Wilshere brace helps Gunners to cup

02 August 2009 18:32
The 17-year-old was rewarded for a man-of-the-match display when coming off the bench in Saturday's game against Atletico Madrid with a place in Arsene Wenger's starting XI.[LNB]Wilshere grabbed his latest opportunity with both hands to fire the Gunners ahead inside two minutes.[LNB]Arsenal never looked back, as fit-again Croatia hitman Eduardo soon made it 2-0 before Wilshere, once more man-of-the-match, wrapped things up with another well-taken strike in the second half.[LNB]Both teams had named stronger teams than for Saturday's opening games, when Rangers overcame Paris St Germain.[LNB]There were starts for regular Gunners goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, captain Cesc Fabregas as well as Andrey Arshavin, who netted twice when coming on as substitute against Atletico.[LNB]Rangers brought in keeper Allan McGregor, Kevin Thomson and Steven Naismith, who once had a trial at Arsenal.[LNB]It was, though, soon first blood to the English side when youngster Wilshere snatched the lead.[LNB]Fabregas' chip into the area found Arshavin, who touched the ball back and it broke for Wilshere.[LNB]The 17-year-old calmly struck the ball to the bottom corner, and although McGregor got a hand to it, could not keep the shot out.[LNB]Before Rangers could recover, Arsenal were 2-0 up in the 11th minute.[LNB]Arshavin knocked a long ball down to Fran Merida, who had far too much space to run into.[LNB]The youngster, once on the books of Barcelona, picked out Eduardo on the right side of the penalty box, and the Croatia marksman opened up his body before stroking the ball into the bottom corner.[LNB]The Glasgow side finally made some progress when Pedro Mendes got clear down the right, and his pass across goal was cut out by Mikael Silvestre.[LNB]Arsenal, though, remained dangerous and Merida was just off target when he let fly from 25 yards.[LNB]McGregor made up somewhat for his earlier handling error when he touched over a delicate chip from Wilshere.[LNB]As expected both teams made changes at the restart, Armand Traore and Denilson coming for William Gallas and Gael Clichy, while Rangers introduced Lee McCulloch, Kenny Miller and Nacho Novo.[LNB]The Scots had an early chance when Novo broke down the right, crossing towards Naismith, with Alex Song making an important block on the loose ball at the far post.[LNB]At the other end, Arshavin was just off target following good work from Fabregas.[LNB]Rangers, though, continued to look dangerous on the break.[LNB]Naismith sent Steven Davis clear down the right after a slip by Song. The midfielder raced forwards to collect the return pass, but could not beat Almunia.[LNB]After 62 minutes, Arshavin was replaced by Nicklas Bendtner, with FA Youth Cup winner Sanchez Watt coming on for Eduardo.[LNB]Merida then was substituted for Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey - another promising youngster in the Arsenal squad.[LNB]The three young Gunners combined to make it 3-0 on 71 minutes.[LNB]Watt chased down what looked a lost cause as Madjid Bougherra attempted to shield the ball out of play.[LNB]However, the forward managed to hook it back to Ramsey, who then picked out the run of Wilshere at the far post, the 17-year-old smashing in his second of the afternoon.[LNB]The match over as a contest, Arsenal made another change when Rosicky, fit again following some 18 months of injury problems, replaced Fabregas.[LNB]There was still time for Kenny Miller to drag a shot wide when put into the penalty area - which just about summed up Rangers' afternoon.[LNB][LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk