Birmingham City 2-1 Arsenal-Carling Cup

A last-gasp defensive mix-up put paid to Arsenal’s hopes of Carling Cup glory at Wembley on Sunday.

With one minute left on the clock, a long free-kick from Ben Foster was flicked on by Nikola Zigic and seemed destined for the arms of Wojciech Szczesny. But the keeper, distracted by Laurent Koscielny’s attempt to clear, fumbled the ball into Obafemi Martins’ path.

The Nigerian couldn't believe his luck and rolled it into an empty net.

It was heartbreaking for an Arsenal side that had looked the stronger as a gruelling Final headed towards extra time. Zigic had headed Birmingham in front in the first half but Robin van Persie equalised with a fine volley.

All that mattered for nothing in the end. Now Arsenal must pick themselves up and stay on track in three other competitions.

This hurts, but it could still be a season to remember.

When Arsène Wenger woke up on Cup Final morning he had two decisions to make. Who replaces Cesc Fabregas, who tweaked his hamstring against Stoke? And who steps in for Theo Walcott after he sprained an ankle in the same game?

Andrey Arshavin was a predictable deputy for the latter but Wenger sprang something of a surprise when he selected Tomas Rosicky instead of asking Samir Nasri to fill that Fabregas-shaped void.

The absence of their creative hub and speedster had certainly weakened Arsenal but they still emerged at a colourful yet rain-sodden Wembley as firm favourites to see off Birmingham, a club that had waited considerably longer for silverware - it’s 48 years since they won this very prize. But Arsenal have slipped up in similar circumstances before: remember Luton in 1988 and Swindon in 1969?

Wembley has changed rather a lot since then but the threat of an upset was the same. Within two minutes of the first whistle, this year’s underdogs reminded Arsenal why complacency was not an option. Lee Bowyer raced through on goal and was unceremoniously taken out by Szczesny. A cast-iron penalty was wiped out by the offside flag - and replays showed the linesman was wrong.

Shaken into life by that early scare, Arsenal advanced.

After seven minutes Van Persie fizzed an audacious effort past the angle after Wilshere had clipped an ambitious return ball into the box. A minute later Nasri cut inside from the right and found Arshavin with a clever angled pass. The Russian span his marker and shot low but Foster blocked with his legs. Then Nasri shanked high and wide after a slaloming run into the Birmingham box had taken him past three defenders.

The tone seemed to be set: Arsenal probing, Birmingham stifling. But the underdogs were rather more ambitious than that.

Keith Fahey tested Szczesny with a curler from 20 yards but their main threat came from Zigic. Birmingham looked to him for knockdowns into the path of their midfield runners and the six-foot-eight striker had already caused Johan Djourou and Koscielny plenty of problems before he opened the scoring in the 28th minute.

It was a simple enough goal: Sebastian Larsson picked out Roger Johnson with a right-wing corner, he nodded goalwards and Zigic rose high to flick a header past Szczesny despite the best attempts of Nasri on the line.

The ghosts of Swindon and Luton were back to haunt Arsenal and, although Van Persie headed just wide seconds after the goal, the Cup almost slipped away in the next ten minutes.

The red-and-white half of Wembley had Szczesny to thank after the goalkeeper rushed out to make a point-blank save from Zigic after he got clear inside the box. Then Djourou made two vital interventions in a matter of seconds to stop crosses reaching their intended target of Zigic.

Arsenal were struggling to contain the Serbian but their own centre forward would steal the spotlight from him six minutes before the break. Wilshere made it possible with a surging run and a thumping drive that crashed off the crossbar and Arshavin collected the rebound and wriggled past his marker to cross for Van Persie to volley into the corner. Arsenal were all-square.

Nasri stung the hands of Foster in first-half stoppage time and Rosicky flashed a first-time shot wide at the end of a quicksilver move three minutes into the second half. The tide seemed to be turning.

But just when you sensed Arsenal were taking a grip, Birmingham almost caught them with a sucker-punch. This time Jean Beasejour robbed Djourou and the ball rolled for Fahey, who saw one shot blocked and a second effort cannon off the post with Szczesny helpless.

Van Persie, injured while scoring his goal and only just back from a hamstring problem, made way for Nicklas Bendtner with a little over 20 minutes left. The Dane is remembered fondly among Birmingham fans for his successful loan spell at St. Andrew’s four years ago. This was his chance to tarnish that reputation.

He so nearly did within six minutes of coming on. Cutting in from the left, Bendtner unleashed a shot that took a deflection and tested Foster’s reflexes to the limit.

It was the second time in quick succession that the keeper had saved his team after keeping out Nasri’s venomous drive moments before. Moments later he hacked clear as Rosicky tried to dink the ball over him and Nasri was thwarted once more as Arsenal piled on the pressure.

If you had to pick a winner at that stage, it would have been the Gunners.

Newcastle United 4-4 Arsenal - Barclays Premier League

It was the best of games; it was the worst of games.

For 45 minutes on Saturday, Arsenal were unplayable. They led within seconds and looked out of sight after ten minutes thanks to a three-goal salvo from Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou and Robin van Persie. When the Dutchman added a fourth before the break, all bets were off.

Then it all went wrong.

Djourou hobbled off, Abou Diaby was sent off for shoving Joey Barton and Arsenal unravelled. Barton rolled in one penalty and converted a contentious second after Leon Best had struck from close range. Cheik Tiote completed the great escape and Newcastle, having chased shadows for so long, had chased down a point.

It was the ultimate ‘game of two halves’ and, at the end of it all, Arsenal had squandered a gilt-edged chance to pile the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.

The leaders’ own slip-up at Wolves means this setback is anything but terminal but Arsène Wenger has a job on his hands to lift his players ahead of the next test – against United’s conquerors.


The major injury doubt ahead of this trip north was Alex Song. He was given a 30 per cent chance of recovering from the leg injury he sustained against Everton in midweek but failed to beat those odds. Diaby stepped up from the bench and so did Andrey Arshavin – the Russian replaced Tomas Rosicky.


There was a familiar face on the Newcastle bench – Sol Campbell – and by common consensus this was a good time to face the former Gunner’s latest club. Andy Carroll would not have been fit to face Arsenal but his £35million deadline-day departure to Liverpool had left St. James’ Park under a cloud.


Lest we forget, Carroll’s towering header won the reverse fixture at Emirates Stadium this season and, in his absence, the likes of Djourou and Laurent Koscielny were probably expecting a more comfortable afternoon.


But perhaps not as comfortable as the first half turned out.


A roar greeted the home side as Phil Dowd blew the first whistle but the black-and-white hoards were silenced within 43 seconds. That’s how long it took for Walcott to slip a low shot past Steve Harper after Arshavin’s flick had found him in his favourite position, just right of centre on the shoulder of the last defender.


Newcastle’s fans must be sick of the sight of Walcott – he scored twice here in the Carling Cup in October – but they had other players to worry about soon enough.


The first of those was Djourou. Less than three minutes had elapsed when the Swiss centre back met Arshavin’s pacy left-wing free-kick to direct a header in off the underside of the bar. It was his first goal for the Club and rich reward for his recent form.


Dazed and confused, Newcastle were there for the taking. And Arsenal twisted the knife after 10 minutes with a carbon copy of their opener at West Ham last month. Walcott picked out Van Persie from the right of the penalty area and the Dutchman fired first-time past Harper.


When this place is noisy you can’t hear the pocket of away fans high in the upper reaches of the upper tier. Now they were all you could hear. It was almost eerie.


As Newcastle tried desperately to gain a foothold in the match, Arsenal continued to carve out chances. Walcott sent a ‘pitching wedge’ over the bar from Fabregas’ pass, Arshavin just failed to pick out Wilshere’s charge into the box, Diaby volleyed wide and Harper saved well from Fabregas following a cute flick from Wilshere.


For their part, the hosts looked most dangerous when they fizzed crosses into the Arsenal box. Mike Williamson got up well to meet one but Kevin Nolan inadvertently nodded his header away from danger.


A rather more emphatic header brought the visitors their fourth goal in the 26th minute. A flurry of one-touch passes ended with Sagna in acres of space to measure a cross from the right. Van Persie arrived unmarked to flash a header past Harper.


The Dutchman admitted after his recent Wigan treble that he had come to terms with the prospect of never scoring a hat-trick. Yet he was on the cusp of another treble. Only a wayward finish and a solid Harper save denied him that pleasure before the break.


Arsenal could not have asked for a better start to the first half. They could not have had worse start to the second period.


Within three minutes of the restart Djourou hobbled down the tunnel with a knee injury. A few minutes later Diaby followed him after being shown a straight red card for shoving Barton to the ground – a reaction to a challenge from his fellow midfielder.


Suddenly, Newcastle’s tails were up. 


Szczesny saved well from Danny Simpson after the right back bundled his way into the box but the Pole had no chance with Barton’s penalty, hit low to the keeper’s right after Koscielny was adjudged to have fouled Best.


Interestingly, Nolan wrestled Szczesny to the ground as he tried to retrieve the ball after the spot-kick – much like Diaby had treated Barton. The result? A yellow card… for the Arsenal keeper.


Szczesny made another decent stop from Williamson’s header but, with 16 minutes left, he was beaten again. This time Best did well to bring down a left-wing cross and slide the ball under the keeper.


The atmosphere was much different now and Newcastle flew at Arsenal. Szczesny came into his own, saving brilliantly from substitute Nile Ranger and handling a barrage of crosses with great assurance.


But Newcastle sensed a miraculous comeback and Barton gave them added hope when he converted another penalty after Koscielny was again penalised – this time extremely harshly.


The great escape was complete when Tiote slammed in a shot from the edge of the area and Nolan could even have won it for Newcastle when his effort skimmed just wide in stoppage time.


It was Arsenal’s turn to be stunned. But when the dust settles on this crazy weekend, only one thing will matter.