Arsenal versus Birmingham City – Player ratings: Carling Cup Final (Part 4)
After elaborating on Arsenal’s players and their performance ratings for the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City:
Birmingham City
Ben Foster
Undoubtedly Ben Foster was the star of the show for Birmingham City. The ex-Manchester United goalkeeper kept his team in the match with marvelous saves. In the first half http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicklas-Bendtner-c27726’s close ranged shot, an effort which would surely have prompted an Arsenal win if it ended up in the back of the net. Rating: 9/10
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stephen-Carr-c34141
The Carling Cup final was probably the 34-year-old’s last appearance in a major cup final in British football. Carr didn’t disappoint at all as the veteran defender not only had the better of Andrey Arshavin throughout the match but also gave Gael Clichy a run for his money with his overlapping run. The ex-Newcastle United defender was a consistent performer throughout the 90 minutes and in the end he showcased tremendous defensive awareness to deny Arsenal a late equalizer in the 4 minutes of added time. Rating: 8/10
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roger-Johnson-c31524
A brick wall for Alex McLeish’s team, Johnson labored for his team despite sustaining a knee injury in the second half of the match. McLeish had tasked his experienced central defender to man-mark Robin Van Persie and Johnson lived up to his responsibilities with fantastic acclaim. He marked the Dutchman throughout the match as Robin’s runs were shadowed by Roger’s movement inside the Birmingham City penalty area. Not only that, Johnson did amazingly well to maintain physical superiority inside the Birmingham half of the field as he astutely dealt with most of the crosses that entered the Birmingham penalty area. Rating: 8/10
Martin Jiranek
At fault for Arsenal’s first goal of the match as Robin Van Persie sneaked in in-front of the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Czech-Republic-c2882 international, Jiranek had a mixed game for the Cup winners. Birmingham City’s central defender was bossed by Van Persie in the first half but he made vital tackles to halt Andrey Arshavin on the counter attack to keep Birmingham City in the game. In the second half, his crucial tackle in the midfield on Jack Wilshire allowed Birmingham City to regain control of the ball at a time when Arsenal was looking favourites to win the match. Eventually, Jiranek’s steady head proved to be a vital factor for Birmingham as Alex McLeish’s team won the Carling Cup. Rating: 7.5/10
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liam-Ridgewell-c22240
Birmingham’s left back was perhaps their weakest link in defense on the night as Arsenal tried to exploit Liam’s lack of pace with a combination of Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna. However, Liam did relatively well in the first half but his missed header almost allowed Djourou to head the ball in around the 35th minute mark. Nevertheless, in the second half, Ridgewell was at the top of his game as he man-marked Nicklas Bendtner who was substituted in place of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bacary-Sagna-c7148’s overlapping runs as well. All in all, the young defender did well to hold the fort for his team on the left side of their defense. Rating: 6.5/10
In the next part of this series, player ratings for Birmingham’s midfield and Nikola Zigic will be unveiled on bettor.com
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