Wanderers first trip to Arsenal for 13 years ended as the last one did with an exit from the Carabao Cup, writes Pete Oliver.
The clubs met as Premier League rivals in 2011, while the two-division gap this time was ultimately borne out as Arsenal extended their unbeaten start to the season to ease into round four.
Goals from England men Declan Rice and Raheem Sterling, Germany international Kai Havertz and two from teenager Ethan Nwaneri proved the difference as the twice-competition winners set up a last-16 trip to Preston.
But Wanderers had their moments and could have led early on had Josh Sheehan been awarded the penalty he seemingly should have been.
Aaron Collins’ coolly-taken goal then made it 3-1 early in the second half as a comeback briefly looked possible.
But ultimately the handicap of giving away too many soft goals to some of the best in the business proved too much as Ian Evatt’s men bowed out ahead of back-to-back away games in League One which will have a greater bearing on their early-season efforts.
Both sides made seven changes from their last starting line-ups after Wanderers got back on track with a win over Reading and Arsenal got within moments of beating Premier League champions Manchester City.
The Gunners gave some of their youth a chance but also wheeled out plenty of heavy hitters in a side captained by former Champions League winner Jorghino.
And it was one of their star men who fired the Londoners ahead after a quarter of an hour.
It was a painful moment for the Whites who had the best early chance for Scott Arfield after being well set up by John McAtee and then could have had a penalty when Sheehan was clipped in the box by Gabriel Jesus.
Within seconds Arsenal went up the other end and when Arfield failed to clear Nwaneri’s square ball, Rice pounced to curl an effort into the bottom corner.
That could have rocked Wanderers and Evatt’s men had to ride out a couple of anxious moments as England winger Bukayo Saka carried a threat.
But the Whites were still very much in the contest at that stage and after enjoying their best spell of the game had a chance to equalise following a corner when McAtee hooked a volley over the crossbar.
Getting to the break one behind would have kept the tie fully alive but crucially Arsenal doubled their lead eight minutes before half-time.
Again, their pace on the break was apparent and when Sterling was released down the left, the former Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea man marked his first start for the Gunners by crossing low for Nwaneri to slide in and score.
Sterling then brought a flying save out of Luke Southwood and Jesus fired just wide as Wanderers avoided any further blows but four minutes into the second half it looked like game over when the Whites gifted Nwaneri his second of the night from Chris Forino’s mis-placed pass.
It was another poor goal to concede but to Wanderers’ credit they picked themselves up to hit back almost straight away with a goal which gave a superb away following of over 4,000 something to cheer.
Arsenal had looked vulnerable to a potential counter-attack earlier in the piece as Collins and McAtee frequently comnined well.
And this time Wanderers got it right when McAtee released Collins to sprint clear and round 16-year-old keeper Jack Porter – Arsenal’s youngest ever starter – to slot home in front of the joyous Wanderers’ fans.
Porter then hit an attempted clearance straight at Collins with the ball bouncing not too far wide as Wanderers suddenly sensed the possibility of a fightback with over half an hour to go.
It proved only a short-lived hope, though, as frustratingly for the Whites Arsenal swiftly added a fourth to re-assert their grip as Saka again showed his class to find space to fire the ball in for Sterling to tap home as Southwood was unable to clear the danger at his near post.
It was a busy night for Southwood, who was unlucky to concede again when he saved well from Sterling but saw substitute Havertz drive home the loose ball to make it five with 13 minutes to go.
That made it a comprehensive-looking win and for the Gunners it was a job well done as they look to win the competition for the first time since 1993.
But Wanderers lost nothing in defeat and with the cup run over will now head to the less glamorous surroundings of Crawley on Saturday with the bigger prize of three points at stake.
Wanderers: Southwood; Forino (Johnston 71), Almeida Santos, Toal; Sheehan; Dacres-Cogley, Arfield (Thomason 69), Dempsey (Matete 69), Williams; Collins (Charles 79), McAtee (Adeboyejo 79). Substitutes: Baxter, Schön, Matheson, Inwood.
Booked: None
Arsenal: Porter: Nichols, Kiwior, Calafiori (Kacurri 71), Lewsi-Skelly (Gabriel 62); Jorghino, Rice (Havertz, 62); Saka (Martinelli 71), Nwaneri, Sterling (Kabia 81); Jesus. Substitutes: Fedorushchenko, Saliba, Partey, Heaven.
Booked: Calafiori
Referee: Josh Smith
Attendance: 59,056