Arsene Wenger must maintain Arsenal’s momentum after weathering the storm in Sutton

This was a night of blessed relief for Arsene Wenger. His Arsenal side were made to grind out victory against a team ranked 105 places below them but the Frenchman enjoyed his evening in the eye of the storm surrounding Sutton United.

Gander Green Lane put its best foot forward in attempting to stage the ultimate FA Cup upset and although Wenger was inevitably cast as the villain of the piece, it was an experience that chimed with his sporting principles.

Sutton may regret moments of excessive opportunism — namely the scuffles at full-time which led to police arrests and substitute goalkeeper Wayne Shaw’s pie-eating PR stunt — but neither should detract from the genuine contest they provided.

The Gunners were flustered by the strength and longevity of resistance they encountered, requiring Lucas Perez to strike against the run of play and Theo Walcott to add a well-worked second — his 100th goal for the club — either side of the interval to ease into the quarter-finals.

The result obviously aided Wenger’s mood but the Frenchman’s simple enthusiasm for the occasion was a refreshing sight after a week in which his resolve to continue has been questioned.

Several former Arsenal players claimed Wenger was close to his lowest ebb after Arsenal were crushed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week, yet the 67-year-old clearly revelled in the romance of Sutton’s story.

The tunnel area was chaotic, unaccustomed as the National League hosts are to the sheer volume of people in attendance, yet Wenger made time to speak to the Sutton players, who collected in a horseshoe around him, hanging off his every word.

Wenger identified specific aspects he enjoyed from the performance of several individuals before conducting his media duties outside the dressing rooms, continually interrupted by supporters craning their necks downwards to catch a glimpse or even by stewards star-stuck by his presence.

“Sutton kept going and we were never really in a position where we could afford to have a little breather in the game,” he said.

“We had to keep our focus and I must give credit to the players, who were professional and did just that.

“If we had come here in a relaxed mood we would have gone out, because they produced quality.

“I come from a club that is smaller than Sutton, so it reminds me of my childhood. The changing rooms for me were fantastic — the closer you are, the more united you are when you go out there. When you are too far from each other in the dressing room, with everybody having a chair, it is not so good. I prefer this... much more together.”

Whether the FA Cup can prove Wenger’s salvation at Arsenal once again remains to be seen. Winning the competition in 2014 ended a nine-year trophy drought and retaining the trophy a year later masked another flawed Premier League title bid to the extent he could effectively sell the argument progress was being made.

A home quarter-final draw against non-League Lincoln City keeps Wenger on course for another Wembley date but a cup run alone will not be enough to silence the debate about his ongoing value to the club. As if to sum up the division, one banner unfurled in the away end read, “Monsieur Wenger will always know more than you”. Another exclaimed, “Every good story has an ending”.

The furore over whether Wenger will extend his current contract can subside for the next 10 days, as Arsenal enjoy a free weekend due to Southampton’s engagement in the EFL Cup Final against Manchester United.

Yet Arsenal resume with a daunting League trip to Liverpool on Saturday week, when another damaging defeat would place Wenger’s position under the microscope again.

The manager has plenty of time to ponder his team selection but Perez enhanced his case to be involved with another effective display, the 28-year-old Spaniard nudging this tie in the Gunners’ favour by finishing a clinical counter-attack to give the visitors the lead. “He [Perez] is pushing on the door [to play more often], but I have many strikers,” said Wenger. “I have [Olivier] Giroud, [Danny] Welbeck, Walcott, [Alexis] Sanchez and Perez. It is true that he deserves a go because he scores goals and is a good player.”

Perez’s agent quickly quashed rumours his client was seeking a way out of the club he joined last summer in a £17million move from Deportivo La Coruna, but he may feel aggrieved at not featuring more regularly, given last night’s was his eighth goal of the season on limited gametime.

The striker has started just twice in the League and could reinvigorate a first team still seeking to rebuild their confidence after such a chastening evening in Germany last week.

Time can help heal those painful wounds and, in the interim, Wenger was able to bank a far more pleasant memory.