Carling Cup Half Time Report: Arsenal vs. Wigan (Part 1)
Wigan travelled to North London to take on a high spirited Arsenal that were looking to continue their hot run by securing a win and a move to the next round of the Carling Cup on the night.
Prior to the match the talk of the night was whether Carlos Vela would start the match or not, as he had expressed his desire to play more games for the team, or else he would have to look elsewhere to pursue his future.
However just minutes before kick-off the players name was displayed in the starting line up as he along with Arsenal took to the field. However the Arsenal that were to face Wigan was rather a new look team when compared to the one that
beat Aston Villa this past weekend.
The match eventually kicked off with Arsenal applying all the pressure early on. In fact Arsenal almost even scored in the very second minute as Van Persie swung in a brilliant free kick which was met by Nicklas Bendtner's head, but the
striker just couldn't keep his header on target despite being only a couple of feet away from the goal.
Amidst all the Arsenal attack, Wigan almost received a gift courtesy of Eboue, who played a blind back pas which fell to the feet of Boselli. The Wigan player was however forced wide and as a result that opportunity and moment of stupidity
by Eboue went away with no goal being scored.
However ever since that lapse in Arsenal's concentration Wigan started to do rather well and started to keep Arsenal at bay. All of a sudden the noisy Emirates Stadium went to being as quiet as a library in the middle of exam week.
Arsenal however seemed to break back at Wigan soon after and the man of the hour, for all the right and wrong reasons Carlos Vela was at the heart of two of the best early chances.
First Vela did brilliantly to set up Bendtner by Al-Habsi's interception kept the striker away from the ball. Then almost immediately after Vela was one on one with the keeper but his chip effort ended up beating the keeper and the post
and the score remained nil all at the twenty sixth minute mark.
Near the end of the first half, fortune seemed to favour Wigan as a sure shot penalty was not awarded to Arsenal. The referee has his head turned away from the ball and didn't see the ball being touched and a result Arsenal were denied
a penalty.
Continued
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