Van Persie leads Arsenal victory - but did he elbow Villa man?

Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 2. Robin Van Persie inspired Arsenal to a stirring comeback against Aston Villa yesterday but the Dutch striker could find himself in trouble with the authorities.

The Arsenal striker scored twice from the spot in the second half as his side fought back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to make it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup. The Gunners will face an away trip to either Middlesbrough or Sunderland next month but whether van Persie travels remains to be seen.

Television replays showed the Dutchman catch Carlos Cuellar in the face with his elbow and while referee Mike Jones took no action the FA might reach a different conclusion once they've studied footage of the incident. Certainly Villa boss Alex McLeish was in no doubt of what he had seen: "It was an elbow in the face, it was clear," he said.

McLeish's side had looked on course to elbow Arsenal out of the cup when they took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room at half-time. Goals from Richard Dunne and Darren Bent had given the visitors a healthy lead, and boos echoed round the Emirates as furious Arsenal fans vented their fury at what they had seen from their side in the first half.

But the second half was all change. Arsenal played with pace and penetration and their reward was three goals in seven minutes. First Dunne chopped down Aaron Ramsey in the box and Van Persie sent Shay Given the wrong way from the spot to make it 2-1. Three minutes later Walcott cut in from the right and his shot was cleared off the line by Alan Hutton, only for the ball to rebound off the winger's chest and into the net.

The faces of 5,000 Villa fans fell even further when Van Persie gave Arsenal the lead on 61 minutes with another sweetly struck penalty, this one given for a foul by Darren Bent on Laurent Koscielny. "I'm bitterly disappointed that we didn't see it out," said McLeish. "It's a missed opportunity."

According to Walcott it was the words of Van Persie that transformed Arsenal at the interval: "This cup means a lot to us because obviously we haven't won anything in a long time. Robin was reflecting that in the dressing room at half-time," explained Walcott. "We want to win this trophy and we needed to show the fans that we're ready. The result shows we've got great character."

Wenger also referred to the character of his side in his post-match analysis, saying: "It was a good test of our mental qualities and we passed the test well."

Asked if Arsenal are in a strong position to go on and win the FA Cup now that the two Manchester clubs are out of the competition, Wenger replied: "It is an opportunity but you can see today how difficult the games are." ·