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Against the club who humbled Barcelona last week, it took a well-travelled French striker whom not even Arsène Wenger had heard of before yesterday to claim a famous FA Cup fifth-round draw for Leyton Orient.

Jonathan Téhoué, a 26-year-old substitute who has played for, among others, Bastia and Huddersfield Town, scored a dramatic 88th-minute equaliser that gives Leyton Orient the chance to play a lucrative replay at the Emirates next week. It would be hard to imagine them winning on Arsenal's home turf a week on Wednesday but the prize is even greater: an FA Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

It was an embarrassment for Wenger, who gambled on playing a much weaker first team and looked to have edged through with Tomas Rosicky's goal, only for Téhoué to bring the house down with his late strike. In 11th position in League One, Orient were not embarrassed all afternoon and when their chance arrived they took it beautifully.

For Wenger, the replay is more of an irritation. He has the Carling Cup final on Sunday but this was the sting in the tail after that famous win over Barcelona on Wednesday. His team had chances to build upon Rosicky's goal in the second half and then they failed to deal with Téhoué's pace and directness.

For Orient, it might have been the same club who beat Barcelona four days earlier that they faced yesterday but it was certainly not the same team. The only starter for Arsenal from that side was Alex Song, although there were a further seven of Wednesday's team on the substitutes' bench.

In that respect, the teamsheet suggested Wenger was determined this would not go to a replay. Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Jack Wilshere were among those available if needed, but with the Carling Cup final meaning another extra game, Wenger preferred not to use them.

He gave a debut to Catalan-born defender Ignasi Miquel, who has been at the club's academy since September 2008, and the 18-year-old looked very composed in the first half, which was more than could be said at times for his fellow central defender Sébastien Squillaci.

There were times when Orient must have felt very much as Arsenal did playing against Barcelona last week. It was tough for the League One side to get the ball back from their famous opposition at times but that is not to say that Arsenal did significant damage.

They had plenty of shots but very rarely did they manage to get in behind Orient on the wings and cross the ball from dangerous positions. And the longer it went on, the more onerous a task it became for this Arsenal side made up largely of players on the periphery of Wenger's first team.

For the likes of Manuel Almunia, Denilson and Tomas Rosicky, who have been first-choice, first-team players at times during their Arsenal careers, this cannot have been the most rewarding of afternoons. Orient were well-organised with the former Arsenal trainee Jason Crowe sitting just in front of the back four as the holding midfielder.

There was a good performance from another former Arsenal man, the centre-half Ben Chorley and his defensive partner Terrell Forbes. Chorley played in the Arsenal under-18 team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001, captaining them in the second year, and it is remarkable that from that very promising 2001 side Jermaine Pennant has had the most notable professional career.

Arsenal's best chance of the first half came when Andrei Arshavin played in Kieran Gibbs down the left wing and his cross should have been put away by Marouane Chamakh, but the Moroccan was a yard off the pace and could only direct it wide.

There was not much of a goal threat from Orient before the break although that should not diminish the contribution they made. Charlie Daniels, the left-back whom Wenger had identified as one of Orient's best players on Friday, hit a confident drive from a corner played out to him on 14 minutes but cleared Almunia's bar.

Wenger must have been considering unleashing one of his famous substitutes when Arsenal broke through at last. It was an unlikely kind of goal for Orient to concede given that it was a header from Rosicky from a cross from Nicklas Bendtner from the right – the kind of cross Orient had dealt with comfortably for most of the afternoon.

Although they had battled on manfully, Orient's players had started to tire in defence and Arsenal's greater fitness levels were telling. Rosicky should have scored again when the ball was cut back to him by Arshavin, increasingly influential in the second half, on 69 minutes but the Orient goalkeeper Jamie Jones saved well and got up for the rebound.

Téhoué came on as a substitute with 27 minutes remaining and left Song behind on a run down the left wing. His cross was met by Alex Revell who could not keep his shot on target. It had not been a busy afternoon for Almunia.

Téhoué, who has played in France, Belgium and Turkey, caused problems again with eight minutes remaining. His cross to Revell was struck at Squillaci and hit him in the face, which prompted appeals for a penalty. The pace of the French striker at last gave Orient a cutting edge and it was Arsenal who looked tired.

The goal from Téhoué was a beauty. He picked the ball up in the right channel before weaving around the challenges of Gibbs and Miquel before striking his shot low and hard under Almunia before the Arsenal goalkeeper could get down to save it.

Téhoué had done enough to lay claim to a starting place at the Emirates. As for Arsenal, they will have go through it all again. There is no doubt that this was a side good enough to beat Orient yesterday but Wenger will not be free to make quite so many changes in the replay as he did yesterday. He cannot afford to allow it to go to penalties.

Given that Arsenal play against Barcelona just six days after they play Orient it will put further strain on Wenger's resources. The FA Cup is hardly his priority either. But these are the kinds of games that every great side must tick off over the course of a successful season.

Subs: L Orient Carroll 6 (Crowe, h-t), Téhoué 7 (McGleish, 63), M'Poku (Revell,84). Unused Butcher (gk), Omozusi, Mike, Kane.

Arsenal none. Unused Szczesny (gk), Koscielny,

Clichy, Eboué, Fabregas, Nasri, Wilshere. Booked: L Orient Whing. Arsenal Denilson. Man of the match Arshavin. Match rating 6/10. Possession L Orient 41% Arsenal 59%. Attempts on target L Orient 4 Arsenal 12. Referee K Friend (West Midlands). Att 9,136.

Sixth-round draw

* Stoke v West Ham/Burnley

* Man City v Everton/Reading

* Birmingham v Bolton

* Man Utd v Leyton Orient/Arsenal

* Ties to be played over the weekend of the 12/13 March

Labels: Independent, medicine, Orient, taste, their, Wengeraposs

Barcelona were still confident last night of a second-leg comeback against Arsenal in the Champions League because they believe Arsène Wenger will not be able to copy Jose Mourinho's ultra-defensive tactics in the Nou Camp next month.

Barça went out of the competition at the semi-finals stage last season having lost the first leg away to Internazionale 3-1. Then the Inter coach, Mourinho said: "We did not park the bus, we parked the plane," after seeing his side defend for 90 minutes in the second leg to go through following a 1-0 defeat.

Wenger's natural attacking instincts are now seen as Barça's biggest ally and last night Barcelona players were consoling themselves by reflecting on the amount of chances they were allowed at the Emirates before Arsenal's comeback.

Midfielder Xavi said: "We had infinite opportunities to kill off the tie; we didn't take them and we ended up paying but there are 90 minutes left and I am still optimistic. I'd like to think that we are still favourites with the second leg to come at home and in front of our supporters."

Lionel Messi will need to find the goalscoring touch that deserted him in London. The Argentine has now failed to score in seven games on English soil for Barcelona. "Jinxed" was the one-word verdict on the Argentine after he made it 626 minutes without a goal in England.

Messi does have happy memories of last year's home-leg against Arsenal however when he scored all Barcelona's goals in a 4-1 win. The Spanish Champions have scored 103 goals so far this season but could have far bigger problems at the other end of the pitch with Gerard Pique's suspension ruling him out of the second leg and putting more pressure on captain Carles Puyol to return quickly from injury.

In 40 games this season Barcelona have only lost four times and Puyol has been missing in each of the defeats. He has been out with a tendinitis problem in his left knee for three weeks but was due to return for this Sunday's home game against Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona have no defensive cover and coach Guardiola would be forced to pair Gabriel Milito with Eric Abidal if the 32-year-old Puyol does not return on time.

His La Liga return could now be delayed to ensure he can face Robin van Persie and company in the Champions League, sparing Guardiola the necessity to call on Milito who has struggled for form and fitness this season.

Despite the optimism in Spain over the second leg, there was still an inquest over Barcelona's second-half capitulation with special attention paid to England starlet Jack Wilshere's second-half domination of Xavi.

Barcelona paper El Mundo Deportivo eulogised: "Wilshere confirmed all the good things that have been said about him in the last few months. The great hope of English football looked like the complete midfielder. He started the game as a holding player and in the second half played further forward in the style of Xavi who was not comfortable at the Emirates and whose experience could not save Barça from a nervous end to the game."

Nicola Rizzoli was the other protagonist of the enquiry into why Barcelona had thrown away a lead at the Emirates for the second year running. The match official known as "Mourinho's friend"' was accused of denying Barcelona a penalty as well as wrongly ruling out Messi's first-half goal.

Rizzoli mistakenly gave Inter a penalty in 2009 that enabled Mourinho's team to draw 3-3 with Roma. He was demoted to Serie B for the mistake and his past misdemeanors were not forgotten as replays showed Messi onside when he headed over the line in the first half.

Barcelona now play four games in the 19 days leading up to the return. After Sunday's home game they travel to Mallorca and Valencia followed by a home fixture against strugglers Zaragoza on the Saturday before their most important 90 minutes of the season so far.

What the Spanish papers said...

Cesc's Arsenal breaks Barcelona

Marca praised the counter-attacking threat that Arsenal posed throughout the game. However, it did describe Robin van Persie's goal as a "fatal error" by goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Marca.com also conducted a 40,000-strong survey which pinpointed the failings of Lionel Messi, Maxwell and Pedro in Barça's defeat, but praised the performance of Eric Abidal, who played out of position at centre-back.

Forgiveness

Mundo Deportivo criticised Barcelona's "forgiveness" in front of goal and their failure to kill off the game. They also questioned manager Pep Guardiola's change in formation following David Villa's substitution in the 67th minute: 16 minutes later Andrei Arshavin added Arsenal's second to complete an unlikely turnaround.

A 'good fit'

AS described Barcelona as becoming "too enchanted by their own football" and argued that Barça's first hour of dominance at the Emirates only helped to spur Arsenal on: "A wounded Englishman is very dangerous. And if he knows how to play on the counter, even more so. And it turned out that power, in the end, overcame technique."

However, the Madrid paper led with Emmanuel Adebayor saying Cesc Fabregas would be "a good fit" at Real Madrid.

The Camp Nou comeback

Sport backed a Barça win in the return leg after refereeing decisions went against them at the Emirates. Messi had a goal "unfairly disallowed" and there was no penalty awarded for a "foul" on Pedro.

And the rest...

El Pais

"Last night Arsenal fought like champions. They didn't give up even when the night looked at its bleakest."

"Arsenal have definitively shed their respect for Barcelona, who yesterday were more functional, less ambitious or, at the least, more vulnerable and less punishing."

El Mundo

"Arsenal won deservedly, thanks to their noble resistance and the drive of Wilshere."

The idea that La Liga is the best league in the world "fell apart in a single trip to London."

Michael Butler

Labels: aposto, Arsenal, busapos, confident, crash, Independent, refusal, Wengeraposs