Arsenal 2 - West Bromwich Albion 0

Date:	Tuesday 22nd September 2009
Competition:	Carling League Cup (R3)
Arsenal: 5.4
WBA: 7.4	(4-4-2) Kiely 6.4, Zuiverloon 6.8, Barnett 5.4, Olsson 7.6 (Meite, 80 5.7), Jara Reyes 7.3, Thomas 4.6, Koren 6.3, Dorrans 7.7, Filipe Teixeira 7.1, Cox 5.7 (Mulumbu, 61 7.4), Moore 5.8 (Wood, 74 6.1) Unused subs: Carson, Martis, Bednar, Reid Manager: Roberto Di Matteo 7.3
Referee:	Lee Mason (Lancashire) 5.7
Attendance:	56,592 Home Fans 4.0 Away Fans 8.3

Summary:

Both sides made extensive changes for this League Cup game, but it was Arsenal who went through at the expense of a battling Albion performance. Taking them on at the Emirates is hard enough with eleven men, but the first half dismisal of Jerome Thomas made the task even harder. Jack Wilshere shoved him over, earning a gentle push to his shoulder - and promptly went down clutching his face as though he'd been shot; the referee duly obliged with the red card.

But Albion held out till almost the 70th minute before going behind - they could even have taken the lead if Simon Cox hadn't put a simple header over the bar. Substitute Carlos Vela forced a save from Kiely and Sanchez Watt was first to tuck away the rebound. And Vela scored the second himself when Leon Barnett's attempt to chest the ball to Dean Kiely went horribly wrong, leaving him space to steal the ball and Albion with a mountain to climb.

Albion are out of the League Cup but need to bounce back straight away against Crystal Palace on Saturday. Second placed Newcastle also went out to Peterborough and will no doubt look to do the same.

Londonbaggie:

For me, Barnett defended brilliantly last night against a real pacey arsenal attack. Yes I agree that his distribution is poor, ie unless there is a simple short pass on, it is usually an aimless punt upfield, but for me his main job should be defending and I thought he did that really well last night. That is until that one moment of madness per game that he is prone too.

As far as Cox goes he is starting to worry me. Adds very little to the team "mechanics" and if he is a in and around the box finisher, his attempt at a simple headed chance was woeful.

Jara showed for me what a class act he was last night. Last game at the emirates Cech was asked to play right midfield and looked completely lost. My understanding is that Jara is a RB or CH, but last night he looked very comfortable at LB. Yes he liked to get it on to his right foot but this always resulted in a crisp pass inside or out to tex who had a stormer in front of him. On the odd occasion he did use his left foot a very solid clearance ensued.

All in all a very encouraging display, and last night I was very proud to be a baggie along with a few thousand others who gave the lads tremendous support last night, even in the face of extreme stewarding. I am not surprised there is very little atmosphere at the arsenal, if you even think about standing up you are likely to get shot by one of the snipers (stewards)!

costakiblue:

Shame about the result really - but an encouraging performance all the same. Even with 10 men, until the Ars3 scored, we gave it a good go! Our crisp and inventive passing, aligned with dogged defence was only let down by indifferent finishing from our strikers on at least 3 occasions. And we all know what happens when we miss chances - we gift the opposition a goal or two. Despite this, a decent showing, along with great away support, who maintained some semblance of atmosphere throughout.

Kiely - 6 - mainly solid, perhaps may have done better with 1st goal(?) Loon - 7 - defended better, won tackles, better positioning Jara - 8 - cracking debut, looks quick and comfortable on ball Ollie - 8 - tower of strength - captain in waiting I'd say! Barnett - 6 - big gaff for 2nd goal - if you could play you wouldn't be a centre back!
Dorrans - 9 - terrific, outpassed, outran, outmuscled Ramsey all night!Probably now on Wenger's radar! Koren - 8 - busy and clever in possession Tex - 7 - looked sharp and hungry again Thomas - 7 - excellent until sent off, pace and trickery, getting better by game Cox - 6 - desparately needs a goal, couple of sharp shots and a poor (free) header Moore - 6 - still not mobile enough,looks lazy (but probably isn't)
Mulumbu - 7 - brief but energetic performance...another who will have impressed the Ars3 boss. Wood - 6 - at least one great chance when put in by Tex's(?) ball over the top Meite - 6 - game was lost when introduced as sub

Finally....

Feeling more confident now - we begin to look like a team with confidence and a plan.

Has anyone else noticed that RDM's substitutions always (until now) seem to make sense (e.g. Moore last night), whereas the previous gaffer sometimes bemused everyone with his changes?

Highbury Baggie:

A very entertaining game. Usual Albion stuff on display - elegant passing play box to box, some very solid defending (including the goalie who played well, even though distribution was as woeful as ever) and championship quality finishing. After the first 30 minutes I was beginning to getting carried away - Albion were showing some incisive touches and I thought we'd probably nick a win, if we kept it up. "if we kept it up" - hmmm. The boy JT obviously hadn't been listening to me, a great shame, because hitherto he'd played well, even drawing forth praise from a couple of nearby Goooners (what a sorry lot they are, a niggardly, unappreciative, inarticulate bunch). I was sitting a big distance away from the action and actually thought it was Moore, who's absence would hardly have been felt, rather than JT.

In the event, Albion readjusted well and were still ahead on points as they went in at half time. Thereafter we lost energy, despite the introduction of Malumba, and the attack lost any edge it may have had in the first half. For me MoM was Dorrans - he hardly put a foot wrong, at times more than resembling Jason Koumas. He grows in stature with every game In contrast the other midfielders were less impressive, especially Rocko who has lost something (maybe his best position in central/right midfield). Tex showed many good touches, but remains a lightweight at this level, often pushed off the ball and losing ground gained.

Up front Moore barely won a ball and if he did, distribution and support were poor. Cox - little to say about him. Clearly finding the step-up a big challenge and unless he finds a way through to goal quickly, he'll be gone.

Overall well worth the ?10 entry fee. Business as usual we hope on Saturday, but we need to be careful - the bookings and injuries may yet undo us.