Arsenal Beat Spurs 4-1 After Extra Time With Nasri Brace of Penalties

Arsenal travelled to White Hart Lane last night to play the Spuds in the third round of the Carling Cup. We had been beaten on this same ground in the same competition a couple of seasons ago by a horrible scoreline of 5-1. We may have played a young and inexperienced team that night but to the Spud fans who bought the commemorative DVD the next day it didn't matter who had played.

I expected the boss to play a fairly inexperienced team last night as we have so many players out injured and the Carling Cup is at the bottom of his list of priorities. He did make eight changes from the team that started away to Sunderland on Saturday but he did keep Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny in the team and Tomas Rosicky played from the start too after he had replaced the injured Cesc Fabregas early in Saturday's game.

With Lukasz Fabianski in goals the team had a strong look to it as Kirean Gibbs, Emmanuel Eboue and Johann Djourou played at the back with Koscielny. Denilson joined Nasri and Wilshere in midfield and Carlos Vela and Henri Lansbury played up front with Rosicky. It meant that Jay Emmanuel Thomas didn't get the start that most of us presumed that he would get and that was the biggest low point of the night for me.

Right from the start Arsenal took the game to the Spuds and for most of the match they were chasing shadows. The lethargy displayed on Saturday was gone and we passed the ball crisply and with purpose. Any Arsenal player in possession seemed to have a host of options and you would have thought we were the home team. The lead arrived in the 15th minute as Lansbury made his way unmarked into the six yard box to tap home Wilshere's drilled low cross from the left and it was no more than we deserved. I was very impressed with Lansbury as he fitted seamlessly into the team and looked completely at home.

The only disappointment at half time was that we hadn't increased our lead but surely it would only be a matter of time before we did. Things took a temporary turn for the worse early in the second half when a clearly offside Robbie Keane was played in and Fabianski failed to keep out his weak shot despite getting a strong hand to it. He really should have done better and it will be seen as more evidence that he's not up to the job by those who don't rate him.

The Spuds came into the game briefly but Arsenal continued to play their impressive football and push for a winning goal. The Spuds did hit the post through Keane but he was correctly flagged for offside this time and if there was to be a winner before extra time Arsenal were by far the most likely team. The boss had introduced both Marouane Chamakh and Andrei Arshavin for Vela and Rosicky after 73 minutes and the Spuds were finding it hard to cope with the obvious difference in class between the two teams.

They had brought Aaron Lennon on to try to liven things up but Gibbs had him in his pocket the whole time except for one lapse and then he was saved by a great tackle by the magnificent Koscielny. I felt confident that the Spuds couldn't take much more as the game entered 30 minutes of extra time and by the time the first period was over they had been blown away.

In only the first minute of extra time Arshavin chipped a ball through for Nasri and he was caught by the defender from behind and went down. There was minimal contact to be honest but it was a lot more contact than the likes of Steven Gerrard or Wayne "Shrek" Rooney need to act as if they have been pole-axed and the referee pointed to the spot. The defender didn't argue his case too much which is a sure sign that there was contact and we had the opportunity to take the lead again.

Thankfully the stupid habit of the fouled player not taking the penalty was forgotten and Nasri stepped up to bury the ball into the back of the net with the keeper diving the other way. The Spuds were rattled and only four minutes later they were punch drunk as Chamakh was pulled back in the box after being played in by Wilshere for another penalty and Nasri stepped up to put the ball neatly into the corner with the keeper going the other way this time.

Caution was urged by some fans as they still remembered the game a couple of seasons ago when we blew a 4-2 lead in injury time to end up drawing 4-4 against the same opposition but when David  Bentley missed a glorious chance for the Spuds it looked like their chances were gone. Just at the end of that first period Arsenal put the final nail in the Spuds coffin through Arshavin. He was fouled and got up to run on to a quickly taken free by Wilshere as the defender watched in vain and he buried the ball across the keeper into the far corner to make it 4-1.

Arsenal's Fans:

The fans had a great time and sang their hearts out with chants like "shall we make a DVD" and cheered every pass in a move that lasted about 30 passes at one stage during the second period of extra time. I'm sure that it will give them bragging rights for a while to come and I look forward to our home league game with the Spuds in November.

Post Game Comments:

After the game the boss spoke about how strong the squad is and how we are capable of going for this trophy as well as the others. It's an interesting change of direction from him and he said he's not sure how he will treat the next round yet. I suppose it will depend on who we draw and what players are available to him when that game comes around between the Man City and West Ham league games at the end of next month. Gibbs limped off last night and if he is injured it brings the total to nine players unavailable through injury which is almost a full team.

Harry Redknapp blamed cramp for the defeat before going on to say that Nasri dived for the first penalty. The cramp was caused by spending all night chasing shadows as Arsenal played the game at a pace alien to the Spuds but the claim of diving is another matter. The Spud player who took Nasri down apparently said he barely touched him but if that's the case it's an admission that he did touch him and therefore it was a penalty. Will the FA be quick to act and charge Redknapp with bringing the game into disrepute by accusing Nasri of diving when he didn't, I think we all know the answer to that one.

Next Up:

We can look forward to Saturday's home game against West Brom safe in the knowledge that the draw with Sunderland was only a blip and the players will hopefully play as well against West Brom as they did against the Spuds last night. I was highly impressed with Wilshere, Gibbs, Koscielny, Nasri, Lansbury and Gibbs but all the players played their part and that result has to be good for confidence.

A Sad Note:

Finally for today the manager dedicated the victory to Jack Chester who died last week.  He was a prominent face of arsenal's Partnership with Teenage Cancer Trust which was the club's charity of the season in 2008/9. He lost his battle with cancer on September 15th and the boss paid tribute to him after the game.

Highlights:

Here's the highlights from last night's game.

See You Tomorrow.