Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick as
Arsenal produced an incredible
comeback in what was probably the
most remarkable game in the history of
the League Cup to win 7-5 after extra
time at Reading.
A Jason Roberts volley, Laurent
Koscielny's own goal, Mikele
Leigertwood's strike and Noel Hunt's
header inside the opening 37 minutes
at the Madejski Stadium appeared to
be sending former Gunner Brian
McDermott's Reading into the quarter-
finals of the Capital One Cup.
But a truly astonishing Arsenal
turnaround came as Walcott started
and finished, with the final kick of
normal time, a stunning fightback at
4-4 with goals either side of headers
from substitute Olivier Giroud and
Koscielny.
Forgotten man Marouane Chamakh
then looked like he had won the tie in
extra time but, with the additional half-
an-hour almost complete, Pavel
Pogrebnyak delivered yet another
grand twist with an equaliser at 5-5.
Reading, though, suffered the final
heartbreak as first Walcott and then
Chamakh settled the 12-goal epic to
leave Wenger looking bemused and
McDermott inconsolable in the
respective dugouts.
It appeared as if it was going to be a
most recent stumble from Arsenal,
who have been trophyless for seven
years, after a nervy win over Queens
Park Rangers in the Premier League on
Saturday had seemingly only papered
over their cracked confidence of
defeats by Norwich City and Schalke
and a controversial AGM.
It was an explosive start, which should
have offered a clue of what was to
come, and soon Arsenal were behind
as Roberts shook off his marker,
Koscielny, inside the six-yard box to
slide and meet Hal Robson-Kanu's
12th minute cross.
Wenger's team were rocking as they
continued to make a wretched, error-
strewn beginning and they found
themselves two goals down in the 18th
minute, when Koscielny's nightmare
first half continued by poking a Garath
McCleary cross into his own net.
Things were to get worse for the
visitors just two minutes later, with
Chamakh, who was making his first
start for Arsenal since January among
11 first-team changes, giving the ball
away and goalkeeper Damian Martinez
making a mess of Leigertwood's soft
shot.
But still Arsenal's first-half misery was
not complete and in the 38th minute,
from another McCleary cross, Hunt's
header made it 4-0 to leave some
visiting fans seemingly heading for the
exits.
Arsenal, though, rescued some hope
on the stroke of half-time, when
Walcott dinked a finish over Adam
Federici and the goal proved to be a
turning point in a historic night which
saw Wenger's unchanged 11 players
emerge for the second half as if they
were a different team.
In the 62nd minute, Giroud entered
the fray and instantly added to the
impetus by expertly heading into the
back of the net just two minutes later
as Reading began to show the nerves
of a squad who sit without a win in the
Premier League relegation zone.
Koscielny's 89th minute header from a
corner then had McDermott's side
really twitching at 4-3 and it proved too
much for them to handle, with Walcott
scrambling an effort just over the line
with the last kick of six minutes added
time to set up an extra half-an-hour.
Extra time was therefore required after
a quite sensational and, given Arsenal's
ineptitude in the first half, totally
unpredicted comeback, which gave the
visitors the momentum at a time when
Reading, who have never beaten their
London opponents in any competition,
were crumbling.
In the 103rd minute, Chamakh proved
to be one of the heroes when hitting
an effort from range past the
despairing Federici but Pogrebnyak's
116th minute header seemingly set up
a penalty shoot-out.
Arsenal had other ideas and Walcott
ensured he would keep the match-ball
when finishing a Koscielny and Andrey
Arshavin-led counter-attack before
Chamakh ended any doubts by
lobbing in the final goal of the night to
secure a breathless 7-5 result.
No comments:
Post a Comment