This might not go into history as one of the great FA Cup finals but it should be remembered as one of the great performances. Arsenal set about dismantling their opponents from the start and, though Aston Villa will always be filled with regrets for playing with so little wit and cohesion, they should also realise they came up against an Arsène Wenger side displaying all the qualities that are the essence of his greatest moments.

When Arsenal play with this distinction it can seem like a trick of the mind there have been so many occasions in the last couple of years when it has felt as if Wenger might not get the happy ending he deserves. They passed the ball with a refinement that Villa simply could not match. It was a blur of speed and movement and, on a wider scale, they also did something else, bearing in mind the stench that has emanated from Fifa headquarters over the last week.

Wenger’s players did not fumigate the sport to the degree required but they did at least remind us about the reasons why we care so much for this daft old game and what makes it so great when everything comes together.

Santi Cazorla decorated the pitch with his mix of high skill and football intelligence. Mesut Özil and Aaron Ramsey provided the supporting cast and Alexis Sánchez left a wonderful calling card on the day Arsenal won this competition for a record 12th time and Wenger became the first post-war manager to notch up half a dozen successes.

Sánchez’s goal was a firecracker of a shot that swerved, dipped and soared into the net from almost 30 yards and a fitting way to end what has been an exhilarating first season from the Chilean in English football.

That made it 2-0 five minutes into the second half and the rest will no doubt be described as a capitulation from Tim Sherwood’s team. More accurately that process had begun much earlier. Arsenal’s superiority had been compelling since the opening exchanges and the only real surprise was that they waited until late in the first half before Theo Walcott started turning it into the hard currency of goals.

After that the imbalance of talent was so extreme there was an air of inevitability about what followed. Per Mertesacker’s header made it 3-0 just after the hour and it was almost a surprise that Arsenal restricted themselves to only one more, courtesy of the substitute Olivier Giroud in stoppage time. “From the first minute to the last the focus and the quality never dropped,” Wenger said, reflecting on a day of collective and personal achievement.

Wenger, to put it into context, has now won this trophy more times than Everton and Manchester City, and on as many occasions as West Ham, Sunderland and Leeds combined.

Arsenal have never played better at Wembley and, as Sherwood pointed out, it was not just the way they moved the ball around that made them such formidable opponents. When they did not have possession they chased and harried to get it back. “I don’t think we played well but you have to give credit to Arsenal as well,” Sherwood said. “They didn’t let us play well.”

Walcott’s goal had started to seem overdue such was the way Arsenal hogged the ball in the first half. Sánchez played like a man who was determined to leave his mark on the big occasion and Héctor Bellerín and Nacho Monreal showed a formidable appetite to supplement Arsenal’s attacks. Over their three matches this season, the aggregate score between these sides stands at 12-0.

Arsenal attacked in waves, with overlapping full-backs and quick, penetrative midfielders breaking forward to support Walcott, and their supremacy had the added effect of spreading anxiety among the Villa players. That, in turn, led to passes being misplaced, more mistakes, more carelessness and a recurring theme of the ball being returned to the team in control.

Villa were in a vicious circle that left them dizzied and dazed. Arsenal sensed their vulnerabilities and Wembley was reminded why one of these teams finished third in the Premier League and the other fourth bottom.

Wenger said he had preferred Walcott because he was “on a high” after his hat-trick against West Brom in Arsenal’s last league match and when the chance dropped on his left foot there was not a flicker of hesitation. Sánchez had headed back Monreal’s left-wing cross. There were half a dozen Villa players in the penalty area but Walcott saw his opportunity, hitting his shot on the run and driving it emphatically past Shay Given.

The goalkeeper could be seen remonstrating with his team-mates for being so slow to react but that really epitomised Villa all day: ponderous, clinging on, distinctly second best. Jack Grealish was only on the edges. Charles N’Zogbia was substituted early in the second half. Fabian Delph was full of energy but short of composure. Tom Cleverley and Ashley Westwood were overwhelmed and, if this was Christian Benteke’s final match for Villa, the forward barely had a chance to show why his buyout clause is set at £32.5m. Benteke thrives on crosses but there were hardly any of note and there were other times when they needed him to do a much more proficient job at holding up the ball and bringing other players into the game.

Benteke was also supposed to be picking up Mertesacker for the third goal, when Cazorla chipped in the corner and the German was unmarked in the six-yard area. The header was directed past an exposed goalkeeper and Sherwood could be seen on the bench rocking his head back and closing his eyes as if it were a bad nightmare.

Unfortunately for him, it was not. Giroud flicked in the fourth after two of the other substitutes, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, had combined. Villa had a couple of late penalty appeals but they were largely irrelevant then anyway and their hopes of winning the trophy for the first time since 1957 had been obliterated. “The perfect day,” Wenger said.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/30/fa-cup-final-arsenal-aston-villa-alexis-sanchez