Arsenal made light of getting past Burnley in their FA Cup Fifth Round encounter on Sunday and this, coupled with the Gunners Under-18s knocking Spurs out of the FA Youth Cup at the Quarter Final stage last Thursday evening, made it a great week of cup action for the club.

Such is the interest in the FA Youth Cup and, indeed, the rivalry between Arsenal and Spurs that nearly 20,000 spectators turned up to watch the under-18s slug it out at White Hart Lane for a place in the semi-final of the competition. Though the Young Guns saw more of the ball in the first half, it was Spurs who took the lead in the 6th minute - Jonathan Obika finishing off a breakaway move.

Encouragingly, Steve Bould’s charges did not lose their composure. They had the better of the first period and went on to tighten their territorial advantage in the second, completely dominating the match. In midfield, Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelain won ball after ball and kept the momentum moving in the Gunners favour. From a 51st minute corner Kyle Bartley bundled home an equaliser that had been threatening to come for some time. Now firmly in the ascendancy, victory looked within Arsenal’s grasp.

As the clocked ticked down, Spurs hung on for grim death and a period of extra-time seemed to be beckoning but two late strikes from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Rhys Murphy gave the Young Guns a deserved victory and broke Tottenham’s hearts. The several thousand Arsenal fans who had ventured across North London to support the youngsters gave the boys a rousing reception at the end of the match and it was clear from the lad’s celebrations how much this win meant to them. A semi-final tie with current Youth Cup holders, Manchester City, now awaits. Being a two-legged affair, a big crowd at Ashburton Grove for the home leg seems likely. Two years ago, when the class of 2007 reached this stage of the tournament, 48,000 turned up to cheer them on in the first leg against Manchester United. Sadly, the one-goal advantage that the Arsenal boys earned that night was overturned in the second-leg. Liam Brady and all his Academy staff will be very keen for this year’s crop of youngsters to go one better this time round.

The senior team served up a similarly emphatic cup victory at Ashburton Grove yesterday beating Burnley 3-0 and washing away the memories of a bad off-night in the Carling Cup at Turf Moor a few months ago. The Gunners barely needed to get out of second gear to see off Owen Coyle’s men and, overall, the match was a fairly dreary affair punctuated by three outstanding Arsenal strikes.

The first came from Carlos Vela in the 24th minute. The young Mexican picked up the ball 25 yards out. He held off a couple of challenges as he raced into the box before deftly lofting the ball over the on-rushing Brian Jensen to light up what had been a lacklustre and untidy half from both teams.

The second half continued in much the same vein until Eduardo produced a quite stunning volley to extend the lead. Alex Song chipped in a ball from the left wing and the Croatian dropped off his marker and hit the ball with the outside of his left foot into the top corner. It was a goal with real “wow factor” and it left the Ashburton Grove crowd purring. Eduardo’s technique was sensational. Almost hitting it with his left heel, he somehow managed to take the pace off the ball and send it with deadly accuracy into the opposite top corner. The effect made the shot unsaveable for Brian Jensen. It is clear that having Eduardo available again gives Arsene Wenger another potent striking option and every goal that the Croatian notches following the horrific injury he suffered just over a year ago feels like a gift from the footballing gods.

The afternoon was rounded off in spectacle style as the unlikely pairing of Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue conjured up a breathtaking goal. Song back-heeled the ball into Eboue’s path the Ivorian hurtled into the penalty area before dispatching a thunderous low shot into the net. It put the match well beyond any doubt and saw Arsenal safely into the next round where a home tie against Hull City awaits.

The FA Cup does seem to present the first team with their best chance of silverware this season but the presences of both Chelsea and Manchester United still loom large over the tournament. Should Arsenal get through their Sixth Round encounter with Hull, they would face Chelsea in the semi-final. On current form, most observers would back United to beat Everton in the other semi-final, so beating both these teams would seem to be a requirement in order to take the trophy. It’s not going to be easy.

Should Arsenal progress in the Champions League, there is a possibility that they might meet one of Chelsea or United in the latter stages of that tournament too. More immediately though, Wednesday night sees the second leg of the clash with Roma. The Gunners hold a 1-0 advantage from the first leg and ought to be approaching the trip to the Italy’s capital city with plenty of belief that they can progress further in this competition. The atmosphere will be hostile but Arsene Wenger’s teams have a good recent record against Italian opposition. Though, defensively, the team will have to be on its mettle, Eduardo and Walcott returning from injury will give the manager a couple of extra cards up his sleeve should an away goal be required.