Arsenal 0 Hull City 0: Tigers' hero Eldin Jakupovic must do better to impress daughter

Daughter Alina was sitting with Jakupovic’s father among the 2,800 Hull City fans at the Emirates as a rearguard action led by the 31-year-old helped the Championship club earn an unexpected replay.

But, as her father pulled off save after save to frustrate Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez et al, four-year-old Alina was much more interested in her iPad.

Then, when Jakupovic went to pick the youngster out of the crowd for a post-match cuddle, her first question was, ‘Can we go home now?’

Alina may have been distinctly unimpressed by his heroic role in Hull forcing a replay, but she was on her own in that respect.

Jakupovic almost single-handedly kept the Gunners at bay by making 11 saves, the most by any visiting goalkeeper to the Emirates this season.

The pick of the bunch was probably the slightest of touches that he got to Joel Campbell’s second-half free-kick that proved just enough to push the ball on to a post.

Jakupovic was so impressed on seeing a replay of the save on the big screen at Arsenal’s home that he turned to the fans behind his goal and did a gesture that as good as asked: ‘How hot was that?’

The former Switzerland No 1 could have been forgiven for doing the same after another remarkable stop that kept out Welbeck’s shot that took a deflection off Alex Bruce, so wicked it required a change of direction in mid-air to get a strong enough hand to the ball.

Arsenal’s frustration at Jakupovic’s heroics was all the sweeter for the 31-year-old following a previous visit to North London in the Champions League when playing for Swiss club FC Thun.

As with Saturday’s fifth-round tie, Jakupovic was in fine form during that 2005 encounter and looked to have earned his side a precious point at Highbury until Dennis Bergkamp struck a stoppage-time winner.

“It was the year Arsenal got to the final,” recalled the Tigers’ goalkeeper. “We were in the group with them and they won at Highbury 2-1, Bergkamp in the last minute. That was disappointing, though a great experience.

“Getting the draw in the FA Cup was good. It is not easy to play at Arsenal and give a good performance, but I am more happy with the team performance. It was unbelievable.

“We start at 0-0 in the replay and we will see after 90 minutes. But it will be hard, harder than the first game. Our whole team defended very well here and we need one more big game against Arsenal.”

As for the touching post-match reunion at the front of the away seats that drew applause from the hordes from Yorkshire, Jakupovic added: “It was my little daughter, Alina.

“I think she spent most of the game on the iPad. She’s four and a half and when I went to give her a kiss she asked me when we could go home. They are children so they have to play their own games.”

How Arsenal must wish Jakupovic could have been as distracted as little Alina was during the 90 minutes.

One of 10 changes made by Hull manager Steve Bruce with one eye on tomorrow night’s trip to Ipswich Town, the goalkeeper was first called into serious action on 13 minutes when he kept out an effort from Welbeck.

It was the first of three occasions that the England striker was left shaking his head in disbelief after being denied.

Welbeck’s international team-mate Theo Walcott was another who thought he had broken the deadlock only for Jakupovic to stick out a leg and keep the ball out.

Eventually, Arsene Wenger, taking charge of his 100th FA Cup tie as Arsenal manager, had seen enough and brought his big guns off the bench.

Giroud, Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Sanchez could not unsettle the Yorkshire side, who survived a late scare when a free-kick was awarded in a hugely dangerous position.

Sanchez, who had been fouled by Tom Huddlestone, stepped up, but his curled effort over the wall was kept out by Jakupovic to ensure these two combatants will have to go head-to-head once again for a place in the last eight.

Having to squeeze a replay into an already tight schedule is, of course, far from ideal for Bruce’s men. Ditto for Arsenal, which is why both managers shared a wry smile at the final whistle when shaking hands.

A replay, though, is surely the least these Hull players deserved for the gutsy and determined manner in which they set about their task in North London.

Willing to surrender territory and possession to their hosts, City defended in numbers with a resolve that was admirable.

They did, though, require a bit of luck along the way. David Meyler, for instance, was fortunate to get away with a clear foul on Calum Chambers inside his own penalty area early in the second half. So, too, Alex Bruce when he blocked an early shot from Mohamed Elneny with his arm. “Got away with that one,” was his response later on Twitter.

But, overall, those two slices of good fortune were just reward for such a dogged display against a side strongly fancied to win the Premier League this season.

“It doesn’t matter if you play League One or League Two or against Arsenal,” added hero Jakupovic. “I enjoy playing. Against Arsenal, it was a really great day for Hull.”