Arsenals 2010s League Cup final woes
During the 2010s Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal appeared in two League Cup finals during the decade but unfortunately ended up as runners-up twice.
The mission ultimately doomed to fail kicked off during the Third Round of the 2010/11 Carling Cup which turned out to be a North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur. A score which didn’t truly reflect the first 90 of the eventual 120 minute battle witnessed Arsenal thrash Spurs 4-1. Within the first quarter of the game The Gunners fired their way into the lead through young Gun at the time Henri Lansbury holding onto it for the remainder of the first half. Minutes after the break Robert Keane who was Spurs main talisman during his time at White Hart Lane which saw him in total rack up 122 goals equalised in the 49th minute to take the game to extra-time, with the Wenger boys struggling to pluck up the courage for the rest of the second half to score. Inside the first half of extra-time Arsenal were awarded two penalties within four minutes of each other to overturn the tie in their favour witnessing Samir Nasri rocketing both into the back of the net. In the final seconds of the game Andrey Arshavin sent in the fourth and final goal of an exciting toss up to say the least.
Just over a month later Newcastle United would be the victims of yet again another Arsenal romping up at St. James Park. With neither side being able to convert any chances during the first 45 minutes in added time goalkeeper Tim Krul scored an own goal in The Gunners favour with moments left till the whistle. In the final 45 minutes Wenger’s side let loose all their ammunition, slotting in a further three strikes all due to the firepower from two finishes from Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner forcing in the fourth for the overall 4-0 triumph.
In the Quarter-finals Arsenal hosted Wigan Athletic who were struggling in the Premiership underneath Roberto Martinez who would later guide the Latics to an FA Cup Winners medal in 2013 after an underdog 1-0 win over Manchester City despite being relegated from the Premier League that year. Another own goal handed The Gunners the opener for the second consecutive match after Wigans Antolin Alcarez put the ball in the back of his net minutes before the halftime whistle. Bendtner added to the advantage to secure a crucial 2-0 victory inside the 67th minute.
The North Londoners visited Portman Road home of Championship side Ipswich Town for the first-leg of the semi-finals. Despite being a league below the previously two time league cup winners The Tractor Boys proved to be a challenging opponent to score against, in fact they would end up scoring the only goal of the encounter. With 12 minutes left Tamas Priskin broke free of the Arsenal defence burying his fine taken effort into the left bottom corner of goal from just within the Gunners area to give his side a 1-0 lead in the tie. At the Emirates just over two weeks later Wenger’s side put their metal to the pedal to diminish any Ipswich fans hopes and dreams of reaching the final. In a superb second half display Bendtner, Laurent Koscielny ( who had already been booked) and Cesc Fabregas who sworn on being a Gooner for life before leaving at the end of the season for Barcelona picked up a 3-1 win on aggregate for the Gunners. Arsenal were now only 90 minutes away from lifting their first League Cup in almost 20 years after George Graham’s team beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the 1993 final.
With almost 90,000 fans rammed into the seats of Wembley Stadium Arsenal faced Birmingham City in the final who would eventually taste demotion from the Premier League months later. Despite The Gunners being the favourites the Blues clawed their way into a 1-0 lead when Nikola Zigic nodded in a corner in dramatic style just before the half hour mark. Arsenal, with their heads in their hands would retaliate minutes later thanks to Robert Van Persie who volleyed the ball into the back of the net from a handful of yards away. After the break the game was now in the favour of The Gunners but they blew it, due to a lack of communication between Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny Obafemi Martins jumped in and put the ball past Arsenals number one keeper who had no time or chance to react. The League Cup had been stolen from Arsenal there and then in the 89th minute witnessing Birmingham City lift the trophy as 2-1 heroes for the one and only time in the cups history.
The closest Wenger and Arsenal came to making up for their earlier league cup humiliation came seven years later in the 2017/18 campaign.
By this stage the competition had been rebranded as the Carabao Cup where in the third round The Gunners let Doncaster Rovers visit The Emirates Stadium. They might’ve been a League One side and two tiers below Arsenal but they would end up holding their weight well for the fixture. Only Walcott’s 25th minute goal split the two sides’s apart witnessing Arsenal pick up a narrow 1-0 win.
Things didn’t get much easier for Arsenal in the next round despite returning to the Emirates versus Championship team Norwich City. Josh Murphy gave City a shock lead before the interval before Eddie Nketiah finally responded for Arsenal with five minutes left of the game taking it to extra-time. In the face of adversity Nketiah rescued the North Londoners a pivotal 2-1 win within the first half of extra-time.
For the third consecutive tie The Gunners played at home against this time a more challenging opposition in Premier League opponent West Ham United who were hanging around mid-table. The Hammers proved to be far from an easy side to crack down with the only strike of the game coming from Danny Welbeck inside the 42nd minute. After Matthieu Debuchy floated a headed cross from within the box to Welbeck inside the seven yard box, the Englishman controlled the ball taking it to the ground before with ease slotting it past former Manchester City legend Joe Hart. Moments beforehand Walcott had missed a sitter of a header from within the area with all the room in the world available to him and no defenders hovering around to block him. In the end the 1-0 would stand allowing Arsenal to advance into the semi-finals.
Chelsea would await Arsenal in the first leg of the semis at Stamford Bridge. The Blues had only won the tournament in 2015 after convincingly beating the Gunners arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Wembley to see Joe Mourinho achieve his first major honour in his second period as Chelsea manager. Not a single goal would be able to separate Wenger and now head coach at the Bridge Antonio Conte’s men throughout the opening 90 minutes of the semi-finals. In the return leg in Islington in an exciting affair Arsenal just about edged passed Chelsea 2-1. Eden Hazard quickly handed Chelsea a short lived advantage within the first ten minutes from point blank range, before The Gunners hit back with the leveller which came at the cost of a Rudiger own goal where by halftime the match was still 1-1. On the hour mark Granit Xhaka prodded in the goal which would send Arsenal to Wembley from close range after a Chelsea defensive mistake fell to the Swiss in the box. Half an hour later Arsenal were awarded the much needed 2-1 victory overall reaching their first league cup final since their woeful 2011 appearance.
The 2018 League Cup final would prove to be even more dire for Wenger and Arsenal than the 2011 version. The Gunners were completely flattened by Pep Guardiola’s City come the finale of the event. The Citizens all time top goalscorer Sergio Aguero chipped an advancing David Ospina on 18 minutes, with The Gunners failing to pick up the pace. Vincent Kompany made the most of this poor Arsenal display for City carrying on attacking duties into the second half. After Kevin De Bruyne sent in a corner Kompany poked the ball past the hands of the Columbian inside the area to make it 2-0 to add to Guardiola’s master class performance, which had Arsenal on their knees. On 65 minutes the game was officially over when David Silva released a low strike from the left hand side of the box which crawled its way past the line. The 3-0 walk in the park was over for City who would later win the Premiership in 2018. On the other hand Arsenal had been beaten in their third League Cup final since last being crowned champions of the trophy in 1993 which has eluded them since.
Liam Harding
Īf the legendary Frenchman had the appetite of say a Pep Guarrdiola, the whole would be now eating out of his hands