Skip to main content

Southampton dump Arsenal out of EFL Cup

Jordy Clasie scored his first goal for Southampton.

Jordy Clasie scored his first goal for Southampton.

Southampton progressed to the semi-finals of the EFL Cup for the first time since 1987 thanks to a convincing victory over a below-par and under-strength Arsenal.

Goals from Jordy Clasie – his first for the club – and Ryan Bertrand secured victory for a Southampton side which inflicted a first defeat on the Gunners since the opening day of the season.

Manager Arsene Wenger, who has never won this competition during his 20-year reign in north London, had made 10 changes to the Arsenal team which beat Bournemouth 3-1 in the Premier League on Sunday and paid the price.

In Aaron Ramsey, Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny, the Gunners had Premier League regulars in their starting line-up but without Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil the Gunners lacked guile and bite.

Southampton, who had only won once in their last 23 visits to Arsenal, deserved the victory and join Liverpool and Hull in the last four.

A minute’s silence was held at Emirates Stadium in memory of those who had lost their lives in the Colombian plane crash

During his tenure as Arsenal manager, Wenger has regularly used the League Cup as an opportunity to give those on the fringes of the first team an opportunity to play, and that perhaps explains why the Gunners have won only one of their last six quarter-finals in the competition.

The majority of Wednesday’s starting line-up had defeated Nottingham Forest and Reading this season, but Southampton were a different prospect – a Premier League side with a game plan and nous.

Arsenal’s £17m summer signing Lucas Perez started for the first time since the 2-0 win over Reading on 25 October, but was a peripheral figure as he and his team-mates lacked energy and urgency, especially in the first half.

Before the match, Wenger had said he hoped the victory over Bournemouth, which came following three successive league draws, would make his team more relaxed.

But while the Gunners marginally improved after the break – the introduction of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain adding pace – other than a long-distance strike from Ramsey and a second-half chance which fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain, the hosts did not threaten.

-BBC

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fall of Assad is a Blow to Russia's Prestige

The potential fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a long-standing ally of Russia, would mark a turning point in Moscow’s global influence, particularly in the Middle East. Steve Rosenberg’s analysis underscores the profound implications for Russia, which has invested heavily—both militarily and politically—in ensuring Assad’s survival over the past decade. This article delves into why Assad’s downfall would strike at the core of Russian prestige and what it could mean for the broader geopolitical landscape. Russia's Strategic Commitment to Syria Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Russia has been a staunch supporter of Assad's regime. In 2015, Moscow launched a military intervention that proved decisive in stabilizing Assad’s hold on power. This intervention solidified Russia's role as a key power broker in the Middle East and demonstrated its willingness to project military power far beyond its borders. Syria is not just an ally for Russia; it is a...
Post a Comment
Read more