The Gunners thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley yesterday and retained the FA Cup trophy, which they had won against relegated Hull City last year; this is their record 12th FA Cup win in the 152 years of the Cup history.

Arsenal was focused and dominant from the start; in every position that mattered they were far better than their opponents, who looked dejected, pretty much from the first whistle. Wenger's tactic to use Theo Walcott up front, to take on Villa's defence, paid off five minutes before the interval, when the Gunners managed to get the breakthrough they deserved, as Walcott thumped his left-footed half volley past Villa's goalkeeper Shay Given.

Five minutes into the second-half, the Chilean striker Alexis Sánchez scored the second for the Gunners; this was one of the greatest FA Cup final goals, as he struck a thunderbolt from 30 yards, with swerve and dip that flew straight past Given, before the keeper even had time to react.

Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker then took advantage of slack Villa's defending, met a Cazorla corner and scored Arsenal's third with his shoulder- to effectively kill the game off as a contest in the 62nd minute.

Substitute Olivier Giroud's fourth goal added gloss to the scoreline in injury time at the end; this completed a brilliant performance by the Gunners, something to build on for next season; they can now say that their 20014-2015 campaign was a success, with the FA Cup trophy adding to the convincing third-placed finish in the Premier League.

It was also Wenger's day yesterday, as he added another FA Cup to the three Premier League titles he won. The victory puts his record of six FA Cup wins alongside George Ramsay, who achieved half-a-dozen FA Cups with Aston Villa between 1887 and 1920.

Even though supported by Prince William, Villa had a demoralising day; but they could regard their season as successful as well, after Sherwood helped to keep them in the Premier League, and compete in an FA Cup final for the first time in 15 years.