It was Arsenal who started the second half strongly against Birmingham City at the Wembley Stadium. In the 48th minute of the match, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bacary-Sagna-c7148 was played in by Robin Van Persie. The Frenchman crossed the ball right
into the path of Tomasz Rosicky but the ex-Borussia Dortmund midfielder skewed his shot wide of mark as the referee pointed towards a Birmingham City goal kick.
In the 50th minute of the match, Craig Gardener was substituted by Birmingham as John Beausejour came on in place of the Englishman. The former Aston Villa midfielder was supposedly taken off because of a slight injury
to his hamstring. As the match wore on Arsenal became more and more dominant as they maintained a monopoly over ball possession in the midfield area. The likes of Alexander Song and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360 passed the ball around as Jack Wilshire and co made some amazing
off the ball runs.
In the 52nd minute of the encounter, Gael Clichy went into the referee’s book for his late challenge on Fahey after the Birmingham midfielder had knocked the ball past the Arsenal full back. The ensuing free kick was
taken by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Laurent-Koscielny-c21742 headed the ball away for a Birmingham corner kick. Nonetheless, the incoming set piece was cleared away by Nasri as Arsenal tried to break Birmingham’s defensive line
through a speedy counter attack but failed to do so as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stephen-Carr-c34141 easily dispossessed the onrushing Jack Wilshire.
In the 57th minute of the match, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Johan-Djourou-c18779 was caught in possession in front of Arsenal’s defence. It was Beausejour who disposed the Swiss defender before playing in Fahey. The Birmingham midfielder let loose a
wonderful shot on Wojech Szczesny’s goal but the ball struck the goal post and went out of play. In the 58th minute, Arsenal embarked on an offensive play of their own as Jack Wilshire’s shot was deflected out of play for a corner kick. However,
the follow-up set piece was a disappointing one by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liam-Ridgewell-c22240 cleared the ball out of Birmingham’s penalty area.
From the 62nd minute onwards, Birmingham started to play their way back into the match. Beausejour’s direct running towards the likes of Song and Clichy created havoc in Arsenal’s ranks as Alex McLeish’s substitution
provided an immediate change in strategy for the cup minnows.
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