Carling Cup Match Analysis: Arsenal vs. Wigan Athletic – Arsenal stroll into semis (Part 3)
Two minutes later near to the twenty sixth minute mark it was Vela once again who was in the middle of everything. Vela managed to receive a beautifully flicked on pass by Van Persie and then rushed towards the Wigan goal, he then went on to lift the ball
over the on rushing keeper but he just managed to beat the keeper but also the goal posts hence another chances went begging into waste for Arsenal.
Wigan started to feel the intensity that Arsenal were brining and as a result the players started to get a little reckless. This recklessness by the away team led to the second yellow card of the game which was awarded to Figueroa for a late tackle on Walcott.
However despite Wigan playing the much more physical game, it was a Wigan player who seemed to have some sort of a problem on the pitch. Moses showed signs of being unable to continue near the thirty sixth minute and was asked to step off the pitch for the
physio to take a look at him.
While Moses were off Arsenal went on to attack the temporarily ten man Wigan. The team got into the Arsenal area and on the fortieth minute it appeared like Arsenal would be awarded a clear penalty for a hand ball in the area, but the referee seemed to miss
the whole incident and let the play carry on.
After the penalty incident Charles N’Zogbia was brought on to replace Moses who seemed to have tweaked or injured something once again.
However Arsenal were not looking to show any sympathy to anyone on the night and they continued their attack amidst all the confusion. Arsenal won a corner on the forty third minute and the corner was whipped in by Walcott. The corner was weighted and timed
to such perfection that it was turned into the goal by the Wigan defenders themselves. The ball bounced around a bit after coming off a number of players and then ultimately nestled in the back of the net after flicking off the head of Alcaraz.
Arsenal were on top of things, however ever time that has happened in the past, the team has gone on to give away easy goals. That was almost the case as a minute before the half time Wigan were awarded a corner which was taken by Watson. The corner managed
to cause Szczesny all sorts of problems and then had to be eventually cleared off the line by Koscielny.
The half finally ended with Arsenal leading by a score line of one goal to nil.
The Second half kicked off with Arsenal looking to be the more determined to be taking the pitch. As soon as the referee blew the whistle Arsenal were back at it and were looking to attack Wigan once again. Vela was once again at the heart of it all as he
lifted in a brilliant corner that Van Persie met with his head; however the ball went just inches wide. However Van Persie appeared to pick up a knock to his head in that encounter and looked to be hurt. However he managed to pick himself up afterwards and
was back at it after a minute or so of delays.
(Continued in part 4)
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