Gunners gun down Ipswich to reach Wembley
Arsenal held their nerves to beat Ipswich Town 3-0 in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final at the Emirates stadium on Tuesday.
This was Arsenal’s third win in as many games in all competitions after they last lost to Ipswich in the first leg of the semi-final. They have scored nine goals in the last three games and are on a roll at the moment. Ipswich Town, on the other hand are
lying in 19th place in the Championship and are struggling for results. They also have a relatively new manager in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-c29347 Jewell after Roy Keane was sacked earlier this month following a two-year stint.
Ipswich were banking on protecting their one goal advantage from the first leg at Portman Road, but they were always going to find it difficult at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal are at their best. Everybody expected Arsenal to cruise past Ipswich in
this fixture and that’s exactly how things turned out.
Manager Arsene Wenger made three changes to the starting eleven that took the field against Wigan last Saturday. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicklas-Bendtner-c27726 and Denilson all came into the side. There were also high expectations from the Ipswich Town’s young English
forward Connor Wickham.
Arsenal started the game brightly as expected and it was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jack-Wilshere-c17463 and Bendtner combining brilliantly to create chances. Ipswich also managed to carve out their fair share of scoring opportunities, but Arsenal’s back
four held firm. There was an early penalty shout by the Gunners skipper Fabregas but it was turned down by the referee. In the 14th minute Arsenal right-back http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wojciech-Szczesny-c36998.
Bendtner then put in a great cross to Van Persie in the 24th minute, which the Dutchman managed to head onto the bar, and it seemed that it wasn’t Arsenal’s day as far as luck was concerned. Wilshere put a long ball in Fabregas’ path, which he
hit just wide in the 35th minute. It was only because of the heroics of the two Ipswich centre-backs that Arsenal were unable to score in the first half.
However, the resistance couldn’t last long as Bendtner controlled an excellent pass from Wilshere, and produced a great finish to give the hosts a 1-nil lead. That also meant that the Gunners had leveled the aggregate score. After that there was no stopping
Arsenal. Just two minutes later, Koscielny headed in a corner after an error from the Ipswich keeper.
Two goals in quick succession effectively ended the visitors’ brave resistance. It was just a matter of time after that for Arsenal. The home team bagged another goal in the 77th minute to round off the scoring. This time it was Fabregas who provided
the finishing touch after combining well with Arshavin. Arsenal won the match 3-0 and that was enough to take them to Wembley for the final against either their London rivals West Ham or Birmingham.
Jack Wilshere was the best player of the match. It’s amazing how this young lad has proven himself since Arsene Wenger gave him a regular run around in midfield.
Arsenal have had an amazing season so far and are favourites to win the League Cup this season. They have also entered the fourth round of the FA Cup and are just five points behind the league leaders Manchester United.
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