Arsenal Creep Into Carling Semis
5 comments December 22nd, 2005
Despite twice going behind, a young(ish) Arsenal side managed to see off the excellent Doncaster.
With just 4 mintues gone, calamitous defending from Eboue and Almunia let their winger, McIndoe, in to give Donny the lead. That was to be the last of Almunia’s mistakes – he was the man of the match, making a string of stunning saves – the 2 most important of which came in the decisive penalty shootout.
A deflected Quincy effort brought us back into the game, but when, 13 minutes into extra time, subsitute Paul Green gave them the lead, it looked to be all over.
However, it was not to be for unlucky Doncaster. Astonishingly, against all odds, captain Gilberto Silva popped up to prod home a last second equaliser.
Penalties it was, and when Almunia pawed away Green’s effort, Arsenal had completed their great escape.
It’s a two-legged tie against Wigan in the semi-finals now, leaving the mouth-watering possibility of an FA Cup Final Rematch: Manchester United vs. Arsenal. That, and our appalling league form, make this competition very appealing all of a sudden. What’ll be interesting to see is how experienced the side to face Wigan is.
Ps. I mentioned Zokora earlier in the week. One to watch.
