WENGER IS LEFT BLACK AND BLUE
Wednesday pile on agony after injuries to Walcott and the Ox
With a Premier League title challenge taking shape and Bayern Munich waiting next week, Arsene Wenger would have wished for a nice, quiet trip to South Yorkshire.
Sheffield Wednesday had other ideas. they have waited 22 years in these parts for revenge on Arsenal for two cup final defeats, and were keen to put on a show to prove this proud old club is rising from the depths.
Wenger helped instil belief when he took the risk of selecting a young team, with a bench full of even younger substitutes, and left stars Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil behind in London.
then the visitors lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to a hamstring injury and his replacement theo Walcott with a calf problem inside the first 20 minutes. then Wednesday stormed into a two-goal lead.
Ross Wallace swept in the opener and Lucas Joao added the second. By the time Sam hutchinson bundled home the third, six minutes into the second half, Wenger was counting the cost of injured muscles and shattered confidence.
An unexpected exit from the Capital One Cup at the hands of a team from the Championship was suddenly the least of his problems. it was not a stainless visit to the Steel City for Arsenal.
home fans gave Aida’s Triumphal March an airing. it was like the early 1990s in the postcode of S6, and a taster for the new thai owners, who had flown in for the occasion and completed the loan signing of striker Gary hooper from Norwich before kick-off.
hooper did not fancy the move to Sheffield when it was on offer in August, but he has changed his mind. he has not played since for Norwich, and Wednesday have started to look like a team who might push for promotion.
After years with very little to shout about, 35,000 were packed inside hillsborough. they were in good voice, as if they sensed this might be the night for delayed payback on Arsenal.
Even Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal, a friend of Jose Mourinho and Rui Faria, got into the mood, resisting the temptation to rest anyone but keeper Kieran Westwood. Fernando Forestieri was cup-tied. it seemed like a signal of intent.
Nineteen-year-old Joe Wildsmith played in goal, making only his fifth start for the club. his handling was excellent, but it was almost halftime before he had a save to make.
By the time Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott had disappeared, Wenger had three teenagers on the pitch — Alex iwobi, Glen Kamara and ismael Bennacer — and they found it impossible to resist Wednesday’s threat from set-pieces and counter-attacks.
Wenger, who has never won at hillsborough, said later his young players were not good enough and naive. it was Arsenal’s first defeat to lower-league opposition by three goals since 1959, when they were beaten by Sheffield United.
Daniel Pudil stormed forward from left back to create the opener, pulling a cross back to the edge of the area where Wallace flashed a curling left-foot shot inside the post, with Petr Cech frozen to the spot.
the home team went close to a second from a free- kick after Mathieu Flamini had fouled Jeremy helan. Wallace whipped a shot over the wall, only to see it fade wide.
Confidence soared and Wednesday imposed their physical power on Arsenal. On the left wing, helan burst past Kamara and forced a save from Cech, who turned the shot wide diving to his right.
From the corner, taken short by Barry Bannan to Wallace, Joao sprang high to head in. On Friday at Rotherham, Joao left the pitch distraught, substituted having broken a tooth on a night when Portugal’s assistant manager had flown in to watch him play. With a new tooth in place, he led the line for Carvalhal’s team.
half-time changed very little and Wednesday scored their third six minutes after the restart. Bannan swung a free-kick into the Arsenal penalty area, where tom Lees was unmarked and able to ease the ball back across goal.
hutchinson threw himself at the ball, taking it into the net in a pile of bodies. the former Chelsea man deserved his moment of glory.
For Wednesday, it was a team effort, but he epitomised their desire more than anyone.
Joao went close to a fourth, and Arsenal created nothing until a late rally when Wildsmith saved a header from Per Mertesacker. Wednesday sail on, unbeaten in nine games and into the Capital One Cup quarter-finals.
‘We’re Sheffield Wednesday, we’re on our way back,’ sang the home fans. they will remember this night for a long time.
Arsenal move on to Swansea before they fly out to face Bayern. they will travel with wounds both physical and mental, and questions for Wenger. Not least, will this trip to Sheffield have repercussions for a promising campaign?
ARSENAL were dumped out of the Capital One Cup fourth round by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. On a sorry night for Arsene Wenger’s side, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain lasted just five minutes before coming off with a tight hamstring, only for his replacement Theo Walcott to limp off after 19 minutes as the Gunners were humbled 3-0 at Hillsborough. ‘It was a bad night at the office for us,’ said Wenger. ‘We lost the two players and after that we were not good enough. We have two muscle injuries. I don’t know how bad, we have to make a scan. ‘Congratulations to them, they were faster, sharper and more decisive than. We could not create anything.’ Ross Wallace and Lucas Joao gave the Owls a 2-0 lead at the break and the impressive Sam Hutchinson bundled home in the 51st minute to put the tie beyond doubt.