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Arsenal ousts Spurs from League Cup with 4-1 win
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By Rob Harris
September 21, 2010
LONDON, England — Samir Nasri scored a pair of extra-time penalty kicks as Arsenal ousted north London rival Tottenham from the League Cup with a 4-1 victory, and Premier League side Everton was beaten in a shootout by third-tier Brentford on Tuesday.
Tottenham substitute Robbie Keane had canceled out Henri Lansbury’s first Arsenal goal to send the game into extra time, but the home side crumbled within 30 seconds of it starting.
After being fouled by Sebastien Bassong, Nasri converted from the penalty spot and the France midfielder beat Spurs goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa again five minutes later when Steven Caulker brought down Marouane Chamakh.
“He had a superstition to think that when a penalty is made on you not to take it,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “But I tried to prove to him that that’s solely based on fear. He realises now that it was a bad superstition.”
Andrei Arshavin ended any hopes of a Tottenham comeback by firing low past Pletikosa in the 105th minute.
Everton, which is yet to win in the Premier League season, went out after Jermaine Beckford and Phil Jagielka missed penalties in a 4-3 shootout loss against Brentford.
Seamus Coleman had put Everton in front with his first goal for the club after six minutes, but Gary Alexander leveled for the League One club with a powerful header.
Bolton was the other Premier League casualty in the third round on Tuesday, with Owen Coyle’s side losing 1-0 at former club Burnley, which was relegated from the top flight last season.
In all Premier League matches, Stoke beat Fulham 2-0 and West Ham won 2-1 at Sunderland. Elsewhere, Birmingham defeated MK Dons 3-1, Wolverhampton eliminated Notts County 4-2 in extra time, Ipswich won 2-1 at Millwall, Swansea triumphed 3-1 at Peterborough and Leicester beat Portsmouth 2-1.
With Spurs focused on their first Champions League campaign and the Premier League, only defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto survived from Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton. As well as Pletikosa and Caulker, Brazilian midfielder Sandro Ranieri made his debut.
But such is the fierce local rivalry, Wenger veered from his usual policy of deploying a side packed with youngsters in English football’s second-tier knockout competition, with Tomas Rosicky captaining a strong side.
“We got a few reproaches that we didn’t take the competition seriously, that it was a derby that it was the start of the competition,” Wenger said. “To go out at the start would have been difficult for us.”
Arsenal went in front after 15 minutes when a flowing move down the left flank was completed by Jack Wilshere’s cross being prodded into the net by Lansbury—one of only two teenagers in the Arsenal team.
Wenger had to celebrate from the directors’ box having received a one-match touchline ban for his tirade against a fourth official in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
From his high vantage point, Wenger saw his players overwhelm a Spurs side struggling to get hold of the ball.
Redknapp rang in the changes came at half time, with Aaron Lennon on for Jake Livermore and Keane replacing Giovani Dos Santos. It took four minutes for them to make an impact, with Keane latching onto Kyle Naughton’s throughball and unleashing a low shot, which went under Lukasz Fabianski’s arms.
But Fabianski kept Arsenal in the game to take the game into extra time when Arsenal prevailed.
The victory could have come at a cost for Arsenal, with defender Kieran Gibbs limping off during extra time with a suspected broken bone in his left foot. He fractured a metatarsal in the same foot in November 2009 and didn’t play again last season.
In front of just 9,450 fans at home, Alexander Hleb, who is on loan from Barcelona, Nikola Zigic and Craig Gardner provided three goals for Birmingham in four minutes to see off MK Dons at home.
Victor Obinna gave West Ham its first victory over Premier League opposition this season with a 2-1 win at Sunderland.
The 23-year-old Obinna scored after Sunderland’s Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan had cancelled out Frederic Piquionne’s opener for the visitors.
In the other third round matches on Wednesday, it is: Aston Villa vs. Blackburn, Chelsea vs. Newcastle, Liverpool vs. Northampton, Scunthorpe vs. Manchester United, Wigan vs. Preston and West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester City.
• Soccer, World Cup News Archive Index
2010, 2009
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