Source: Telegraph
Arsenal 2 West Bromwich Albion 0: match report
It was not quite the master-class that supporters have become increasingly accustomed to at this stage of the Carling Cup but, at a time when doubts surround Arsenal's immediate ability to challenge for silverware, the future continues to look bright. [LNB]Arsène Wenger will have been particularly boosted by the return of Carlo Vela, who made one goal for Sanchez Watt and then scored the second as his team ultimately eased past a West Brom team who had been depleted by the first-half dismissal of Jerome Thomas. [LNB] Related ArticlesLeeds United 0 Liverpool 1Peterborough 2 Newcastle 0Nottingham Forest 0 Blackburn 1Carlisle United 1 Portsmouth 3Stoke City 4 Blackpool 3The entire structure at Arsenal demands that these young players are given their chance and the expectation in this competition has already been set by a record of six consecutive quarter-finals. This was supported by the stark pre-match message of chief executive Ivan Gazidis, who admitted that spending money in the transfer market would be a 'last resort'. [LNB]An expectation for goals and attacking football had been understandable. Between them Arsenal and West Brom had played in 17 matches this season that had seen an extraordinary total of some 76 goals shared between 25 different players. [LNB]A 5-0 win at Middlesbrough on Saturday was particularly impressive for West Brom, prompting Wenger to describe them as the same standard as a Premier League team. That, though, was before he saw the starting line-up and discovered that West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo would himself make six changes from the weekend. [LNB]With Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey being encouraged to break forward from central midfield in support of Watt, the lone central striker, Arsenal initially took control and created the first real chance. [LNB]Kieran Gibbs, who currently looks a good bet to emerge as the long-term successor for England to Ashley Cole, galloped forward down the left and fed Wilshere. Initially it looked like he might shoot but, showing an impressive appreciation of the players around him, the ball was rolled into the path of Watt, whose shot cannoned off the post. [LNB]While Arsenal and particularly Wilshere were catching the eye in possession, familiar weaknesses were evident in defence and Wojciech Szczesny, who was making his debut in goal, produced two excellent saves in quick succession from Simon Cox and Robert Koren. [LNB]West Brom, though, were down to down to 10 men shortly before half-time. Wilshere was guilty of a heavy challenge on Thomas and, as he lay on the floor, he refused to accept the former Arsenal midfielder's hand. This enraged Thomas who pushed Wilshere in the neck and predictably received a straight red card from referee Lee Mason.[LNB]Wilshere seemed to make the most of the incident and also appeared to have given Thomas a piece of his mind, but the sending-off was still inevitable. It was certainly a sad return to Arsenal for the West Brom midfielder, who had previously been part of two FA Youth Cup-winning teams. [LNB]Arsenal used their numerical advantage to take command of possession, but creating chances was proving more difficult and Cox had another excellent opportunity to put West Brom into the lead when he headed straight at Szczesny. [LNB]Watt had been struggling to hold the ball up and looked isolated, but that all changed when Vela was introduced. Within minutes, Vela's well struck shot was parried by Dean Kiely with Watt pouncing to score on his Arsenal debut. [LNB]The goal seemed to suck the life out of West Brom and, after Mark Randall's clever lob had rebounded off the crossbar, Vela followed up to seal victory. [LNB]Match details[LNB]Arsenal (4-4-2): Szczesny; Gilbert, Senderos, Silvestre, Gibbs; Coquelin (Randall 58); Sunu (Vela 58), Wilshere, Ramsey, Traore (Barazite 69); Watt. Subs: Bartley, Eastmond, Frimpong, Shea.Booked: Senderos, Ramsey.West Brom (4-4-2) Kiely; Zuiverloon, Barnett, Olsson (Meite 80), Jara; Thomas, Dorrans, Koren, Teixeira ; Cox (Mulunbu 61), Moore (Woods 74). Subs: Bednar, Reid, Carson, Martis.Booked: Cox.Sent off: Thomas. Referee: L Mason. [LNB]
