Arsenal see off Spurs, Everton humbled
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Harry Redknapp taunted Arsene Wenger by claiming fans prefer to win trophies than watch youngsters, but it is Arsenal who have more silverware to play for this season after they beat Tottenham 4-1 to reach the Carling Cup fourth round.
The Gunners required extra time to clinch victory at White Hart Lane, and they were grateful for two unnecessary tugs of the shirt as Samir Nasri converted twice from the penalty spot in the 92nd and 96th minute.Wenger opted for a far stronger side than Arsenal fans have become accustomed to in recent Carling Cup campaigns, naming Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Laurent Koscielny and Denilson all in the starting XI. However, it was 19-year-old Henri Lansbury who broke the deadlock, poking home his first Arsenal goal after a fine cross from Jack Wilshere.
The Gunners enjoyed 67% of possession in the first half, but Redknapp introduced Robbie Keane at the interval and he equalised within three minutes, sliding a shot past the weak left hand of Lukasz Fabianski who should have saved it.
Both sides had chances to finish the match inside 90 minutes, but extra time was needed to separate the teams. Sebastien Bassong and Steven Caulker both conceded penalties in the five first minutes of the additional period, with Nasri sending Spurs' new goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa the wrong way on both occasions to carry Arsenal into round four. Andrei Arshavin then fired home a fourth for a jubilant Gunners side.
Brentford produced the shock result of the night, beating Everton 4-3 on penalties after holding the Merseysiders to a 1-1 draw. David Moyes must have had a few choice words with his side following the weekend defeat to Newcastle, and they responded with a bright opening at Griffin Park, taking the lead when Diniyar Bilyaletdinov set up Seamus Coleman to smash home.
However, Brentford were level by the break, with Gary Alexander heading home following a magnificent burst of speed from Miles Weston. No goals followed, which meant penalties, and Jermaine Beckford and Phil Jagielka both missed for the Premier League club.
It was a disappointing return to Turf Moor for Owen Coyle as his Bolton side were beaten 1-0 by Burnley. Coyle was greeted by plenty of jeers and bank notes as he returned to his former club, where the Burnley faithful still haven't completely forgiven him for jumping ship last season. But things got worse for the Bolton manager as Wade Elliott controversially grabbed the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time, the linesman judging that the ball had marginally crossed the line.
West Ham built on their first point of the season, earned at Stoke on Saturday, defeating Sunderland 2-1 to advance to the fourth round of the Carling Cup. The Hammers left Carlton Cole on the bench for their trip to the North East, and they were rewarded with a brilliant finish from Frederic Piquionne as they stunned the home crowd on 35 minutes.
The lead lasted all of six minutes as Asamoah Gyan, making his first Sunderland start, headed home an equaliser before half time. But Scott Parker and Pablo Barrera continued to play some quality football after the break, and on the hour they got their reward as the latter set up Victor Obinna to net the winner for West Ham.
Wolves were forced to come from behind to beat Notts County 4-2 after extra time at Molineux. Former West Brom striker Lee Hughes received abuse all night from the home crowd, but it was he who broke the deadlock in the second half, heading home before receiving a yellow card after he revealed a "Boing boing" message to the home fans on his t-shirt.
Wolves struggled to fashion chances as they battled for a way back into the match, but Liam Chilvers was sent off with seven minutes remaining for a foul that led to a Wolves penalty, and Nenad Milijas converted from 12 yards to force extra time. The numerical advantage told during the additional period, with Kevin Doyle (2) and Steven Fletcher both getting on the scoresheet for Wolves.
Stoke made the most of Fulham's weakness at set-pieces, exposed by Blackburn at the weekend, booking their place in the fourth round with a 2-0 victory. The first half became a feisty affair at the Britannia Stadium following a poor challenge on Moussa Dembele, and Danny Murphy may count himself fortunate to have only seen yellow after throwing the ball in the face of Ryan Shawcross.
Stoke did punish the Cottagers before half time through Danny Higginbotham, who arrived unmarked inside the area to head home Matthew Etherington's deep corner. And then Rory Delap launched a trademark long throw deep into the second half for Kenwyne Jones to kill the game off.
Birmingham enjoyed a Tuesday night stroll past MK Dons, with summer captures Alexander Hleb and Jean Beausejour shining in an easy 3-1 victory for the Premier League side. Blues blitzed their visitors in a marvellous first 45 minutes at St Andrew's that saw Beausejour instantly make himself a fans' favourite.
The Chile international provided assists for the opening two goals, supplying a cross for Hleb to score on his home debut and then for Nikola Zigic to convert a carbon copy second. Craig Gardner then bagged his fourth goal of the season after replacing the injured Michel, before Aaron Wilbraham netted a late consolation for the visitors.
Millwall completed a horror week on home turf by crashing out 2-1 to fellow Championship side Ipswich. The Lions were looking to bounce back from their 6-1 weekend defeat to Watford, but there were more boos from the New Den crowd by half time after a much-changed Ipswich side built a two-goal lead.
Boasting eight changes, Roy Keane's side led through Tamas Priskin's header, and then Gareth McAuley's shot slipped through the goalkeeper's grasp as things went from bad to worse for the home side. Steve Morison outmuscled his marker to halve the deficit on the hour, but Ipswich deservedly advanced to the next round.
Elsewhere, Swansea had Scott Sinclair to thank as they beat Peterborough 3-1. Sinclair has been in sparkling form this season, and it was he who made the difference, bagging a hat-trick to take his personal tally to seven in the last six games. Craig Mackail-Smith scored for Peterborough.
And Portsmouth came off second best against Leicester, missing a host of chances in a 2-1 defeat at Fratton Park. Michael Morrison opened the scoring for the Foxes, who doubled their lead through Lloyd Dyer before Richard Hughes earned a straight red card for foul and abusive language. Liam Lawrence halved the deficit with eight minutes remaining, but Leicester clung on for victory.
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Wilshere shines as Wenger changes tact
Confined to the director's box on account of being punished for the authorities' newly-invoked stance against sarcasm, is Arsene Wenger feeling the pressure of that five-years-and-counting trophy drought? While Harry Redknapp had been the North London manager hailing the Carling Cup as a bauble to cherish in pre-match it was the Arsenal manager who chose to play an unexpectedly strong hand in this derby cup-tie. Now, four fronts of potential silverware are still open and bragging rights lie with his supporters too after a deadly surge in the first half of extra time.
Since 2005, Wenger has often been accused of not taking England's cup competitions seriously enough, by contrast to the success that the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson have enjoyed in this competition and Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti have enjoyed in the FA Cup.
The League Cup in particular has been treated almost dismissively, an exercise in reserve-team football and save for a losing final in 2007, has often been a source of disappointment to fans for whom silverware of any kind is now desired.
By comparison to the callow groups of young bloods previously given their bows in this competition, this was a Gunners team possessing experience on the grander stage, with the likes of Tomas Rosicky, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Eboue and Denilson all starting. And as against Braga last week, Jack Wilshere's presence was again vital to success and further confirmation of the growing cult of Arsenal's brightest young star.
Yet Wenger, despite this win, denied he has altered his stance on prioritising and said that an injury crisis forced his hand into fielding players he would prefer to have rested. "I maintain that the Champions League and the Championship are the big competitions that really count but I want to win every single game," he said. "We have a momentum going and it's important not to interrupt it. I have so many players with injuries but if everyone is fit we can go for every competition."
Harry Redknapp meanwhile, now knows how it feels to fight on the Champions League front, and his selection reflected a switch in priorities that does not favour a competition in which Tottenham have twice been finalists in recent years. Spurs' weekend performances after European outings have borne the signs of hangover so, with that in mind, his was the set of unfamiliar faces. Stipe Plekosa, Steven Caulker and Sandro were all given their debuts. The rangy Brazilian signed from Copa Libertadores winners Internacional was of most interest to the Spurs faithful, though this was a quiet debut as midfield supremacy was surrendered to Arsenal's midfield three. Young midfielder Jake Livermore was used too, though having been booked, he did not last past the break.
On the subject Sandro, Redknapp was effusive. "I liked him," he enthused. "He gets around the pitch and he's gonna be a good player."
The unfamiliarity of such names was not allowed to affect the contempt rival fans had saved for each other at the Lane. Whatever the competition, the chance to lord it in North London is never shirked. Both have enjoyed famous victories over each other in the various guises of this competition, with Gunners harking back to the semi-final replay of 1987 and Spurs fans able to recall a 5-1 second-leg win in the semis of just two years ago.
An early chance for the vocal away contingent to bellow their approval came when Wilshere crafted a 15th minute goal for Henri Lansbury. Wilshere had begun the move in the centre circle before linking with both Kieran Gibbs and Rosicky to hit the by-line and present Lansbury with his first goal for Arsenal, and show the kind of creative drive usually expected of the rested Cesc Fabregas and further increase steepling expectations.
Tenacious in the tackle, blessed with strength that belies what looks a fragile physique, added to his obvious technical abilities, Wilshere already looks Arsenal first-team class, with international appearances soon to be far lengthier than his recent England cameo against Bulgaria. His comfort among the current generation of stars can perhaps be reflected by the inner-arm tattoo already burnished on his person, an item de rigeur for the Premier performer. Wilshere's levels of confidence are already such that he clearly feels able to implore and cajole team-mates into the positions he feels they should be in to receive his passes. Stamina too can be added to his facets, as he retained his radar in the 104th minute to supply Andrey Arshavin's goal, Arsenal's fourth.
Wenger has a delightful play-thing he is trying not to get too excited about. After agreeing that Wilshere was fearless, he said of the 18-year-old: "I am a bit cautious. I do not want to use him too much too early though he got some stick and he can take it. He was outstanding in the first half."
Having accepted punishment for that delicate push on fourth official Martin Atkinson on Saturday, Wenger's banishment from his bench was offset by regular use of a mobile phone. Though when technology failed him, he and assistant Pat Rice resorted to communicating through the type of tic-tac sign-language once used on British racecourses. However, it would not require a semaphore expert to conceal Le Boss' displeasure when the failure of Arsenal's offside trap and yet another calamity from Lukasz Fabianski handed substitute Robbie Keane an equaliser at the start of the second half.
The introduction from the bench of big Gunners in Andrey Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh reflected Arsenal's desire to get the job done quicker than they eventually did, with Rice, in his surrogate role, hugely animated on the sidelines. His charges failed to complete the job in normal time but were clear just five minutes into the added period as Spurs legs failed them, which Redknapp put down to a massed outbreak of cramp among his untried contingent.
Steven Caulker, given the high billing of a new Rio Ferdinand by Redknapp in pre-match often looked a youth of just 18, his rawness on show at times though his potential is clear in a powerful build and a clear sense of anticipation. Sadly, he displayed shades of latterday Rio as he followed the lead of senior partner Sebastian Bassong in conceding the penalty - for a foul on Chamakh - that killed the tie. Nasri, fouled for the first, converted both.
Redknapp defended the youngster, blaming nervous tension for his later errors. Seemingly forgetting Caulker's name despite repeatedly mentioning him, he took the bright-side view by saying the evening had been "good experience for the young centre-half".
As Arsenal can vouch from recent years, young hearts can often be broken in this competition. But as Jack Wilshere showed here, growing reputations can also be highly enhanced. A vanquished Redknapp could only look in admiration. "Wilshere's a top player," he said in his usual vernacular. "A terrific footballer."
MAN OF THE MATCH: Jack Wilshere - Precocious he may be, but he is already a match-winner on this evidence. A man-child in the style of the best prodigies and perhaps the player to scratch the Fabregas itch when Barcelona eventually get their man.
TOTTENHAM VERDICT: Having escaped a poor first half to equalise at the start of the second and even go close to winning it late on through Keane, they threw it away horribly in extra-time with three pieces of poor defending. Harry Redknapp, shrinking into his chair with arms folded, was clearly incandescent with rage but would put on a brave face later.
ARSENAL VERDICT: Their passing was superior throughout and eventually proved their key weapon in pulling apart Spurs. Their first goal was the archetype of the passing moves they have long been hailed for.
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is moyes really as good as reputed?
everton seem to be in more trouble than west ham.