http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Samir-Nasri-c32360 and Francesc Fabregas (Part 3)
Arsenal’s run in the Carling Cup started on 21st September 2010 when they faced their local city rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The match was won 1-4 by Arsenal who were away from home and managed to qualify for the next round of the League Cup.
Arsenal’s next tie was against Newcastle United. Even though the match looked to be tough but the Gunners were still up to the mark and managed to remain dominant in the tournament as they won the game 0-4 away from home. With this victory they qualified
for the next round of the League Cup.
On 30th November 2010, Arsenal had to face Wigan Athletic at home. The Gunners were too good for the opposition yet again as they won the match 2-0 in their home ground the Emirates. This win helped Arsene Wenger’s men to qualify for the semi
final of the League Cup.
Arsenal’s semi final was against Ipswich Town who had been in amazing form while performing in the League Cup. The first leg was played away from home to Ipswich Town and Arsenal lost the game 1-0.
As the return leg took place, Arsenal were favourites to win the game because of the home advantage. The Gunners were up to the mark and showed that they were favourites to win the tournament. Arsene Wenger played a relatively strong team at home which helped
them win the game 3-0 as they qualified for the final of the League Cup.
All Arsenal needed to do was to beat Birmingham City in the final of the Carling Cup and lift the trophy. It was Wenger’s perfect chance to end the five year trophy drought at the Emirates. The French coach played his favourite side and applied his attacking
tactics at the Wembley Stadium in order to help his team lift the trophy.
The game started off perfectly for Birmingham City who were not the favourites to win this difficult tie. In the 29th minute, their striker Nikola Zigic placed a header perfectly to find the back of the net and gave his side the lead.
Arsenal were did not really settle down and caused a lot of problems for Birmingham City. Soon enough, the Dutch goal scorer http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 stepped up and scored the equalizing goal in the 39th minute of the game.
As the first half ended, both the sides were on level terms but Arsenal had more possession of the ball and created more chances. Birmingham City relied too much on their long ball technique and tried to take advantage of Nikola Zigic’s height in order to
find the back of the net.
As the second half kicked off, both the sides tried to end the game by scoring another goal. However, both the teams failed to do so till the 89th minute. The newly signed defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Laurent-Koscielny-c21742 made a huge mistake by not kicking the ball
to safety as the young goal stopper Wojciech Szczensy was left clueless.
The “shortest” player on the pitch http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Obafemi-Martins-c28273 stepped up and easily placed the ball in the back of the net. Arsenal lost the game 1-2 and were robbed from a title right at the dying moments of the game.
Tags: