals, the former Crystal Palace man became the first Arsenal player to record multiple assists in a home FA Cup match since Hector Bellerin versus Sunderland in January 2016.
Manager Mikel Arteta can afford to have supreme confidence in the attacking options at his disposal as Arsenal continue to compete on four fronts. With several huge games, namely London derbies with Tottenham and Chelsea and the EFL Cup final with Manchester City, on the horizon, Arteta will hope the injury to Calafiori does not deplete his options at the other end of the pitch for very long.
