Sunday, February 27, 2011

Arsenal 1 Birmingham 2: Martins' Late Strike Settles Carling Cup Final

Filed under: , , , ,

Jack Wilshere, Arsenal v Birmingham City, Carling Cup final, Wembley, February 27, 2011Obafemi Martins' 89th minute winning goal stunned Arsenal and secured the Carling Cup for Birmingham City - the club's first major trophy for almost 50 years.

Martins, on as a late substitute, finished from close range after a shocking mix-up between Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny and centre-back Laurent Koscielny.

That left Arsenal with little time to recover and Arsene Wenger's side facing an upset having failed in their efforts to deliver a first piece of silverware to the Emirates Stadium since the FA Cup success in 2005.

Birmingham's trophy-drought has been considerably longer and the midlands club's last triumph came in this competition in 1963.

Yet while they were unfancied coming into this game, they quickly showed they were capable of troubling Arsenal with Nikola Zigic putting Alex McLeish's side ahead in the 28th minute.

Robin van Persie levelled for Arsenal in the 39th minute with a stunning volley immediately after Jack Wilshere had struck the crossbar yet while Wenger's side were superior in the second half, they were unable to find a way past the excellent Birmingham keeper Ben Foster.

The underdogs were rewarded for their impressive hard work and determination when Martins struck at the death.

Birmingham reached half-time nursing a sense of injustice after Lee Bowyer had been incorrectly ruled offside in the third minute when he broke free and was brought down by Szczesny. Martins's goal, however, deflected from potential controversy.

Tweeter FourSquare iPhone

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/02/27/arsenal-1-birmingham-2-martins-late-strike-settles-carling-cup/

Zach Johnson Ze Roberto Zlatan Ibrahimovic Adam Scott Adrian Mutu

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)