Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 2:A brace from Robin van Persie and one from Theo Walcott helped Arsenal come back from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 in their FA Cup fourth-round clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Richard Dunne and Darren Bent had put the visitors in command at the break and a shock result looked on the cards.

Dunne scored after Robbie Keane worked a short corner and found his international team-mate at the back post. The big centre half headed home for a Villa lead and they went further ahead shortly before the break when a swift counter-attack, again involving Keane, led to Stephen Ireland feeding Bent.

The England striker's first effort was parried by Lukasz Fabianski, but he slotted home the rebound from tight angle for a healthy advantage at the break.

However, the Gunners fought back in 16 remarkable minutes after the restart. First captain van Persie scored from the spot after Dunne was lucky to stay on the pitch after scything down Aaron Ramsey.

Walcott levelled and another penalty from the skipper, this time after Bent took down Laurent Koscielny, completed the comeback.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said his side’s desire kept them in it.

“We wanted to stay in the cup,” he told ESPN. “I felt 2-0 was very harsh for us at half-time, but it was a question of scoring the 2-1 goal and keeping our structure and not doing anything silly."

Villa manager Alex McLeish felt the result was harsh on his side.

“We still had chances to at least get a draw,” he said. “A terrible eight minutes we had. I thought the second penalty was a bit harsh. We’ve just got to take it on the chin and move on to the next league game.

“The first goal gave them (Arsenal) a huge lift. I didn’t think they looked as if they could score but that goal gave them a huge lift. But I expected a reaction from Arsenal.

“Maybe we didn’t defend as compactly in the second half. The Arsenal midfield started to get a bit of possession and that gave them the ascendancy.”