There's more than superstition to suggest this could be Sunderland's year

When the club last lifted a piece of major silverware, in 1973, their season was transformed by the dismissal of an under-achieving manager shortly before Christmas and the appointment of an instantly-successful new leader in his place. For Bob Stokoe, simply read Martin O'Neill.

Then, as now, Sunderland scored two goals to see off Arsenal en route to the final of the competition, and only last week, Jimmy Montgomery, the hero of the FA Cup final win over Leeds, was appointed the Black Cats' first official ambassador.

Forget superstition though. There is an even more compelling reason to believe this could be Sunderland's year, namely that, on current form, they are playing as well, if not better, than every other side left in the competition.

Arsenal might be a pale imitation of their former selves, but if Sunderland can brush them aside with the sort of contemptuous ease they displayed on Saturday evening, why shouldn't they dream of an FA Cup triumph in less than three months time? Securely ensconced in the quarter-finals, the time for keeping a lid on things is surely at an end.

“It is there as a target, and everyone within the dressing room will be thinking we have a real chance,” said Lee Cattermole, who returned from injury at the weekend to produce a performance that oozed composure and class. “We are in the hat again and all we can do is make sure we keep ourselves in the competition.

“We are going into every game thinking we are capable of winning whoever we are up against. That will be the same no matter who we get in the rest of this competition.

“No one has rolled us over throughout the season. Even in the early part of the season we were giving everyone a good game, but maybe we were not taking our chances so well back then.

“But now there is no team in the league in better form than us. We know that if we are going to win the cup, we will have to beat some of the best teams somewhere along the line. We have done that with Arsenal.”

Whether Arsenal should still be classified as 'one of the best teams' is a moot point, but for all their problems, it should not be forgotten that Arsene Wenger's side still occupy fourth position in the table.

They were both out-thought and out-played on Saturday, with Sunderland showcasing all the strengths and talents that have come to the fore under the transformational O'Neill.

Tactically, the Northern Irishman got things spot on again. Prior to kick-off, there was a fear that the absence of Fraizer Campbell would leave the Black Cats exposed in attack and cede the initiative to an Arsenal side still smarting after their midweek Champions League mauling in Milan.

In fact, the opposite happened. By packing the midfield, O'Neill was able to swamp Arsenal's most creative players and completely shut off the supply line to the visitors' likeliest match winner, Robin van Persie.

And in Seb Larsson, James McClean and Craig Gardner, the Sunderland boss knew he had players boasting the necessary pace and drive to provide adequate support to lone striker Stephane Sessegnon.

Despite appearing staid and one-dimensional under Steve Bruce, this is a Black Cats side adept at counter-attacking, and the second goal, in which the hosts swept from one end of the field to the other in a matter of seconds, was a master-class in how to soak up pressure before scything through an opposition line-up on the break.

Of course you still need the players to execute such a plan, and O'Neill is currently presiding over an entire squad playing at the top of their game.

Their commitment shone through from first minute to last, and was in stark contrast to the limp effort of some of their opponents.

Sunderland's players hassled and harried throughout, forcing error after error from an Arsenal defence that regularly appeared to be on the brink of implosion.

Yet there was skill there as well, with Sessegnon leading the line superbly despite his limited physique, Larsson delivering a succession of dangerous dead balls and both Cattermole and Jack Colback retaining possession impressively in a congested central area.

“What we did here is exactly what we are about,” said Cattermole. “We are hard to beat, I thought we wanted it more than them and we were very organised right the way through.

“We tackled, we passed and I thought we were the better side. Arsenal had a lot of the ball, but never really hurt us. We look dangerous at the minute and are not going to be an easy side for anyone to play against.”

That much was apparent from the early stages as the hosts quickly established the upper hand. Sessesgnon flashed a 14th-minute effort narrowly wide, and while Simon Mignolet had to be alert to turn Gervinho's 28th-minute shot over the crossbar, that was as good as things got for the visitors, save for a decent penalty shout when John O'Shea made a slight contact on the ball before taking out van Persie.

Sunderland initially struggled to carve out an opening, but the deadlock was broken five minutes before half-time. Thomas Vermaelen could only head Larsson's free-kick to Kieran Richardson, and the full-back drilled a low strike into the bottom right-hand corner via a slight deflection off Sebastien Squillaci.

Both McClean and Larsson came close to extending the lead, before the advantage was finally doubled with 13 minutes left. Colback won possession in his own half and fed Sessegnon. The African released Larsson down the right, and while the winger's shot struck the upright, a back-pedalling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could only bundle the ball into his own goal.

Cue euphoria, a surprisingly trouble-free final ten minutes and, for the returning Cattermole, an opportunity to right a painful wrong.

“I had a really difficult time around the two Middlesbrough games,” said the Teessider, who was forced to sit out the two fourth-round ties because of a hamstring injury. “I felt I was playing really well in the build up to those games, so I was thinking, 'Why is this happening now?'

“I was absolutely devastated. That was going to be my Cup final – now I just hope I can get to the real one instead.”