Carling Cup Review: Arsenal Overcome Shrewsbury Town

Arsenal finally got back on track, but it was a bumpy ride in their performance against Shrewsbury Town. Arsene Wenger selected a side with youth players mixed in with some experience in this particular Carling Cup tie. Arsenal went down early after conceding an early goal, but they were able to recover and lock up a place into the next round of the competition with a 3-1 win over Shrewsbury Town.

Arsenal Starting XI (4-4-2): Fabianski, Jenkinson, Miquel, Djourou (c), Gibbs; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Frimpong, Benayoun; Park, Chamakh

Wenger decided to switch things up and went with a 4-4-2 formation in this tie and it seemed it would pay of dividends early with two early chances from Marouane Chamakh. However, Arsenal would spend the next part of the game on the defensive and looked shaky at times. Arsenal would then concede and Shrewsbury Town would take a surprising opening lead at the Emirates from a James Collins header.

The atmosphere at the Emirates became quiet and all Arsenal supporters, worldwide, were going mad and were asking for Wenger's head.

But these youngsters showed that "never say die" attitude which got them back level late in the first half. Kieran Gibbs would score his first-ever goal for Arsenal off a great cross from Carl Jenkinson to level the tie. Arsenal were able to go into the half leveled and were lucky not to be down by one or two goals.

After halftime, the arsenal players came out with a chorus of boos from their home supporters. Is that a way to support these young players with all that pressure on them already? However, these youngsters would respond with class.

Arsenal started out the second half with a lot of aggression and were looking straight away to break the deadlock. Arsenal came out firing with long-range efforts from Frimpong and Coquelin. Chamberlain was starting to take over the game with his dominance and liveliness on the right channel.

Then, Arsenal would break the deadlock.

Arsenal would go up from an impressive strike, courtesy of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. One word to describe his goal is a firecracker.

Arsenal would spend most of the time then controlling possession and playing keep away.

Two more Arsenal players would make their Arsenal debuts with Ryo Miyaichi and Oguzhan Ozyakup coming on for Ju-Young Park and Emmanuel Frimpong.

It wouldn't take Ozyakup long to get into the game, as he delivered a superb ball to Yossi Benayoun who would put it into the back of the net and delivered Arsenal a place into the next round of the Carling Cup.

Wenger looked delighted once the final whistle came and Arsenal looks to make amends for their dismal start of the season. Arsenal must rise up and get back on track when they host Bolton this weekend.

Man of the Match: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

As I like to call him, Ox had a very impressive game and was clearly Arsenal's best player on the night. He created many chances and caused havoc for Shrewsbury Town on the right channel. He would then get on the score sheet with a superb goal. Not only did Ox surprised me, he also surprised Arsene Wenger as well:

''He grew through the game and became stronger and stronger,'' Wenger said. ''What came out was unbelievable—you didn't expect it after the first half. You could see that he will be a first-team player here, that is for sure. He has still things to work on but, very quickly, he will be knocking on the door.''

Hopefully with this performance, the senior members of the squad will rise up to the occasion when they play Bolton this weekend. Can Arsenal get back into the title race picture?