Arsenal v. West Brom 2-0 22/Sep/09

Jack Wilshere suffering from the abuse by the opposition.
[Photo: Tony Marshall/EMPICS Sport through Guardian]



The young Arsenal squad began its latest endeavour with a home win against West Bromwich Albion in the context of the Carling Cup. While previous encounters with the Baggies proved favourable and light-hearted for the London team this ones was one of those games of 'two halves'. Although the young Gunners battled through the first fifty minutes to score, the sent-off of Thomas and West Brom's forwards misses gave the home side an extra edge to finish their aspirations.
One of the delightful events of the evening was the inclusion of several players of the last FA Youth Cup Final. The progress these youngsters have had over the last few months could be evaluated by the Gunners' faithful.




[Photo: Mirror Football]



Two headers from Senderos in the first five minutes gave tone of the encounter. As the Gunners dominated throughout the first fifteen minutes, there was a sense that there was no real threat by the Baggies. The latter argument was proven by the number of times Ramsey and Wilshere touched the ball. Where Wilshere nearly opened the score, Cox curled the ball just to Szczesny's hands. Silvestre's defence confirmed the previous argument wrong, and in the next two minutes the threat seemed more live than ever.
Wilshere provided some dribbles that broke the visitors defence. The dexterity of his technique allowed the Gunners to attack thoroughly between the 25th and the 35th minutes. The controversy began when Jerome Thomas was sent off and Cox booked. Strangely, the incident was aggravated by the fact that apparently Wilshere did not wanted to greet Thomas, who lost his head and baffled the Gunner. With two minutes added in stoppage time - and Ramsey's dreadful free kick - the first half ended.




Aaron Ramsey's effort over the bar.
[Photo: Getty Images through Soccernet]



Despite West Brom efforts throughout the first fifteen minutes, the Gunners found the back of the net some time after the substitutions. Vela and Randall came for Coquelin and Sunu: the entrance of the Mexican international provided more weight to the Gunners' offence. Probably another cameo of Arsenal's first team antics was the anxiety in which these reserve players were falling into.
Reaching the 68th minute the dominance that the visitors held for extended periods started to take its toll on the youngsters physical fitness. Fortunately for the home side - who had the running clock above - Watt scored after a rebound from a Vela shot. From the goal on, the Baggies completely surrendered: Vela finished a delicious chip from Randall in the 75th minute. The goal was a demo of the determination that a striker can have.
All in all, the confidence the first goal brought let the Gunners open the game against a quite decent and combative team such as West Brom.