Arsenal beats Oxford 3-0, sets up FA Cup match with Manchester City

Arsenal has set up a fourth-round match with English Premier League title rival Manchester City in the FA Cup by beating third-tier Oxford 3-0

Arsenal set up a fourth-round match with English Premier League title rival Manchester City in the FA Cup by beating third-tier Oxford 3-0 on Monday.

Eddie Nketiah scored twice after Mohamed Elneny’s opener, with all of the league leader’s goals coming in the space of 13 second-half minutes at an atmospheric Kassam Stadium.

Arsenal will head to Etihad Stadium on the weekend of January 28-29 for the match against City in the last 32 of the famous old competition. It will be the first of three games in a three-month span between the top two clubs in the country this season, with league meetings scheduled for February and April.

City, the defending league champion, is in second place and trails Arsenal by five points approaching the halfway point of the season.

With four goals in as many games, Nketiah is impressing as the replacement up front for Gabriel Jesus, who was injured playing at the World Cup with Brazil.

His goals came in the 70th and 76th minutes, adding to a header from Elneny in the 63rd that broke Oxford’s stubborn resistance in a match between teams separated by 57 places in English soccer’s pyramid.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta fielded a number of fringe players, including Portuguese playmaker Fabio Vieira — who set up two of the goals — and American goalkeeper Matt Turner.