ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP THIRD ROUND - Arsenal 2 West Brom 0:ARSENAL'S LATEST crop of bright young things has another cup run to contemplate. A line-up crammed with teenage talent, with only a pair of wiser old heads at centre-half for company, eventually deflated the Championship's best, West Bromwich Albion, last night as they set about dazzling this competition yet again.
This was a sterner test than that posed by Sheffield United at the same stage last year but, aided by a misdemeanour from a former Arsenal youth team player, the hosts ultimately prevailed. There were flashes of impudent brilliance on show against impressive opponents left depleted by Jerome Thomas’s dismissal for a first-half shove on Jack Wilshere, the hosts’ neat and occasionally scintillating approach summed up by their decisive second goal.
Albion had been holding firm and even threatening an equaliser on the break when the home substitute Mark Randall conjured a wonderful chip over Dean Kiely that cannoned down from the crossbar. Leon Barnett attempted to chest the rebound back to his goalkeeper only for Carlos Vela, another replacement, to nip in, poke the ball clear of Kiely’s body and tap into the empty net.
Arsenal handed first-team debuts to Wojciech Szczesny, Gilles Sunu and Sanchez Watt, three of the eight teenagers in their starting line-up, on the day that their chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, had publicly flung his support behind Arsene Wenger’s dual policies of youth development and restraint in the market.
A quintet of other youngsters are currently on loan at other clubs. The cream of those who remain had their chance here.
“We believe transfer spending is the last resort,” said Gazidis. “That’s a sensible view to have. Re-signing existing players is a far more efficient system. What Arsene will not do is spend money on players that do not add something of real value. It’s not easy for a club to walk this path when others have outside funding that we don’t have. But it’s a path we are committed to.”
This competition has accelerated that evolution in recent seasons, inflicting regular dismissals upon Championship sides en route, though the education gleaned from ventures into the League Cup are clearly not always far-reaching. Albion, top of the second tier and resplendent while slaughtering Middlesbrough on Teesside at the weekend, had held firm when required and threatened reward aplenty at the other end until their own Arsenal youth team graduate rather undermined their challenge just before the break.
Thomas had won two FA Youth Cups with the north London club at the turn of the century and made a handful of senior appearances in this competition. Now considered a seasoned professional, he lost his composure too easily once Wilshere – claiming he had been elbowed – had abruptly rejected his hand after the pair had crumpled to the turf in a mess of arms and legs. The 26-year-old shoved the midfielder back to the ground and, while the Arsenal player’s reaction may have been overly dramatic, clutching his forehead when contact appeared to be nearer his neck, the red card was inevitable.
The visitors will not have relished the contest at a numerical disadvantage. They had coaxed fine reaction saves from Szczesny, denying Simon Cox and Robert Koren, and seen Kerrea Gilbert scramble Cox’s attempt from the goal-line when the Polish goalkeeper had been bypassed.
The hosts had offered enough of a challenge when the visitors still boasted a full complement. Twice Philippe Senderos had flicked headers wide while Watt, a striker brimming with pace and raw ability, had dribbled Wilshere’s pull-back onto a post as Kiely retreated as if in slow motion to smother. There was busy invention from Aaron Ramsey and Sunu, and clever positioning and surety at the base of midfield from the composed Francis Coquelin.
Yet Wenger’s decision to introduce Vela as an older head reflected the reality that the Baggies, with Cox heading over then forcing Szczesny to save, remained potent opponents on the counter and Arsenal needed to chisel out reward before the contest drifted into extra-time. The Mexican’s influence was virtually immediate. Latching on to Ramsey’s lobbed pass, he cut inside Jonas Olsson and spat a shot that Kiely could only palm into the path of Watt. The 18-year-old slid in his first senior goal with glee. Vela’s own reward 14 minutes from time merely added gloss to the victory.
Guardian Service
ARSENAL:Szczesny, Gilbert, Senderos , Silvestre, Traore (Barazite, 69), Wilshere, Coquelin (Randall, 58), Ramsey, Gibbs, Sunu (Vela, 58), Watt. Subs not used: Shea, Bartley, Eastmond, Frimpong. Booked: Senderos, Ramsey.
WEST BROM:Kiely, Zuiverloon, Olsson (Meite 80), Barnett, Jara, Thomas, Koren, Dorrans, Teixeira, Moore (Wood, 74), Cox (Mulumba, 61). Subs not used: Carson, Bednar, Reid, Martis. Booked: Cox
Referee:Lee Mason (Lancashire).
