TWO GOALS by Didier Drogba won the Carling Cup Final after a heroic effort by Arsenal’s young side.
After a melee in 94 minutes, ref Howard Webb sent off Toure, Mikel and, wrongly, Adebayor.His linesman appeared to tell him that Adebayor had smacked Wayne Bridge but it looked as if the hot-headed Eboue might have done that.
Eboure had come on as a sub for Traore in 67 and been booked for obstructing Robben on the touchline, off the ball. Eboue raised the temperature and a brawl soon followed, when Kolo Toure over-reacted to a shirt tug by Mikel.
As captain of a team which was 2-1 down with a few minutes left, Toure was very frustrated. But his over-reaction was silly. That red card means he will miss Blackburn, Reading and Aston Villa, three of the next four games.
Presumably, the FA will investigate the case of mistaken identity and rescind Adebayor’s red card. The Togo giant was very aggrieved and had to be frog-marched from the field by physio Gary Lewin.
Arsenal had outplayed Chelsea for the first 12 minutes, and took the lead when Theo Walcott worked a one-two with Abou Diaby, zoomed into the box, and placed a perfect shot beyond Petr Cech.
1-0 to the Arsenal kids !
Walcott’s first goal for Arsenal was a fantastic move, a lovely pass by Diaby, a sublime touch by the kid who will be 18 in 17 days time, and a classy right foot shot lifted quickly up, up and away from Cech and into the corner of Chelsea’s net.
Drogba levelled it in 20 minutes with a low shot after moving wide behind Traore, away from Senderos, and staying about level with the other three defenders.
At half-time it looked as if the next goal would win it. Robben replaced Makelele for the second half and ran at Traore from Chelsea’s right wing, cutting inside .
In 56, when John Terry plunged forward for a header in Arsenal’s box, Diaby’s boot caught him on the jaw and knocked him spark out for six minutes. It was a horrific but accidental clash as both players went for a 50-50 ball. Gary Lewin raced to aid the England centreback, beating the Chelsea physio, and JT was stretchered off in an oxygen mask.
Eboue replaced Traore, Hleb came on for the injured Diaby, and Adabayor replaced Aliadiere, which was surprising, since he was playing far better than the ponderous Baptista.
Then Robben, on the left flank, clipped over a marvelous cross, Drogba nipped in front of Senderos, and scored the winner with a glancing header from ten yards. A world class header.
Drogba is the top striker in world football today and he will be until Valencia’s David Villa take s over from him.This was Drogba’s 28th goal of the season.
Apart from that ugly melee, that was it.
Basically, Shevchenko, Lampard and Ballack didn’t turn up. And Baptista didn’t turn up either. Baptista will not be at Arsenal next season.
Shevchenko had one shot that hit the bar, just after Drogba’s second, Lampard had a 25 yarder that hit the bar, Ballack made a left-footed pass to find Drogba onside-ish for the equaliser, and Baptista had a fine early shot that went through Terry’s legs and was very well saved by the excellent Cech.
Overall, Chelsea were made to look ponderous and lethargic for most of the game. But , in the end, Drogba and Cech made the difference.
Arsenal found out, again, that you don’t get points or trophies for artistic expression.
Bottom line?
Arsenal play great football but don’t score enough goals.
They’ve been like that all season. That’s why I said, all those months ago, that they don’t excite me as much as they excite other people.
Arsene has a squad full of players who don’t score enough goals. Fabregas and Hleb don’t score enough. Rosicky doesn’t score enough. Henry doesn’t score enough. Ljungberg doesn’t score at all, hardly.Gilberto does but he wasn’t playing in this game. Van Persie does but he is injured till April-May.
How can Arsenal score more goals?
By giving Rosicky a bigger role. By moving Gilberto to centreback and putting the powerhouse Diaby in central midfield, if his injury today is a minor one.
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH refused to back Mourinho in the transfer market in January, and would not confirm his tenure to fans at the hotel in Porto on Wednesday night, so he will pay off JM in the summer.
A very tough act to follow !!!!
Second place will not be good enough for the billionaire, who must have been baffled to see Arsenal’s cheap young kids outplaying Chelsea’s superstars for most of the first 84 minutes. God help the coach who has to follow Mourinho.
ARSENAL (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Hoyte, Toure, Senderos, Traore (Eboue, 67); Walcott, Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby (Hleb, 68); Baptista; Aliadiere (Adebayor, 81).
Subs not used : Djourou, Poom (g).
Booked: Denilson, Fabregas, Eboue.
Sent off: Toure, Adebayor.
CHELSEA (4-1-3-2): Cech; Diarra, Carvalho, Terry (Mikel, 63), Bridge; Makelele (Robben, h-t); Essien, Ballack, Lampard; Drogba, Shevchenko (Kalou, 90).
Subs not used: Hilario (g), A Cole.
Booked: Essien, Carvalho, Lampard, Diarra.
Sent off: Mikel.
Referee: Howard Webb (Yorkshire)