Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham City

Arsenal failed to bring home the Carling Cup after a brilliant game at Wembley against Birmingham City. It means Arsenal's wait for a trophy will continue and all hopes of completing an unprecedented quadruple are over for the Arsenal. Arsenal never really got into the final and some of the players could be accused of not handling the pressure they were put under especially by the press. For the majority of these players it was their first final in professional football, but this was also the case for many of the Birmingham players. Birmingham scored the first goal after Johan Djourou failed to stay marking Zigic, but in all honesty the huge forward would of still won the header anyway. Arsenal replied quickly with a superbly taken goal by Robin Van Persie. It was a brilliant volley which gave the impressive Ben Foster absolutely no chance. At the time this appeared to be a turning point in the game, and Arsenal should of put the game to bed throughout the second half but Ben Foster was superb in goal for Birmingham. A glaring defensive error by Koscielny 2 minutes from the end presented Martins with an easy chance to score and win Birmingham the Carling Cup, much to the disappointment of the Arsenal players, fans and of course Arsene Wenger.

A great goal from the Dutchman

Birmingham began the game brightly and were very unlucky not to receive an early penalty after Szczesny brought down Lee Bowyer. It was given offside but the replays clearly showed Lee Bowyer was at least 2 yards onside due to Clichy's awful positioning. This was an awful decision by the linesman, but it kept the game at 0-0 and luckily for Szczesny kept him on the pitch. Arsenal were however later punished on a set piece as Zigic scored from a corner in the 28th minute. Johan Djourou was marking him but gave the huge striker far too much room and gave him an easy chance to score. Zigic should of scored a second not much later as he was one on one with Szczesny. He proved he is useless with his feet and hit the strike right at Szczesny who saved easily keeping Arsenal in the game. After this save Arsenal grew into the game with some brilliant passing moves. Jack Wilshere started a move from his own box which resulted in him striking a wonderful shot against the crossbar. This however led to a brilliant effort from Van Persie after Arshavin crossed for the Dutchman to fire home the equaliser. It was a well worked goal and a great finish from what looked like an impossible chance for Van Persie.

 The second half began with the Arsenal on the front foot but Birmingham still played well and Arsenal couldn't break through to score a second goal. Arsenal had quite a lot of chances but Foster denied the Arsenal attack brilliantly. Jack Wilshere continued to impress and was our star player, but Tomas Rosicky looked like a non-league player. In the last couple of seasons hes become awful and seemed lost every time the ball came to him and I believe Bendtner should of started ahead of him. Then disaster struck in the 89th minute after a catastrophic error from Koscielny and Szczesny. A harmless ball was played into the Arsenal box and Zigic won the header, Koscielny should of easily cleared the ball but failed to do so resulting in the ball landing at the feet of Martins who scored one of the easiest goals you'll ever see in a cup final. It was a huge mistake by Koscielny who should of just cleared the ball which would of taken the match into extra time. Szczesny was also at fault but I believe both of these players have the mental strength to come back from this and learn from their mistakes and become better players as a result.

A costly error from Arsenal.

 All in all it was a hugely disappointing game for Arsenal. They were favourites for the match and a trophy would have been a huge confidence builder for the young side who haven't experienced a trophy as of yet. Jack Wilshere was the main good point from an Arsenal perspective, and the rest of the team were nowhere near the level we know they are capable of. I believe the team will learn from this defeat and will now be desperate to win one or more of the remaining trophies we are left in. We still have a great chance in all three competitions and I'm sure the trophy drought will end soon for the gunners.