Arsenal v Birmingham City: Carling Cup final live

Arsenal v Birmingham City: Carling Cup final live

Follow live commentary of the Carling Cup final between Arsenal and Birmingham City at Wembley on February 27 2011

 

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All square: Nikola Zigic opened the scoring at Wembley to give Birmingham the lead but Robin van Persie soon got Arsenal back level Photo: PA

 

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Photo: PA

 

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Crunch time: Brimingham stand between Arsenal and their first trophy since 2005 Photo: ACTION

2:54PM GMT 27 Feb 2011

60000

2011-02-27 19:40:45.0

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ARSENAL 1 BIRMINGHAM 2

18:16: Right, Wembley is half empty, Birmingham I suspect are going to be performing varities on the theme for the next 14 hours or so, and it's over and out from me. Thanks for your company.

18:15: No-one can get the trophy off Zigic! He's literally holding it up too high for anyone else to reach, like a cruel brother taunting his younger sibling. That's the true spirit of League Cup champions right there.

18:13: City jump precariously on the beer-sponsored flimsy platform o'triumph. The cup's being filled with champagne (wot, no tasteless lager?), Zigic has a healthy chug.

18:11: Blur's Song 2 plays inside the stadium. Because winning a trophy as gigantic underdogs clearly isn't enough for Birmingham fans to generate an atmosphere. This occasion so desperately needs Damon Albarn shouting "woo-hoo". Disgraceful.

18:10: "The best team won on the day," says Alan Shearer in a rare dalliance with a controversial opinion.

18:08: Ben Foster is presented with the man of the match trophy. Birmingham lift the trophy proper to some godawful feelgood soundtrack. Brilliant scenes, disgusting abuse of audiovisual powers.

18:07: WEMBLEY SOUND MAN: PLEASE TURN THIS AWFUL MUSIC OFF!

18:06: Stephen Carr, exhausted, shakes the hand of anyone offering him one as he leads his team on the climb up the steps.

18:05: Cripes Arsenal look dejected. Nasri and Szczesny look close to tears. How much of an impact will this have on the rest of their season? Manuel Almunia, on the other hand, looks fairly delighted.

18:02: Arsenal take the long walk up the state-of-the-art Wembley steps to collect their losers' medals.

18:00: All of the post mortem is going to be about the continuation of Arsenal's trophy hoodoo, but let's not lose sight of Birmingham's performance this afternoon. Tactically they were impeccable, with their three defensive midfielders an absolute handful. Arsenal were limited to 10 minute spells of superiority, and conceded two extremely soft goals from high balls into the box. What on earth do they spend the week practising?

17:58: It's exactly as you'd expect out there, Birmingham going absolutely bonkers, Arsenal a picture of dejected failure. Van Persie claps Wilshere on the back and strolls aimlessly around a sea of players with hands on their hips.

FULL TIME Birmingham City win the Littlewoods Cup!

90+5 min: Ferguson is booked for kicking the ball away. Arsenal throw close to the box. Carr heads clear.

90+4 min: Martins gets past Djourou and round Szczesny but the angle is too narrow for a shot.

90+3 min: Jerome doing a marvellous job of holding the ball in the corner.

90+2 min: Cameron Jerome on for Zigic, four minute of added time will be played.

89 min: GOAL!!! Arsenal 1 Birmingham 2 (Martins)
Laurent Koscielny may have to retire following this game. Foster's long kick is helped on by Zigic and the defender and Szczesny have a misunderstanding. The impetus was on Koscielny to clear, but Szczesny races out, the two get mixed up, it's miskicked and drops for Martins who can't miss an open goal. I'm in shock. I can't imagine how Szczesny and Koscielny are feeling.

89 min: Martins is fouled by Clichy, easing the growing but toothless pressure on Birmingham.

87 min: Stephen Carr bounds into the box and gets an inviting cross in that's just behind Martins. Arsenal have lost their impetus in the last 10 minutes.

85 min: Zigic, tiring visibly, fails to control a hopeful wing-switching ball from Bowyer. Even his frustrated kick of the ball into the advertising hoardings looks a bit jaded.

83 min: Zigic gets in between Szczesny and Djourou, much to their obvious annoyance. It's a disappointing delivery, and out for a throw on the other touchline. Keith Fahey is off for Obafemi Martins, who makes his League Cup final debut at the ripe old age of 67.

82 min: Beausejour wins a corner off Song.

81 min: Nasri has a go from an indirect free kick, laid off to him by Wilshere. It's a low shot at goal which ends up five yards wide.

80 min: Nasri's firm shot from 25 yards is beaten away by Foster.

78 min: Chamakh has too much time to think about a ball across goal and plays it somewhat awkwardly to Bendtner. The Dane miscontrols excusably but it runs for Rosicky, who tries to backheel it in. Foster is out to clear emphatically.

77 min: 88,855 in attendance today. Arshavin is off for Chamakh. Wenger wants this settled in normal time.

76 min: Birmingham have eight men in the box. Bendtner has possession near the byline. After an age he turns on the pace and cuts inside and gets a powerful shot at goal. It takes a deflection and Foster saves well, then smothers before Nasri can reach the rebound.

75 min: Arsenal are beginning to look dangerous, with gaps appearing between Birmingham's defensive and midfield lines. They're yet to be exploited. Jiranek, who's been immense, is the latest to cut out an attempted through ball.

73 min: Bendtner loses a foot race with Roger Johnson, who seems to have made a miraculous recovery from what looked like a game-ending injury. This has been a disjointed second half, all told.

71 min: Nasri's free kick comes through for Song, just outside the six yard box in line with the far post. His glancing header is harmlessly wide.

69 min: Nicklas Bendtner is coming on for Robin van Persie. Arsenal fans make concerned arrangements of their eyes and mouths. Rosicky takes the armband.

67 min: Beausejour bounces off Nasri as he attempts a slide tackle. It's worked to Arshavin on the right, who attempts to pull it back for van Persie, but it's cut out by Jiranek. "Page 3, isn't it?" says Mark Lawrenson, somewhat worryingly, before adding "...of the defender's manual." Thank goodness for that. The last thing we want is topless central defenders.

65 min: Nasri appears to bottle a challenge with Jiranek, when a bit of fight may have given him a chance. Come on Samir, this is the Rumbelows Cup final.

64 min: Roger Johnson looks in trouble after landing awkwardly following an aerial challenge with van Persie. He's off the pitch receiving treatment.

62 min: Beausejour has made a tremendous impact since coming on, giving Birmingham some much-needed width and pace. He beats Song before getting a decent cross into the box. Szczesny holds.

60 min: Zigic gets a head to it but lets the ball bounce. It's fed to Clichy on the left but his dissapointing cross is cleared.

59 min: Wilshere's long shot deflects behind for a corner.

58 min: Beausejour wins the ball after a weak attempted pass by Wilshere. He passes to Fahey whose shot rebounds to him off Zigic. His second attempt smacks the inside of the post agonisingly and bounces just clear of danger. So very very close.

56 min: Bowyer's ill-advised long shot is several kilometres over the bar. Sreejith SP is first off the mark in the challenge to discover the most depressing sight in football: "Manchester United lifting the trophy after playing the worst football in the Premier League." I think Stoke might have something to say about that.

54 min: Larrson's inquisitive cross is headed behind for a Birmingham corner. Larrson's less curious delivery is cleared by Koscielny.

53 min: Ugly tackle on Fahey by Clichy earns the Frenchman a yellow card and Birmingham a free kick in a dangerous wide position.

52 min: Corner to Arsenal, cleared by first man Lee Bowyer. I mean closest defender to the corner, not a female president's husband.

49 min: Beausejour is on for the injured Craig Gardner. He looked a shadow of his dangerous former self this afternoon.

48 min: Rosicky lashes an unsaveable half volley towards goal off Sagna's cross. It's just wide. Encouraging start for Arsenal. I wonder if Arsene Wenger kept his infamously quiet half time strategy in place?

47 min: Sagna's cross for Wilshere is caught at height by Foster.

46 min: Arsenal begin the second half in front of a 90 per cent empty middle tier. Is there a more depressing sight in football? I am opening this up for debate. Email your most depressing sights in football to me here.

HALF TIME
A good half. In a cup final! Featuring Birmingham City! Arsenal show no signs of dispelling their soft-touch reputation with Zgic causing a predictable amount of problems by virtue of being massive and knowing how to shield a football. Ominous signs for Birmingham at the back, with Ridgewell looking especially exposed up aganist Nasri and Arshavin who are taking turns to run at him on the right wing. Stay tuned, lager fans.

45+5 min: Nasri's wickedly swering shot from 30 yards stings the palms of Foster, who beats it away.

45+4 min: Arsenal corner. It's played short to Sagna, who targets Djourou, but Zigic clears.

45+3 min: Larrson targets (guess who) Zigic in the box, this time his headers is harmlessly into the air and the hands of Szczesny.

45+1 min: Four minutes of added time will be played after a half of two goals and several injuries.

45 min: Lee Bowyer is down and and in some pain after being tackled by RIdgewell. Yes, that's team mate Liam Ridgewell.

42 min: Arsenal are awarded a free kick, Larsson is booked for dissent. The delivery is spilt by a stretching Foster, who scampers to the wide edge of his box in an attempt to retrieve the ball. Djourou tries to cross, but Foster catches.

41 min: Van Persie hurt himself in the process of scoring, but looks to be fit to continue after some treatment.

39 min: GOAL!!! Arsenal 1 Birmingham 1 (Van Persie)
Arshavin, seemingly taking Nasri's place on the right, pulls it back for Wilshere on the edge of the box. His fierce shot smacks against the crossbar and the ball is worked back out to Arshavin. He beats Ridgewell and puts in a cross which van Persie finishes beautifully with a left-footed scissors kick. Terrific goal.

38 min: Koscielny is booked for a marginally naughty challenge on Lee Bowyer.

35 min: Larrson's ball skips across the six yard box with no-one on the end of it. Djourou clears back to him, and his cross is headed out for a throw on the other side. Arsenal on the ropes here.

34 min: How has Nicola Zigic failed to make it two? His towering header finds Gardner before the ball breaks back to the big Serbian. He waits a moment too long to pull the trigger and Szczesny pulls off a save at his feet.

32 min: Arsenal's fans already have that look of panicked disbelief on their faces. Wenger out?

30 min: Arshavin's teasing cross forces Foster into an unconventional diving punch to clear.

29 min: Van Persie's flying header is only just over the bar.

28 min: GOAL!!! Arsenal 0 Birmingham 1 (Zigic)
The corner comes to Bowyer on the egde of the box. It's nodded towards goal by Johnson and helped in by Zigic, with three Arsenal players around him and Szczesny stranded. Birmingham's fans make an extremely loud noise.

27 min: Sloppy pass from Sagna gives the ball away to Zigic. It's played towards Fahey on the right, as Zigic continues his run into the box. His header is nodded behind for a Birmingham corner.

25 min: Clichy finds himself in loads of space on the left and has time to set himself for a cross. It's high and past Arshavin, the only man in the box.

22 min: Zigic's flick on for Bowyer is off target and easily mopped up by Djourou. A Birmingham-supporting friend of mine (who is a few inches shorter than Zigic) claims that tall people have an unspoken agreement to nod in acknowledgment when they encounter anyone of acceptably extreme height on the street. Can any readers confirm or deny the existance of this Mason-like secret society? I desperately want it to be true.

21 min: Arshavin elects to take on a shot from 25 yards. It is pathetic. He made the ball look like one of those 99p petrol station windfloaters. Foster watches it wide and stifles a chuckle.

19 min: This is relatively direct football from Arsenal, they're passing it forwards more often than sideways and looking for early balls to Nasri on the right. This has the effect of making their play sloppier than you'd expect. Koscielny's ball wide to Clichy goes out for a throw.

16 min: When Zigic holds the ball up it's like watching a seven foot wrestler having a comedic fight with four Mexican midgets. He holds off Song, Djourou and Sagna before spreading it wide. The cross is headed comfortably towards Szczesny by Ridgewell.

15 min: John Ley on Twitter is enjoying his afternoon at Wembley: "At Wembley. £8.30 for chicken and chips. £4.30 a pint. £7 programme. Cheap day out."

14 min: Artful run witby Nasri who seems to slalom between Birmingham's defenders, but by the time he remembers to shoot he's at an unworkably acute angle.

13 min: Birmingham, as you would expect, look right up for this. They're not giving Arsenal a moment's peace in the middle - Johnson is alert to a throw and spoils the attempt to find Arshavin with an outstretched leg.

11 min: Stephen Carr's not messing about. He sprints into the middle of the pitch to close down Arshavin and his aggressive attentions cause the Russian to lose the ball.

10 min: Djourou is the closest to a second consecutive Arsenal corner, but Zigic, his marker, does enough. "Zigic is a little bit 6'7" upright and 5'9" when he jumps" opines Mark Lawrenson. I am baffled.

8 min: Nasri picks out Arshavin with a lovely reverse pass. He displays good strength to hold off Jiranek before turning and firing a low shot at Foster, who saves well with his legs.

7 min: Van Persie tries an impossible shot with the ball running out of play for a corner from Wilshere's through ball. It's off target, as impossible shots have a habit of being.

5 min: Gardner finds himself with space to run into after a Zigic pass. His long shot is weak and well off target.

2 min: The game's begun at pace. Rosicky looks for Nasri but Ridgewell blocks him off. At the other end Zigic plays a quick ball through to Bowyer on the turn and gives him a one-on-one with Szczesny. The flag is up before Szczesny fouls Bowyer in the box. Replays show he was onside. That should have been an early red card and penalty.

1 min: Birmingham get the Worthington cup final of 2011 underway. The Wembley pitch looks impeccable. Give it an hour...

15:59: Dark, imposing portraits of Wenger and McLeish look down onto the pitch from either side of the scoreboard. Both now have the perfect propaganda starting point should they ever decide to become totalitarian dictators.

15:57: The trophy is adorned with ribbons of both clubs. Birmingham's look far looser than Arsenal's. Conspiracy!

15:55: I'm going to spend approximately 17 per cent of today's coverage railing against the use of ludicrously loud music in the context of sporting events. There's an obnoxiously noisy electro song which would be better suited to a flash car advert soundtracking the teams' walk onto the pitch. There are 90,000 people there! We don't need music to make it exciting!

15:53: The teams are in a tunnel wider than most people's houses.

15:50: Dixon and Hansen combine for some relatively perceptive tactical analysis, highlighting the importance of Birmingham closing down cleverly, and getting back quickly as a unit to avoid being hit on the counter attack.

15:45: Re: starting line-ups, surely if Wenger was a man of his word he'd be fielding the Arsenal U-15s today? That's what this competition is all about to the Frenchman.

15:43: Alex McLeish ties himself in a philosophical knot by stating that "superstition is for wimps" but following it with a sentence that begins "if destiny is with us..." and rounding it off by saying "if we're good enough we're good enough". The pressure is showing.

15:40: Alan Hansen reckons Jack Wilshere has the potential to be the best player in the world. The Best Player In The World. Does anyone in the world agree with him?

15:34: Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for the starting line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Rosicky, Song, Nasri, Wilshere, Arshavin, van Persie.
Subs: Almunia, Denilson, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh, Bendtner.

Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Fahey, Gardner, Ferguson, Bowyer, Larsson, Zigic.
Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Phillips, Jerome, Martins, Parnaby, Beausejour.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

A minor surprise for Arsenal, who had widely been expected to give a start to Nicklas Bendtner. Birmingham's line-up sets something of a tone. Arsenal's centre backs may be in for a repetitive afternoon.

15:30: Prediction time please, then, please. I've been receiving sporadic abuse this week after advancing the challenging opinion during Orient v Arsenal last week that Arsenal would end the year without a trophy. I see no reason for that to end now, so I'll go for a horribly unfair 1-0 win for Birmingham. What are your views? Share them with me here. I'm not interested in a mere scoreline in the subject line, I want you to craft a detailed narrative featuring scorers, injuries, and predictions of who will be crying by the end.

15:27: An injured and extremelty fed up Scott Dann looks to be on the verge of welling up walking away from an interview in front of the wall o'Carling adverts. He can just about muster a "I've played my part in getting here, hopefully the lads can finish off the job" before adding "...and get me a medal".

15:22: Some borderline-offensive budget Amelie soundtrack music accompanies a moodily-shot interview with Arsene Wenger. "Now we have to be more mature and believe we can win things. We have been beaten by Chelsea and Manchester United, they are not average sides. But of course, you don't accept it. You want to come back and beat them."

15:17: Oh good, Rory McGrath is being interviewed at pitchside. He's tried to sing "We 'ate Villa" in an awkward approximation of a Birmingham accent towards the City fans. He is ignored.

15:13: We're watching some softly-spoken Birmingham fans reminiscing about their most recent trips to Wembley. Andy Johnson (with a mop of peroxide blonde hair) missing the decisive penalty in the 2001 edition of this cup final, and Paul Tait flicking home a Ricky Otto cross for a golden goal in the 1995 Auto Windscreens Shield. Good times, good times. Well, not so much 2001.

15:05: Alan Shearer starts his day of punditry by calling Arsene Wenger "a top top manager". What does that make Sir Alex Ferguson? A top top top top top manager? And how about Shearer as a manager? A double plus ungood manager?

15:03: "In a game awash with gold, silver is the one true currency," intones BBC's Welsh-tinged James Earl Jones impersonator in a wannabe tear-jerking pre-match montage. Good luck inducing spine shivers on anyone about the Coca Cola cup final, Auntie.

14:55: It's absolutely teeming it down on Wembley way, how is a slippery and inevitably lumpy Wembley pitch going to affect Arsenal's intricate passing game? Or Birmingham's tactic of hoofing it towards Nikola Zigic?

14:45: Six years. The average life expectancy of lucky kangaroos, one more than a Bromley-referencing song by David Bowie, and the time since Arsenal last won a trophy. The expected end to that drought has been the dominant discourse in the lead-up to today's League Cup final, with Arsenal heavy favourites to parade the charmingly retro trophy around a half-empty Wembley at quarter to six this evening.

They'll have to do so without Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott, and overcome a Birmingham City side which have caused them problems historically. Not so much this season, in which Arsenal have won their two games 5-1 on aggregate. But let's not forget that City held Arsene Wenger's side to three draws in their last four before this 2010/11, and Eduardogate in 2008.

William Gallas won't be sitting down crying in the centre circle this afternoon (unless there's an extremely surprising turn of events) but Arsenal must be wary of treating this as the foregone conclusion which most supporters seem to believe it is.

Here's some exciting reading from around the Telegraph site this afternoon:

Arsenal seek to secure their future with some lovely new contracts
Wenger's back four hoping to shrug-off soft touch tag with resiliant defensive display
Birmingham keeper Ben Foster on the Apple-endorsed method to saving penalties
And David Seaman on his divided loyalties this afternoon

Here's our formal match preview:

Sunday March 4

Carling Cup Final

Arsenal v Birmingham City
Wembley Stadium
Kick-off: 3pm
TV: BBC One & SKY SP1, BBC One MotD1

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Denilson, Wilshere, Nasri, Song, Arshavin, Van Persie
Birmingham (4-4-2): Foster, Ridgewell, Jiranek, Johnosn, Carr, Fahey, Gardner, Ferguson, Larsson, Zigic, Martins Referee: Mike Dean. Matches 29 R4 Y99

Tale of the game

Arsenal are bidding for their first trophy since 2005 when they beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final, at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, where they needed penalties to claim silverware.

In two Premier League meetings this season, Arsenal have won both. In October, at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal won 2-1 but had Jack Wilshere sent off.

On New Year’s Day the teams met at St Andrew’s and Arsenal left with a 3-0 win. One previous meetings in the competition, at Highbury, saw Arsenal win 4-1 in extra time.

Tony Hey gave Birmingham the lead, Luis Boa Morte replied and scored again in extra time, with a David Platt penalty and fourth goal from Alberto Mendez completing the rout. But both teams finished with 10 men.

Birmingham’s Darren Wassall was first to go and was soon followed by Arsenal’s Jason Crowe.

Arsenal were in action on Wednesday night, against Stoke in the Premier League, and won 1-0. But the victory, which takes Arsenal to within a point of leaders Manchester United, came at a cost.

Theo Walcott twisted his ankle and has been ruled out of the final while Cesc Fabregas injured a hamstring and could be a doubt.

They face Birmingham unbeaten in 11 (in all competitions).

Birmingham, meanwhile, beat Sheffield Wednesday to reach the last eight of the FA Cup, last Saturday, and in all competitions have lost just one of their last seven games.

Arsenal reached their seventh League Cup final – and first since 2007 – by beating Tottenham, Newcastle, Wigan and Ipswich.

Birmingham, meanwhile, are in their third League Cup final, having won the competition in 1963 and finishing as runners-up in the 2001 final.

Arsenal test Robin van Persie (hamstring) and Laurent Koscielny (back) but Lukasz Fabianski (shoulder), Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) and Emmanuel Frimpong (knee) miss out.

For Birmingham, Scott Dann (hamstring), Eric Valles (ankle) and James McFadden (knee) are out and there are tests for Martin Jiranek (hip) and Liam Ridgewell (calf).

Previous Carling Cup meeting
October 14, 1997 Third Round: Arsenal 4 Birmingham 1 (AET).

Stat of the game

Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight meetings, in all competitions, against Birmingham, winning five and drawing three.

Betting

Arsenal 2-5

Birmingham 13-2

Draw 7-2

Betting tip: Arsenal have a space in their trophy cabinet; try 3-1 at 12-1.
Telegraph.feedsportal.com