West Bromwich Albion 1 - Arsenal 1

(aet) Arsenal win 4-3 on penalties

Date: Wednesday 25th September 2013 
Competition: Capital One Cup
WBA:
6.4
(4-4-1-1) Daniels 5.8, Reid 7.3, Dawson 6.8, Lugano 6.9, Popov 5.8, Berahino 7.0 (Amalfitano, 101 5.6), Mulumbu 6.8 (Morrison, 91 6.3), Dorrans 6.9, Sinclair 6.3, Sessegnon 7.3, Long 5.6 (Rosenberg, 91 4.4)
Unused subs: Camp, Olsson, McAuley, Jones
Manager: Steve Clarke 5.5
Arsenal:
5.8
Scorers: Berahino (72)
Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire) 6.1
Attendance: 18,649   Home Fans 6.8   Away Fans 7.1

Summary:

If you want to see how seriously either team wanted to win the League Cup you only had to look at the number of changes made by each manager: eight for Steve Clarke and nine for Arsene Wenger. But while Albion put out a few of their A list and a lot of their B list, Arsenal's team seemed to be mainly down to their D or E list with many shirt numbers in the forties and even one in the fifties.

Although it wasn't a game dripping with style, with missed passes aplenty, there were some quality moments. The first half ended goalless, then Thomas Eisfeld's neat finish gave the visitors the lead around the hour mark and a well-struck header from Saido Berahino levelled the scores ten minutes later.

Albion brought on James Morrison and Markus Rosenberg for the half hour of extra time, during which Craig Dawson was called on to make a magnificent last-ditch tackle on Nicklas Bendtner and another sub, Morgan Amalfitano, nearly broke the crossbar with a powerful strike from distance. Rosenberg had a great chance to finally make his mark - put through on goal he neatly chipped the keeper but instead of firing home he took too long to control the ball and ended up firing at a defender as the game headed towards penalties.

Albion went 3-2 up thanks to strikes from Steven Reid, Rosenberg and Morrison and a great save by Luke Daniels from Serge Gnabry, but Dawson and Amalfitano both missed the goal and Nacho Monreal made it 4-3 to Arsenal for the win.

Malteser:

I watched the match streamed online, and have to say that it was entertaining for the neutral viewer, not least in watching the football Albion played and the numerous youngsters bloodied in by Arsenal.

I felt that most of the Albion players had a good game. The defence was sturdy.

Apart from a lapse in concentration/marking which led to Arsenal's opening goal and his miserable penalty kick, Dawson was awesome (that penalty area tackle was from the top drawer!).

Lugano looked the business and had excellent distribution. A fierce competitor too.

Popov bombed down the left flank and was pretty good in getting on high balls. His finishing ain't good though, so best not try shots from outside the pen area :)

Reid was solid, and showed leadership qualities. Good to see him back and play a full 120 mins. Good pen kick too.

Daniels was fine - good game, not at fault with goal, good pen save, however he had no clue in handling the other penalties. Always diving to his right....

In midfield, Mulumbu was his usual self - I hope he was not hauled off due to the knock he sustained earlier on due to that horrific tackle by Hayden.

Dorrans actually looked the part as a central midfielder, spraying passes around. It's perhaps where his future lies with us, given the amount of attacking midfielders around.

Sessegnon, apart from a couple of stray passes, was lively and created lots of opportunities for us. He truly was the spark in the side.

Sinclair seems to lack the fluidity of Sessegnon. He showed some wing trickery however his awareness in the opposition's box seems to have deserted him. That late miss with the goal at his mercy was a mess!

Morrison and Amalfitano were effective substitutes. Morrison was pretty lively in central midfield, while Morgan was unlucky to hit the post and then fluff that penalty.

Berahino improved after heading his goal. He was a bit lost before that. Later on, he contributed quite a bit to the overall play. Still improving but happy with his performance.

Long was ineffective and honestly, I wonder whether his heart is still in the club. His goalscoring prowess seems to have deserted him - I do not recall even a single shot on goal from him. Ok, he might have been played out as a second striker/wide, however I expected more from him. Perhaps he was not fully fit for this game?

Rosenberg seems to be nervous due to still not opening his Albion competitive goal account. His penalty was well taken, his performance suggested that he might benefit from a loan elsewhere as a last ditch attempt to get him going.

I am baffled that we did not play Anichebe - we lacked height and strength up front. He would have given the Arsenal kids a torrid time.

Furthermore, SC looked sullen and passive - Wenger, in contrast, was more lively on the touchline. It had to be Kevin Keen to get things going in terms of geeing up the lads. In this aspect, SC is reminding me of Keith Burkinshaw who wouldn't even raise his voice at a mosquito (it had to be Denis Mortimer to be vocal on the touchline).

Finally, does the club really want to progress in Cups? I ask this too. The support was there - 18k for a midweek LC game is pretty good and our fans were vocal.