Arsenal made hard work of the game by conceding an equaliser 5 minutes from normal time but the determination of the youngsters – and the introduction of Rosicky and Fabregas did no harm either.
With the Carling Cup having the strange rule of implementing the away goals only after extra time, Arsenal had to play an extra half an hour to make it to the final against Chelsea.
While Arsenal dominated possession for most of the match, Theo Walcott was guilty of poor final passes all night – and while I know he is only a kid I have to honest and tell you I was more than pissed off with his rubbish crosses and in particularly his corners where from about 10 attempts he never beat the first man!
On the other side of the coin, Denilson was simply sensational – and for me the Man of the Match. He was so composed, intelligent and kept things simple. He rarely lost possession and having only just turned 18 is going to be a fantastic player for Arsenal.
Arsenal had bossed the game for the majority of the match but it wasn’t until Theo was taken off for Rosicky after an hour and from then we looked much more dangerous in attack.
Some smart play on the edge of the area by Rosicky resulted in a stinging shot saved by Robinson and then the Czech fed Adebayor with a cool through ball in a tight area for the Togan to coolly slot the ball into the far corner with his weaker left foot.
And although Arsenal kept the ball well Spurs had to come out and obviously attack and they brought on Mido who caused a few problems with his trickery and it was he who scored the equaliser from a freekick only a few minutes before the end of the 90.
But when you thought the kids would tire in extra time it was then when they excelled. Arsenal simply dominated the whole 30 minutes and played some fantastic attacking football in the process.
As the pressure mounted and mounted it was inevitable that Arsenal would be the team to score the next goal and after Spurs defender Roche couldn’t defend a simple cross the in form Aliadiere scored a well deserved goal. And once Spurs were forced to look for a goal Arsenal simply exposed all the space to get the third and it was Rosicky who waltzed through to force the goal by hitting the post with his shot which bounced in off Chimbonda or whatever his name is.
So the kids did Arsenal more than proud yet again by beating a full strength Spurs side and made it to the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea.
And I’m just watching Match of the Day while I write this and Cashley Cole looked like he suffered a nasty injury so it couldn’t have been a better night all round really!
Well done Arsenal!