ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP: Ipswich Town 1 Arsenal 0:ARSENAL ENHANCED the English League Cup by falling to defeat in this first leg of the semi-final. Ipswich Town did even more for the tournament. A side from the lower reaches of the Championship competed keenly and scored the only goal.
A pass by Colin Healy freed Tamas Priskin to burst beyond Johan Djourou and finish impeccably in the 78th minute.
They might have had another through Carlos Edwards on the break, but Ipswich goalkeeper Marton Fulop had also pulled off two splendid saves to secure an uncanny beginning for the watching new manager, Paul Jewell.
Arsenal may be without a trophy since 2005 but this two-legged semi-final still came as a potential nuisance. Due to the blandness of their performance against Leeds United in the FA Cup, they face a replay at Elland Road. In addition, Arsene Wenger’s team need to conserve energy for the Premier League and Champions League. They must have hoped to make short work of Ipswich in the first part of the tie.
The hosts were more than inconvenienced in the FA Cup and, following the sacking of Roy Keane, a 7-0 defeat did not speak of resilience. All the same, there was a new manager here in the stands in Jewell. It has been known for a fresh face to make his opposite number grimace.
At heart, however, everything lay with Arsenal. Given a sharp and sustained display, a berth in the final could, in effect, be clinched with a good away win.
A quick breakthrough proved impossible. Jewell’s formation took no one by surprise and that five-man midfield, with a promising attacker like Connor Wickham called upon to cover on the left, was sensible. Ipswich’s plan was not so much to quake as to detach themselves from the memory of misery at Stamford Bridge. They had been 3-0 down at half-time there.
Jewell’s side did not cower here and, with 14 minutes gone, Priskin had cut inside Emmanuel Eboue before putting his shot a yard beyond the far post.
The visitors were far from tormenting the Ipswich defence. The home crowd were heartened, and when Priskin had the ball in the net from an offside position there was still an appreciation of the overhead kick with which he had dispatched the ball.
Arsenal had the expected sheen to their play but in and around the goalmouth lacked focus. It was hard to know whether to blame Nicklas Bendtner or sympathise with him over a lack of assistance.
This showing by the side must have grated with Wenger even if he his one of the managers least likely to concede that anything is amiss. The disappointment for any Arsenal supporter would have lain then in the lack of ruthlessness.
The opening half had been a synopsis of Arsenal’s campaign. The finesse and technical accomplishment were obvious, but so, too, was the disinclination to capitalise.
Ipswich had seldom been forced to think of itself as a side that had experienced such a hiding at Stamford Bridge.
The means had appeared to be present. However, Andrey Arshavin had once again been muted and not even Cesc Fabregas could produce a cutting edge.
The second half called for a higher intensity. For his part, Jewell was having a heartening start, with a night of this sort galvanising Ipswich to the extent that there had been half-chances, with Gareth McAuley heading over in the 33rd minute.
Mark Kennedy ruffled Arsenal with his breaks from midfield and as time passed the sense grew that Wenger would not necessarily be able to treat the return leg as a formality.
A long ball in the 69th minute came close to releasing Priskin, although Djourou did get the ball away for a corner.
Arsenal did at least persevere and Fulop did well in the 69th minute to throw up an arm and parry Theo Walcott’s attempt to clip the ball over from an angle.
The game had a lot to commend it, even if Wenger could not appreciate this occasion to the full when Fabregas was firing a Kieran Gibbs cross over the bar from close range in the 76th minute.
Guardian Service
IPSWICH: Fulop, Peters, McAuley, Delaney, Kennedy, Edwards, Norris, Healy, O'Dea, Wickham, Priskin (Murray 90). Subs not used: Lee-Barrett, Smith, Eastman, Civelli, Lambe, Hourihane. Booked: O'Dea, Priskin.
ARSENAL: Szczesny, Eboue, Koscielny, Djourou, Gibbs, Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Wilshere (Song 68), Arshavin (Vela 80), Bendtner (Chamakh 68). Subs not used: Shea, Ramsey, Eastmond, Miquel.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
