Hector Bellerin says Arsenal have their hearts set on a third straight FA Cup - because they “love the competition”.
The right back set up goals for Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud as the Gunners came from behind to beat Sunderland 3-1 and take their place in the fourth round.
It’s 130 years since a team won the cup in three consecutive seasons and Bellerin wants to make history.
"The legs are fine and we have shown that we have very good players on the bench"
Hector Bellerin
“That is the goal of the whole team,” he told Arsenal Player. “We love this competition and the fans love this competition so we need to try and do our best. We are trying to get the third in a row.
“We knew it would be a hard game. It is always hard in the third round of the FA Cup. We had a tough opponent and a lot of changes so we had to adapt to that. We didn’t start really well but the team responded like it should. It was a great effort by the team and it was very nice to get through to the next round.
“They started pressing really high and we knew we had to be a bit safe when playing the ball. Sometimes we make mistakes and that is normal but we knew how to respond to it. The team was up to the challenge. We didn’t rush the game and we knew we had to be patient. It is nice to get the three goals and that is confidence for the team as we have a difficult week ahead.”
Bellerin and his team-mates will now turn their attention back to the Premier League, and trips to Liverpool and Stoke City.
“The legs are fine and we have shown that we have very good players on the bench,” he said. “The rotation helps us get good results. We have a lot of games and they are all hard games but we have to respond in the way we did today and I’m sure we will be fine.”
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