Arsenal 3-0 Ipswich
Ipswich’s dreams were crushed by three second-half Arsenal goals after it looked as if the visitors may have been able to shackle their Premier League opposition and progress to the final of the Carling Cup.
After a first half of stoic defending and wasted chances, Paul Jewell’s men went in at the break 1-0 up on aggregate. However, a classy Nicklas Bendtner effort was quickly followed up by Laurent Koscielny, with Cesc Fabregas rounding things off 15 minutes from the end to secure a 3-0 victory.
An appearance in the final represents a great chance for the Gunners to win a trophy, their first since relocating to the Emirates. Arsene Wenger will also have reason to be confident as his team will face either Birmingham or West Ham.
Starting the game in as opportunistic a manner as possible, Ipswich fancied their chances from the off. Grant Leadbitter struck the ball from inside his own half from the kick-off, yet his effort, while going surprisingly close, did not seem to bother Wojciech Szczesny too much as it sailed just over his bar.
Fabregas began to express his creativity with some delightful interchanges with his front men in and around the box. As he burst beyond the Ipswich defence it seemed likely that he would pull the trigger, but instead, he went down under the faintest of touches from Gareth McAuley and perhaps should have been booked if the defender himself did not receive a caution.
Arsenal completely dominated their lower league opposition and the visitors’ forays into the Gunners' half were few and far between. They did, however, sling a long ball into the box from a deep free kick that caught Szczesny stranded in no-man’s land. Fortunately for the Pole, McAuley could not guide his header goalbound.
A clash of heads from that exchange saw Bacary Sagna looking in a bad way for a while. The Frenchman was taken off for medical analysis and in the meantime, Van Persie almost wriggled his way through on goal after a touch of class by Andrey Arshavin.
It then became apparent that Sagna could not continue and he was replaced in a like-for-like substitution for Emmanuel Eboue. A golden chance for Fabregas quickly transpired, when more great interplay between him and Van Persie resulted in the Gunner’s captain bursting through beyond Darren O’Dea in the penalty area. He finished tamely though and Marton Fulop made a comfortable save down to his right-hand side.
Bendtner stood a great ball up into the far post that invited a towering header to send it into the back of the net. Van Persie could not oblige, though, and he was unable to get over the delivery. His effort beat the keeper, but the crossbar saved the day for the Championship men.
Adhering to the already well-established pattern of the game, Arsenal saw another chance go begging as Jack Wilshere released Fabregas with a lofted pass. A sublime first touch was put to waste by a lacklustre finish that dragged wide of the goal when you would have expected an emphatic finish.
With the ref putting Ipswich out of their misery after enduring wave after wave of Arsenal attack, the visitors would have definitely counted themselves lucky to still be in this tie, let alone in the lead.
They will have taken heart through their stoic defending but the inevitability of an Arsenal goal, and a cascade after that, pervaded the air as the teams went in for half time.
Not for the first time in the game Arsenal overworked the ball in the opposition penalty area just after the break. A few tidy passes resulted in Cesc Fabregas getting a chance but with the ball slightly behind him, he opted to thread Arshavin in, but overhit the pass.
Ipswich refused to crumble under pressure, with Fulop and his back four basically dealing with everything Arsenal had to throw at them.
At the hour mark, though, a touch of magic from an otherwise unimpressive Bendtner completely changed the perspective. The Dane showed shades of Thierry Henry as he brought down a long raking pass from Wilshere on the left flank. An excellent second touch was followed by a Cruyff turn inside the full back and finished by a low bending effort which nestled just inside the near post.
Just moments later, Ipswich’s dreams were crushed. Arsenal won a corner and when the previously unflappable Fulop flapped at the ball, Koscielny was left with the easiest of tasks as he powerfully headed home.
Arsenal displayed that they knew how to protect a win as they immediately slowed the tempo of the game down and sucked the life out of it. They continued to press forward, but with Ipswich aware that just one goal would suffice the visitors were keen to break on the counter attack and push men forward for set pieces at any viable chance.
Such optimism seemed foolish though, when Arsenal sealed victory with their third goal. Fabregas picked up the ball and slotted in Arshavin, and when the Spaniard overlapped and was set though on goal, he duly responded and with his left foot, tucked the ball through Fulop’s legs and into the empty net.
In a display of the wealth at their disposal, Arsenal brought on Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott for the remaining five minutes, yet the game petered out and the hosts walked away 3-0 winners on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
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Ipswich’s dreams were crushed by three second-half Arsenal goals after it looked as if the visitors may have been able to shackle their Premier League opposition and progress to the final of the Carling Cup.
After a first half of stoic defending and wasted chances, Paul Jewell’s men went in at the break 1-0 up on aggregate. However, a classy Nicklas Bendtner effort was quickly followed up by Laurent Koscielny, with Cesc Fabregas rounding things off 15 minutes from the end to secure a 3-0 victory.
An appearance in the final represents a great chance for the Gunners to win a trophy, their first since relocating to the Emirates. Arsene Wenger will also have reason to be confident as his team will face either Birmingham or West Ham.
Starting the game in as opportunistic a manner as possible, Ipswich fancied their chances from the off. Grant Leadbitter struck the ball from inside his own half from the kick-off, yet his effort, while going surprisingly close, did not seem to bother Wojciech Szczesny too much as it sailed just over his bar.
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| Goal! Laurent! |
Arsenal completely dominated their lower league opposition and the visitors’ forays into the Gunners' half were few and far between. They did, however, sling a long ball into the box from a deep free kick that caught Szczesny stranded in no-man’s land. Fortunately for the Pole, McAuley could not guide his header goalbound.
A clash of heads from that exchange saw Bacary Sagna looking in a bad way for a while. The Frenchman was taken off for medical analysis and in the meantime, Van Persie almost wriggled his way through on goal after a touch of class by Andrey Arshavin.
It then became apparent that Sagna could not continue and he was replaced in a like-for-like substitution for Emmanuel Eboue. A golden chance for Fabregas quickly transpired, when more great interplay between him and Van Persie resulted in the Gunner’s captain bursting through beyond Darren O’Dea in the penalty area. He finished tamely though and Marton Fulop made a comfortable save down to his right-hand side.
Bendtner stood a great ball up into the far post that invited a towering header to send it into the back of the net. Van Persie could not oblige, though, and he was unable to get over the delivery. His effort beat the keeper, but the crossbar saved the day for the Championship men.
Adhering to the already well-established pattern of the game, Arsenal saw another chance go begging as Jack Wilshere released Fabregas with a lofted pass. A sublime first touch was put to waste by a lacklustre finish that dragged wide of the goal when you would have expected an emphatic finish.
With the ref putting Ipswich out of their misery after enduring wave after wave of Arsenal attack, the visitors would have definitely counted themselves lucky to still be in this tie, let alone in the lead.
They will have taken heart through their stoic defending but the inevitability of an Arsenal goal, and a cascade after that, pervaded the air as the teams went in for half time.
Ipswich refused to crumble under pressure, with Fulop and his back four basically dealing with everything Arsenal had to throw at them.
At the hour mark, though, a touch of magic from an otherwise unimpressive Bendtner completely changed the perspective. The Dane showed shades of Thierry Henry as he brought down a long raking pass from Wilshere on the left flank. An excellent second touch was followed by a Cruyff turn inside the full back and finished by a low bending effort which nestled just inside the near post.
Just moments later, Ipswich’s dreams were crushed. Arsenal won a corner and when the previously unflappable Fulop flapped at the ball, Koscielny was left with the easiest of tasks as he powerfully headed home.
Arsenal displayed that they knew how to protect a win as they immediately slowed the tempo of the game down and sucked the life out of it. They continued to press forward, but with Ipswich aware that just one goal would suffice the visitors were keen to break on the counter attack and push men forward for set pieces at any viable chance.
Such optimism seemed foolish though, when Arsenal sealed victory with their third goal. Fabregas picked up the ball and slotted in Arshavin, and when the Spaniard overlapped and was set though on goal, he duly responded and with his left foot, tucked the ball through Fulop’s legs and into the empty net.
In a display of the wealth at their disposal, Arsenal brought on Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott for the remaining five minutes, yet the game petered out and the hosts walked away 3-0 winners on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
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| the little and big one |
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