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

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  1. lil man city lil burnley­ hahahahahhahahahahahaahahahahahahahaha. Shytebage­ arsenal hahahahahaharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

    From mcpluker, on Wed 3 Dec 4:43AM

  2. Burnley were excellent this time, as they were against­ Chelsea, but can they keep it up to pull off an upset?­ I, for one, would be very shocked to see them win the­ cup, but I applaud them for a thorough mauling of­ Arsenal. Hopefully this will crush Arsenal's morale­ and cause them to flounder in the League as well.

    Yes,­ I am an Arsenal hater.

    From quilava_ex, on Wed 3 Dec 4:01AM

  3. wenger should be sacked once and for all. or else

    From ay.david, on Wed 3 Dec 3:58AM

  4. Stop talking horse @#$% about Arsenal, you sad haters.­ All this whinging about disrespecting the cup, you can­ level the same at Man Ure, Liverpool and many other­ Premier League clubs. Perhaps it shows up more for the­ Gunners as their squad isn't as big as the other­ members of the big four, so the names are less­ recognisable.

    This was still the team that beat Wigan­ 3-0 and hit Sheff United for six.

    Finally, well done­ Burnley, and good luck in the next round.

    From ANDREW S, on Wed 3 Dec 2:56AM

  5. The laws of the game (football) are simple, "a­ club must field, at all times, the best team­ available", the FA must ensure that this rule is­ adhered to. I think Arsenal play very good football and­ I enjoy watching their skils, but to field a side which­ is obviously not the "best team" (first team)­ contravenes the rules and the club should be penalised.­ Additionally, the use of substitutes (in any game) is a­ farce. Originally, substitutes were only permitted if a­ player was injured to the extent that he could not­ continue playing, now substitutions are made when the­ manager/coach decides he needs to bring some-one else­ on (in essence, because he's made a mistake in his­ first choice), ok, times have changed, but, to bring on­ a substitute with 10 minutes or less to go should be­ banned. How many times is a substitution made in­ STOPPAGE TIME! and even seconds to the final whistle!!­ Totally against the name of 'fair play' and­ cynical to the extreme. Well done to Burnley, keep on­ playing the beautiful game (even though I'm a North­ End supporter of 60 years! - I appreciate a good,­ honest game of football).
    PSH Lilywhites are go

    From veephilarmetryding, on Wed 3 Dec 2:05AM

  6. where is arsenal hopes now come on Wenger u should be­ starting from 1 to 4. i mean carling cup was ur only­ hope this season with this forget the rest

    From kweku, on Wed 3 Dec 1:49AM

  7. Allen H, what are you talking about? How did Wenger­ disrespect the Cup? Besides, this team is good enough.­ These are the guys that beat Sheffield United six - nil­ and beat Wigan three - nil ! I work at the Emirates so­ I watched both games and the young guns showed class.­ They didn't beat Burnley today but that doesn't­ undermine their quality afterall Burnley did hold­ Chelsea to a one - one draw, coming from behind to­ equalise, I should add, before winning on penalties.

    From Jideobi, on Wed 3 Dec 1:41AM

  8. Allen H, what are you talking about? How did Wenger­ disrespect the Cup?

    From Jideobi, on Wed 3 Dec 1:41AM

  9. Allen H

    From Jideobi, on Wed 3 Dec 1:39AM

  10. I am a Chelsea fan I will make it clear from the start,­ but I am also a football fan. Personally on their day­ Arsenal play the best football in this country and­ possibly Europe. Its a shame big teams don't take­ the League cup seriously, it is still a route into the­ UEFA cup despite UEFAs best efforts.
    It pains me to­ say this I can only really see the Premiership title­ going to United with Liverpool finishing second neither­ Chelsea or Arsenal will be consistent enough over the­ course of the year for various reasons.
    Considering­ this would it not have been better for Arsene Wenger to­ try and win this competition with his best squad. Now I­ am not sure of this but 4 years without a trophy is a­ long time so a piece of silverware even one so­ underated by the big clubs is bound to provide a­ confidence boost. Again this is not something I am 100%­ sure of but Liverpools recent trophy wins and league­ resurgence all began with a confidence boosting win in­ the League cup back in 2001.
    I am not going to knock­ Burnley in anyway fair play to them 2 premiership­ scalps no matter what team is put out by Arsenal or­ Chelsea its still an amazing thing for them to do.­ Maybe this will teach the top sides to treat the­ competition with the respect it deserves.

    From tiny2611, on Wed 3 Dec 12:52AM

  11. where r spurs u clown, stil n 16th place nd not much­ prospects of movin up

    From dman4mkilmaley, on Wed 3 Dec 12:47AM

  12. Spurs so much better side than arsenal these days

    From Sean, on Wed 3 Dec 12:38AM

  13. Oh arsenal - u r just SO POOR

    From Sean, on Wed 3 Dec 12:37AM

  14. Another one bites the dust....well done burnley!

    From stuartxland, on Wed 3 Dec 12:35AM

  15. well done burnly

    arsenal fan here
    well done to arsenal­ too sad to see bendtner missing so many chances

    From Araw, on Wed 3 Dec 12:32AM

  16. Quote from above " Those criticising­ arsene(arsenal) represent everything that's wrong­ with english footbal" I dont think there is any­ such thing as the tradtional english game of football­ anymore , or if there is , I've lost interest!

    From Lesley, on Wed 3 Dec 12:27AM

  17. i fell sorry that the guy who un happey by todays match­ ,but we arsenal fans should think only ABIG TORNAMENT­ LIKE CHAMPION LEAGE &PRE.SHIP,NOT ANYTHING ELSE,

    From solomon, on Wed 3 Dec 12:22AM

  18. Bentnar... bently plays for spurs. I agree though hes a­ waste of space.

    From Jamie, on Wed 3 Dec 12:21AM

  19. Well done Burnley, im a true Arsenal fan....and i must­ admit it, you wooped our arses and you've scuppered­ my plans!!!!
    I take my hat off to you and say­ ''WELL DONE'' and very best of luck in­ getting to the final and winning it, coz you truly­ bloody deserve it lads, after taking out 3 london clubs­ that are in the TOP TIER!!!!!

    ­ BURNLEY F.C

    ­ CARLING CUP WINNERS
    ­ 2009

    From wilfyboy, on Wed 3 Dec 12:18AM

  20. Wenger deserved the defeat for showing such disrespect­ to the cup. I bet the Arsenal fans who paid good money­ to cheer their team on were glad to go all that way and­ watch a reserve/youth team. Shame on you Wenger and­ Arsenal.

    From Allen H, on Wed 3 Dec 12:18AM
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