Carling Cup - Burnley upset Arsenal to reach semis

Eurosport - Wed, 03 Dec 09:55:00 2008

Burnley reached the Carling Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1983 with a 2-0 victory against Arsenal at Turf Moor.

FOOTBALL Burnley's Kevin McDonald scores against Arsenal during their Carling Cup match at Turf Moor - 0

Kevin McDonald scored both goals for the Championship side, who had goalkeeper Brian Jensen to thank for a string of fine saves to deny Arsene Wenger's young gunners.

Jensen was called on as early as the fourth minute, when he rushed out to deny Nicklas Bendtner with a sharp save when the striker was clean through.

Moments later Burnley went ahead. Former Manchester United player Chris Eagles crossed from the right and a mistake from Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski allowed McDonald to pounce on the loose ball and tap home.

Arsenal responded well, and within five minutes Bendtner once again found himself clean on goal, only to be thwarted by another piece of fine goalkeeping from Jensen.

On 35 minutes Aaron Ramsey's neat flick gave Bendtner yet another opportunity, but for the third time Jensen came out sharply and made the save.

Soon after Carlos Vela had an even better chance, but Jensen would not be beaten. The Dane was having an inspired evening and Arsenal went into the interval trailing despite having enjoyed the majority of the chances.

Owen Coyle's Burnley emerged for the second period with newfound defensive sensibilities, and Arsenal could no longer create chances at will.

The home side doubled their lead on 56 minutes, when McDonald brushed aside the attentions of Mark Randall all too easily before curling an exquisite shot beyond Fabianski with the outside of his right foot.

With that the Arsenal challenged evaporated. Wenger introduced Amaury Bischoff, Jay Simpson and Henri Lansbury, but his team could find no way past a resilient and determined opposition.

Burnley could have made it three when Robbie Blake's fine cross found Martin Paterson unmarked, but Fabianski made a sharp save to deny the forward.

The win for Burnley follows their dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Chelsea in the previous round and leaves the Lancashire club just one win from an unlikely date at Wembley Stadium.

Will Tidey / Eurosport

Comment 103 - 122 of 122

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  1. THIS,WAS JUST LIKE THE 1960S WITH TURFMOOR FULL TO THE­ RAFTERS AND BURNLEY PLAYING SOME GREAT FOOTBALL,IF I­ HAD SHUT MY EYES I COULD HAVE SEEN HARRY POTTS IN THE­ DUG OUT NEVER DID I THINK WHEN I SAW THEM PLAY FOR­ THEIR LIVES AGAINST ORIENT,I WOULD ONE DAY SEE A TEAM­ IN THE CLARET AND BLUE PLAY WITH SUCH STYLE AND­ CLASS,VINTAGE CLARET,BOB LORD AND HARRY POTTS WOULD­ HAVE BEED SO PROUD UP THE CLARETS LONG LIVE TURFMOOR

    From paul c, on Thu 11 Dec 10:49AM

  2. well done burnley,up the clarets

    From karl, on Wed 3 Dec 6:53PM

  3. wenger must go,wenger must go,wenger must go.
    arsenal­ till death.nick

    From optimisticgs, on Wed 3 Dec 4:45PM

  4. Sorry for not posting something earlier, I've only­ just stopped laughing.... I urge all Arsenal Fans to­ watch Tottenham tonight and see some proper football.­ Just going to place a bet on a White Christmas and­ Wenger to be gone before the New Year, better odds on­ him than the snow bit!

    From Is this the Bestway, on Wed 3 Dec 4:16PM

  5. The Gunners are gone!!!.Poor Kindergartens,they should­ have learnt a lesson or two from Chelsea.

    From inyangumonko2002, on Wed 3 Dec 1:42PM

  6. The Gunners are gone!!!.Poor Kindergartens,they should­ have learnt a lesson or two from Chelsea.

    From inyangumonko2002, on Wed 3 Dec 1:38PM

  7. why is it that people calls for wenger's head when­ ever arsenal loose a match,football is not do or die­ affair,moreover this people criticising my young gunns­ now are not arsenal fans.the whole stamford bridge­ didn't collapse when chelsea lost to bunley,nor­ scolari nailed to the cross.so leave arsene wenger­ alone to concentrate for our next match.barry

    From obarryy2k, on Wed 3 Dec 12:18PM

  8. to 117 give bendtner a chance are you watching The­ Arsenal games.

    From rpatel_rp, on Wed 3 Dec 11:34AM

  9. burnley deserve the prise. wenger got it wrong he­ thought he would beat burnley with the team he put out­ last night he could not have wanted to win the league­ cup that badly i know he is giving his younger players­ a chance to prove them selves and it back fired on him­ and he is blaming nicklas bendther for not scoring give­ the poor boy a chance he in and out of games. he­ thought they push burnley over and it went wrong good­ luck burnley go all the way i am a welsh person i like­ to see you to go to wembley and win the cup now for the­ last 2 results you had knocking 2 big premiership teams­ out of the cup. arsenal shouldnt be so selfish­ underestimating there opponents keep up the good work­ well done owen coyle for getting your players trained­ up for this cup match

    From stevenwaite131, on Wed 3 Dec 11:29AM

  10. Any day is a good day when Wenger gets beat,....I dont­ hate the Arsenal, I just cant stand that moaning cry­ baby Wenger. It is absolutely typical of him to point­ the finger of blame at someone else ( Bendtner),rather­ than admit he picked a side consisting of­ inexperienced kids. He is only trying please his own­ ego rather than win something for the fans that pay his­ wages....I really feel for Arsenal supporters .Once­ again ,...there is no point in buying any silver polish­ at the Emirates this season.

    From Ball Bag, on Wed 3 Dec 11:09AM

  11. OLD GOONER HERE..HANSON SAID "YOU DON'T WIN­ ANYTHING WITH KIDS" BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING­ KIDS WIN IS THE EXPERIENCE OF TAKING PART, AND THIS­ GAME WILL HAVE GIVEN THEM MORE EXPERIENCE AS MR WENGER­ BLOODS THEM BEFORE INTRODUCING THEM TO 1ST TEAM­ PREMIERSHIP FOOTBALL. HAD THIS BEEN A TWO-LEGGED AFFAIR­ WOULD THE KIDS HAVE SCORED ENOUGH GOALS TO GO THROUGH?­ WHO KNOWS. BUT IT IS A LEARNING-KERB FOR THEM..GOOD­ LUCK TO BURNLEY, THEY DESERVED THEIR WIN. BUT THE­ SOONER MR WENGER TREATS THE 4TH CUP WITH THE RESPECT IT­ DESERVES THE SOONER HE MIGHT WIN IT.. OLD GOONER.

    From esther.melvyn, on Wed 3 Dec 9:52AM

  12. As usual a load of rubbish comments Arsenal lost simple­ as that, and all this “Carling cup is Micky mouse” what­ a load of nonsense do you really think Arsenal play­ games to lose don’t think so yes they play a young side­ but they still play to win. Arsenal is a good team and­ probably always will be but please Arsenal fans don’t­ make out the Cup is worthless just because you’ve been­ knocked out of it next you will be saying the FA cup is­ pointless

    From Shaun, on Wed 3 Dec 9:34AM

  13. I'm an open minded girl from US, I'm interested­ in exotic things, photography, outdoors and sports...I­ have my photos on --- Tallhub Co m ---, I love tall­ guys!
    Do you love travelling and have some experience?­ Just find me out.

    From arjinroben10, on Wed 3 Dec 9:30AM

  14. Its good to read all the pro Arsenal comments and to­ imagine you all squirming after failing to beat­ Burnley. OK so it was the kids, but good kids, and­ they couldnt put the ball in the net - so what use is­ attractive football and passing if you cant score or­ defend? Get real.... another empty season for the­ arrogant gunners - even the kids behaved like Henri, as­ if they only had to turn up to win.

    From Keith R, on Wed 3 Dec 9:30AM

  15. there will always be excuses Mr. wenger .......he­ wishes we all reasoned like him but keep tryin at least­ Arsenal fans are overpatient

    From VINCE, on Wed 3 Dec 9:20AM

  16. whats this i hear that Wenger is savin his strength 4­ big ocassions; like which one? ooh u think Arsenal can­ win Premier league /champion's league ; when the­ last time they did? cmon that's stretchin it. thats­ far fetched. wenger has nothing to offer its time they­ considered mancini, Del bosque(whosoever)

    From VINCE, on Wed 3 Dec 9:17AM

  17. i keep sayin it ; Wenger isn't goin to deliver and­ he hasnt in the last 4 seasons; any more waiting is­ wankful thinkin. or is he a sworn coach 4 life? i just­ don't get it; i'm not hatin infact Gunners are­ top 5 of my favs but wont tie myself to a sinking ship.

    From VINCE, on Wed 3 Dec 9:09AM

  18. ARSEnal are so weird that I am suprised that no one is­ checking on the betting leverages. Somebady is playing­ the fool with the paying public again.

    From not printable, on Wed 3 Dec 9:03AM

  19. Only fools do not realise that Wenger uses this cup as­ a development opportunity; though here's hoping­ it's not the final chance gone to bring some silver­ back to Emirates, even it's just the Carling. ­ Gotta agree that Viera is most badly missed; midfield­ is shocking. And yound mr.pink boots wants to hit form­ soon... he WILL, it's just a matter of time and­ then he'll be big news!

    From Sanjay V, on Wed 3 Dec 8:44AM

  20. To Jonny post 85 :
    This is the most sensible post I­ have seen for ages. I applaude your comments and your­ team Burnley wishing them luck in the next round. This­ is from an avid Arsenal fan by the way.

    From slivatree, on Wed 3 Dec 8:27AM
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