Preston 1 Arsenal 2 – five things we learnt: Olivier Giroud doesn’t mind a cold night up north, the passion of the FA Cup is there for all to see, and Gabriel won’t forget Jordan Hugill
PRESTON were dealt a killer blow in the 89th minute when Arsenal's Olivier Giroud bagged the Premier League side a late winner.
The Lilywhites took the lead in just the seventh minute when Callum Robinson capitalised on some poor defending from the Gunners to fire home.
But Aaron Ramsey equalised with a nice finish just two minutes into the second period, and then Giroud poked home after a great set-up by Lucas Perez in the last minute.
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Here, we take a look at five things we learnt from tonight's clash at Deepdale.
Giroud doesn't mind a cold night up north
If Arsenal didn't have a number of injury concerns, French forward Olivier Giroud might not have been starting the FA Cup third round clash.
But his boss Arsene Wenger named him from the off, as well as handed him the captain's armband.
And he proved to be the hero on the night.
Giroud burst into the box in the last minute of normal time, and collected a fine bass from Lucas Perez to fire the Gunners into the fourth round.
Simon Grayson has MAJOR FA Cup passion
Arsenal pulled themselves back into the game with a fine finish from Aaron Ramsey just two minutes into the second period.
But Preston boss Simon Grayson was more annoyed with what he perceived as being more advantageous for the Gunners - decisions from referee Bobby Madley.
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The Lilywhites' boss had to be spoken to by the man in the middle, after he was incandescent when his full-back Greg Cunningham was booked for a strong tackle on Lucas Perez.
Who says the FA Cup has lost its passion?!
He might not have heard of him before, but Gabriel will remember Jordan Hugill
Gabriel, who was making his 50th appearance for Arsenal in tonight's game, will have a painful reminder of his battle with Preston striker Jordan Hugill.
On 43 minutes the two jumped for the ball, with Hugill accidentally catching Gabriel on the left side of his head.
Blood immediately poured out, with Gabriel claiming he was elbowed on purpose.
Hugill, who used to work in a pub before being snapped up by Preston, was booked, and then Gabriel came out for the second half presumably with some stitches.
Callum Robinson loves the FA Cup
The game was only seven minutes young when Preston striker Callum Robinson found himself in the right place at the right time to put the Championship into a shock lead.
But we should have seen it coming.
The 21-year-old actually scored a hat-trick in his debut in the famous old competition.
In November 2014 Robinson took home the match ball after scoring all the goals in a 3-0 away win at Havant & Waterlooville in the third round.
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Speaking to the , Robinson said: "That was obviously an unbelievable night for me, I was a young player in my first FA Cup game and to get the hat-trick was really good and we went on to play against Manchester United here which was a great experience for me.
"I really enjoy it and I've always enjoyed the FA Cup, even when I was younger."
Arsenal sleeping as McGeady turns back the clock
Aidan McGeady's career has taken him from Scotland to Russia and to England.
Yet it's fair to say the Scottish international can often be one of the most frustrating players on the field.
It's clear he has the silky skills that tempted Spartak Moscow to shell out £9.5million for him, but ask him to track back and run the channels for the full 90, and you might see what we mean.
However, just seven into the game at Deepdale, he produced a magnificent Zinedine Zindane-esque turn on the ball to thread ball through to Jordan Hugill. The ball ended up richoteting to Callum Robinson who fired home the opener.