Giroud finished with a brace , as did Theo Walcott, whose cross on the second goal in the 71st minute deflected into the path of a sliding Giroud to effectively put the game away.
Walcott added goals in the 77th and 88th minutes, including this one off a nice through-ball from Joel Campbell:
Arsenal has now advanced in 15 straight rounds of the FA Cup, tying its own record in the competition. This also marks the third year in a row the Gunners have knocked Hull out of the FA Cup, and curiously enough, it was their triumph over the Tigers in the final two seasons ago that bought Wenger more time with fans and pundits alike.
At the time, that was Arsenal’s first trophy in nine years, and a big summer in 2014 that brought aboard the likes of Alexis Sanchez portended bigger days ahead for the club.
For different reasons, it hasn’t materialized, and some have mused that failing to win the most wide-open season in the Premier League era would spell the end of Wenger’s time in North London.
Injuries incurred on Tuesday may impact those efforts. Per Mertesacker had an ugly clash of heads with Hull forward Nick Powell in the first half and barely lasted a half-hour before coming off. His partner in the center of the defense, Gabriel, left the match in the 57th minute with a hamstring injury.
Arsenal compensated by bringing on midfielder Aaron Ramsey and shifting players around, but Ramsey himself left 16 minutes later and headed straight to the dressing room with an apparent shoulder injury.
They join regular first-teamers Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny on the injury list ahead of a big six-day stretch, which begins Sunday and includes an FA Cup quarterfinal with Watford, a Champions League visit to Barcelona and a league trip to Everton.
Wenger rested some of his big guns on Tuesday. The coming weeks will tell much more about his own future with the club.
