Carling Cup - Arsenal too strong for 10-man WBA

Eurosport - Wed, 23 Sep 09:49:00 2009

Arsenal's Carling Cup youngsters defeated 10-man West Brom 2-0 in the third round with second-half goals from Sanchez Watt and Carlos Vela.

FOOTBALL 2009-10 - Arsenal's Carlos Alberto Vela (left) celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game with teammate Sanchez Watt (right) - 0

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger continued his policy of blooding his talented youngsters while West Brom gave as good as they got but were severely hampered by playing the final hour with 10 men after Jerome Thomas's sending off.

The Gunners initially struggled to make their numerical advantage tell, but once Watt had opened the scoring after 68 minutes West Brom were up against it and substitute Vela tapped in eight minutes later.

West Brom's defence were all at sea in the opening minutes and Philippe Senderos, making his first Arsenal appearance since May 2008, should have taken advantage of two almost identical chances that came his way from corners.

The Swiss defender was unable to find the target with either and the fans had to wait until an explosive five minutes of play after a quarter of an hour for the next goalmouth action.

Albion's Slovenian international skipper Robert Koren had two shots for the visitors, who also went close through Simon Cox, while the hosts hit the post with an effort from Watt, who was playing as Arsenal's lone striker.

Thomas was suddenly at the forefront of the action just after the half-hour mark when he burst into the area and forced Wojciech Szczesny into a diving stop.

That proved to be Thomas's last positive influence in the match as minutes later he was sent off by referee Lee Mason after an altercation with the hitherto impressive Jack Wilshere.

The Albion man was dismissed by Mason after appearing to strike out at Wilshere following a foul that Thomas clearly thought Wilshere had made a meal of.

The visitors held on for over 20 minutes of the second half and should have taken the lead when Gianni Zuiverloon's cross was met by Cox six yards out, but his header failed to find the target.

When Wenger introduced Vela to the fray Arsenal upped the intensity and opened the scoring when Aaron Ramsey linked up with the Mexican, whose shot was parried by Albion keeper Dean Kiely into the path of Watt - and he made no mistake.

The game was over as a contest after 76 minutes when a well-judged lob from sub Mark Randall beat Kiely, hit the crossbar and fell into the path of Vela after an attempted back-pass from Leon Barnett.

Vela could not miss from a yard out, but Barnett will be disappointed with his role in the goal.

Sean Calvert / Eurosport

Comment 8 - 27 of 27

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  1. the guy raised his hands, he gets a card, thats the law­ nowadays. wilkshire rolled around a bit but then again­ he raises his hands you want the ref to notice. 90% of­ all dives, reactions to slaps and punches/kicks are all­ over displayed. 90% at least.

    From Tom, on Thu 24 Sep 1:34PM

  2. vela aint an international yet so he cant be better­ than eduardo. :) simple. Eduardo is clinical vela­ getting there.

    From Tom, on Thu 24 Sep 1:29PM

  3. i agree that he had to go you cant raise your­ hand.....b*ll*cks....we were great on a nite when we­ got nowt, well the run has ended at least it wasn`t the­ league,put it right again on sat against palace......on­ last night Tex` was brill...Jara looks a­ steal....Woodsy will only get better...if only that had­ gone in..... Mulumba ran em ragged..and ROBSON aka­ DORRANS was irrisistible........,still forget it,we­ walk away with our heads held high,perhaps we should­ ask Thomas just what was said to him to make him re-act­ like he did ???.....FANTASTIC support you baggies i was­ proud of you ok it was a tenner but a tues night­ away..... GREAT....

    From KENNETH K, on Wed 23 Sep 5:01PM

  4. Read the papers people. To quote the biggest selling­ daily national: -

    "Prenning little whinger went­ down like he had been shot"

    You have been warned­ Gunners, he's getting a reputation.

    From Paul C, on Wed 23 Sep 2:22PM

  5. Paul C, you have a team to contend with. Just suit­ urself here, while we play the game right...

    From Bennetha, on Wed 23 Sep 1:00PM

  6. I think Vela is better than Eduardo! Pls your thoughts­ will be appreciated.

    From Ozone, on Wed 23 Sep 12:09PM

  7. Arsenal youth team can beat everyone.fact(thumbs­ up),not fact(thumbs down)

    From Kah Wai, on Wed 23 Sep 11:55AM

  8. Aresenal £400 mill in debt ? Maybe but they are­ reducing it each and every year. As they sell off the­ flats/apartments and the operating profit from the club­ itself the debt will reduce. The club is totally under­ control unlike so many others.
    They are blooding their­ younger players so no need to dive into the transfer­ market. Unlike other clubs they have no need to worry­ about the future

    From timity, on Wed 23 Sep 11:46AM

  9. Outplayed us!

    Mate you seriously need to get to more­ than one / two games a season when the corporate boys­ release all their tickets as they don't want to­ watch the lowly League Cup.

    I was also at the defeat­ to Arsenal @ home a couple of years ago and let me tell­ you now, the team from then would destroy your current­ crop of youngsters. We sent out a reserve side and even­ with 10 men held you out for 70 mins and should have­ won with the amount of clear cut chances we had.

    As­ for accepting diving as part of the game, maybe you­ gunners have with whats happened recently but were not­ all cheating glory hunters, the facts remain that­ Wilshire is 17 and has rolled around like a little­ b.itch when he has a light tap on the cheek, whats he­ gonna do when he gets in the premiership against the­ big sides who will simply power through him and the­ rest of your powder-puff team.

    Nice stadium though.

    From Paul C, on Wed 23 Sep 10:12AM

  10. Saw the game last night as a "neutral" and­ thought that Albion could have won it and perhaps­ should have done.....as for the sending off young­ Wilshire was very err..theatrical....which also begs­ the question why is it that premier league clubs­ won't play anyone domestically unless they have a­ "premier" league referee officiating?
    Comment­ 16 You should be aware that Aresenal are heavily in­ debt (£400 million+) and West Brom (I believe) are in­ profit....and again as we all know there's a move­ to stop clubs carrying large debts from playing in­ Europe.......where does that put the "big­ four"?
    Anyway back to last night....nice try­ Baggies but pity RDM didn't field his best side,­ might have caused an upset if he had as from the little­ I've seen of you you're playing some decent­ football.

    From jack, on Wed 23 Sep 7:59AM

  11. ha good one "Daryl S" post 8. tell us­ another.

    From balkinsnet, on Wed 23 Sep 2:27AM

  12. I only come here for the witty insight.

    From ANDREW S, on Wed 23 Sep 2:18AM

  13. why so bitter paul
    I did not think wiltshire was­ riolling around neither is he a little s@it our boys­ beat you last time we played in this competition at­ your own ground.
    Your Manager was from looking at the­ team he put out that interested in winning he wants to­ consentrate on winning the championship I think, let us­ hope for your sake that your club chairmain can find­ some money for this manager

    From LEX, on Wed 23 Sep 2:14AM

  14. Paul C you sound a bit bitter. Arsenal kids outplayed­ you, no need to hate, just move on! Wilshere­ overreacted a bit, yeah, welcome to football - but­ overreacting to a slap in the face isn't diving so­ get your facts straight. And the least you could have­ done is spell your own MOTM's name right! Come on­ man!

    From georgeskelly24, on Wed 23 Sep 1:26AM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Just walked in after 3 hour coach journey back and have­ to say that the boys did us proud.

    Thought the defence­ was magnificant, even though Barnett has again had a­ howler for their second goal his overall play was­ brilliant, Jara looks quality and he is quick as­ lightning.

    Didn't properly see what Thomas did but­ according to repots he has had a go after their little­ @#$% of a player is rolling round feigning injury, they­ were disgusting, diving all over the place, ARSEnal­ fans will be happy to know that the diving of previous­ years is well and truely alive in your current crop of­ youngsters.

    Cox and Moore worked hard without really­ causing many problems and Koren has had two quality­ chances, Wood also missed a sitter.

    For me our man of­ the match had to be Texeira, it's a testament to­ the player that he had come into this match after­ little first team action and performed like he did,­ simply brilliant.

    Well Done RDM for the team spirit,­ Well Done WBA for the effort, and the support was­ amazing.

    HEAR CAUS ITS ALBION, YOUR ONLY HEAR CAUS ITS­ ALBION.....

    From Paul C, on Wed 23 Sep 1:07AM

  16. Carlos Vela, Jack Wilshere, WAlcott......great youth on­ this team....the future... looks bright....

    From VictorS, on Wed 23 Sep 12:40AM

  17. I am glad that Carlos Vela is back, after his­ ankle's injury. He will certainly be an Arsenal­ star in the near future.

    From guero_hmkn, on Wed 23 Sep 12:20AM

  18. That CLOWN!!! that dove from Thomas's tackle should­ be banned for a few matches. He's rolling around­ on the pitch after the tackle and then looks up at­ Thomes, who was wrong to react, but then starts rolling­ around in pain again. TOTALLY CLASSLESS!!!!!

    From crow4317, on Wed 23 Sep 12:13AM

  19. Another mediocre show from Ramsey. Not sure if he­ really has got what it takes to follow in­ Fabregas's footsteps.

    From Nick, on Wed 23 Sep 12:08AM

  20. Vela is ready for 1st team action. Watch out Nick B.

    From carrillo007_82, on Tue 22 Sep 11:51PM
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