Past The 'Keeper

“Cesc Fabregas could still lift the Carling Cup for Arsenal at Wembley” read a headline for The Guardian.

So, basically Arsenal was preparing for their injured captain to lift the trophy, which would be great for him. He’s led the team throughout the tournament so it would be fitting to end it with him on the field to accept the trophy.

But the game was still days away. And Birmingham were ready to give them as much as they could.

“We have to play our own style and that can hopefully upset Arsenal. It’s 11 v 11, they’re not superhuman. If we hit the right levels then we are capable of causing an upset.”

Those were the words of Birmingham manager Alex McLeish. His team put up quite a fight all game long and while Arsenal clearly looked the better side, their pass-first mentality came back to bit them with the game tied 1-1 and Birmingham pushing for their second goal to put them ahead of the second-best team in the English Premier League and Obafemi Martins made that happen on his second touch of the game after shocking miscommunication from keeper Wojciech Szczesny and defender Laurent Koscielny.

This embarrassment capped a game that Arsenal deserved to lose. They let Birmingham hang around and keep their confidence level high throughout the match. It was a deserving game and much credit needs to be given to the visitors for their continual efforts.