Arsenal secured a place in the last 16 of the League Cup and a home tie against Chelsea after Nacho Monreal struck the winning spot kick in a shootout that swung one way and then the other. Albion had the advantage when Serge Gnabry missed Arsenal's second kick but both Craig Dawson and Morgan Amalfitano shot wide of the target, leaving Nacho with the chance to seal victory for Arsenal. The Spaniard made no mistake.
Arsenal had taken the lead in normal time through Thomas Eisfeld, the 20-year-old German marking his full debut for the club with a neat finish after a fine pass from Nicklas Bendtner on his comeback. Albion, though, quickly hauled themselves level when Saido Berahino, the England Under-21 international who scored a hat-trick against Newport County in the previous round, headed home. Chances came and went at both ends in extra-time, with Scott Sinclair and Markus Rosenberg squandering decent opportunities for Albion and Bendtner denied by a superb Dawson tackle.
Of the nine changes that Wenger made to the side that defeated Stoke City on Sunday, Bendtner's name stood out like a beacon. Loaned out to Sunderland and Juventus in the previous two seasons and widely assumed to have played his last game for Arsenal, the 25-year-old was granted the most unlikely of recalls through a combination of injuries and the paucity of Wenger's attacking options.
This was the first time Bendtner had pulled on an Arsenal shirt since a 2-0 home defeat against Liverpool in August 2011. A total of 767 days had passed and it would be fair to say that Arsenal fans have not exactly pined for his return.
Bendtner's first contribution here involved the goal but not the ball. Looking as though he was carrying a few extra pounds on the back of a colourful summer that included pouring a beer over Miss Fitness in Denmark, Bendtner attempted to get on the end of Ryo Miyaichi's inviting cross from the left but succeeded only in colliding with the near upright. After receiving some treatment on his lower back and hip, the forward was able to continue. The goal frame also seemed to have recovered.
It was the nearest Arsenal came to scoring in a first half that, to borrow the Hull City manager Steve Bruce's description of the early rounds of the League Cup, was "like watching paint dry." An Arsenal side that was a mixture of youth and experience – Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta both made their first starts of the season while Per Mertesacker started in central defence – struggled to play with any fluency against an Albion team that threatened only sporadically.
Craig Dawson, one of eight changes to the Albion starting XI, had the first notable effort on goal with a header, from a Graham Dorrans corner that Lukasz Fabianksi flicked over the bar in the 25th minute. The Arsenal goalkeeper was also deemed to have got his fingertips to Steven Reid's 30-yard curling free-kick on the stroke of half-time, although replays appeared to show that the ball clipped the top of the crossbar without Fabianski making any contact.
While the tempo of the game was slow and there was little in the way of entertainment in the opening 45 minutes, Arsenal were not afraid to snap into challenges. Isaac Hayden was a little too keen, the 18-year-old debutant guilty of a late and potentially dangerous challenge on Youssouf Mulumbu that left the Albion midfielder holding his shin and prompted Robert Madley, the referee, to brandish a yellow card. Nacho Monreal was also booked for a foul on Saido Berahino.
Albion certainly seemed to be playing with the greater urgency. Shane Long's willingness to run in behind was stretching Arsenal at times, with Vermaelen's lack of sharpness evident when he brought the Albion forward down when attempting to make a sliding tackle. A third Arsenal yellow card followed. Moments later Long swung in a teasing centre from the right that Mertesacker was stretching to clear. Back came Albion again, Mulumbu thumping a rising shot from the edge of the penalty area that Fabianski pawed behind.
It was Arsenal, though, that carved a breakthrough. Serge Gnabry, making his fifth appearance in an Arsenal shirt, linked up with Bendtner, who had dropped into a pocket of space about 30 yards out. Bendtner slid a lovely pass that released Eisfeld in behind Craig Dawson and the German showed impressive composure as he took a touch before sweeping a low shot inside Luke Daniels's near upright.
Within nine minutes, however, Albion were level after some poor Arsenal defending. Dorrans corner ran through to Long at the far post and the Republic of Ireland international lofted the ball back onto the six-yard box where the unmarked Berahino beat Fabianski with a powerful close-range header.
Eisfeld, who had been largely anonymous with the exception of his goal was withdrawn eight minutes from time as Wenger sought from fresh impetus through the introduction of Chuba Akpom. Carl Jenkinson escaped on the right in the closing seconds of normal time but his vicious centre flashed across the Albion area.
via Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com http://feeds.theguardian.com/c/34708/f/663845/s/31b3368e/sc/13/l/0L0Stheguardian0N0Cfootball0C20A130Csep0C250Cwest0Ebromwich0Ealbion0Earsenal0Ecapital0Eone0Ecup/story01.htm
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