Post by Salem6 on Oct 29, 2003 7:38:51 GMT
English Carling Cup
Final score - Highbury Attendance: 27,451
Arsenal 1 - 1 Rotherham
Jeremie Aliadiere (11)
Darren Byfield (90)
Arsenal win 9-8 on penalties
Teams
33 Graham Stack
22 Gael Clichy
18 Pascal Cygan
45 Justin Hoyte
27 Stathis Tavlaridis
17 Edu
57 Francesc Fabregas Soler
30 Jeremie Aliadiere
25 Nwankwo Kanu
53 Jerome Thomas
11 Sylvain Wiltord
Michael Pollitt 1
Paul Hurst 16
Chris Swailes 8
Shaun Barker 22
Martin McIntosh 15
Carl Robinson 19
Chris Sedgwick 24
Stewart Talbot 12
Richard Barker 29
Darren Byfield 23
Paul Warne 10
Substitutes
44 Craig Holloway
55 Olafur Ingi Skulason
52 John Spicer
54 Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
56 Ryan Smith
Gary Montgomery 30
Julien Baudet 6
Andy Monkhouse 20
John Mullin 17
Mark Robins 7
Substitutions
R Smith for J Thomas (73)
Q Owusu-Abeyie for F Fabregas Soler (85)
J Spicer for J Hoyte (117)
J Mullin for C Robinson (93)
G Montgomery for C Sedgwick (101)
J Baudet for S Talbot (105)
Yellow Cards
Jeremie Aliadiere (97)
Chris Swailes (20)
Chris Sedgwick (56)
Shaun Barker (86)
Red Cards
Michael Pollitt (101)
Referee: B Knight
Sylvain Wiltord edged Arsenal home with a nail-biting 9-8 penalty shoot-out victory as First Division Rotherham came within a whisker of a Carling Cup third round upset.
Stack and chums celebrated victory
Jeremie Aliadiere had put Arsenal ahead after just 12 minutes but Darren Byfield struck with just 35 seconds of normal time remaining to force extra time.
Rotherham keeper Mike Pollitt was sent off for deliberate handball during the first extra period but as penalties became inevitable, both teams scored eight successful kicks, before Chris Swailes was denied by Graham Stack and Wiltord made no mistake.
With Arsene Wenger resting all of those who started last Sunday's Barclaycard Premiership game at Charlton, he fielded an experimental line-up including four debutants.
Indeed, Spanish Under-17 international Francesc Fabregas - known Cesc - became the youngest player to represent the club at the tender age of just 16 years and 177 days.
There were still a handful of older heads around, however, and it was one of those, French international Wiltord, who provided the touch of class which opened up Rotherham's defence.
His neat turn foxed the visitors back four and Kanu was just as composed as he slipped the ball sideways to the lurking figure of young Frenchman Jeremie Aliadiere, who converted with a minimum of fuss.
Rotherham, with a struggle on their hands near the bottom of the First Division table, could have wilted after such an early set-back.
Instead, they stuck manfully to their task and only an excellent diving save from debutant keeper Stack kept out a flick by Darren Byfield.
But even though Arsenal appeared to be home and dry, the visitors refused to give up - and with 35 seconds of normal time remaining, they finally broke through.
Chris Sedgwick burst down the right flank and delivered a pin-point centre for Byfield to power home a close-range header to force extra time.
Rotherham's task was magnified 11 minutes into extra time as goalkeeper Pollitt was sent off for deliberate handball just outside his penalty area.
Pollitt came racing out as Edu played the ball forward and he raised his arm to deny substitute Quincy Owusu-Abeyie as he lobbed the ball over him.
Pollitt had, amazingly enough, been sent off in similar circumstances at Crystal Palace under a fortnight ago, and substitute Gary Montgomery was again called upon as midfielder Sedgwick made way.
But after the shoot-out had reached 8-8, Swailes rolled a lame effort that Stack saved easily before Wiltord made no mistake with the winning penalty.
Wenger praises young Gunners
Arsene Wenger praised his makeshift young side for passing a test of character in their dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Rotherham in the third round of the Carling Cup tonight.
Byfield: Headed equaliser
Arsenal were taken to extra time as Darren Byfield struck in the final seconds of normal time to equalise Jeremie Aliadiere's early goal.
First Division Rotherham even survived the dismissal of goalkeeper Mike Pollitt for deliberate hand ball during extra time to force the shoot out.
However, after both sides had traded eight successful kicks and two misses, Chris Swailes was denied by Arsenal debutante keeper Graham Stack.
Sylvain Wiltord then guided home his spot kick past substitute Gary Montgomery, who had ironically saved his first effort at the start of the shoot-out.
Wenger praised Wiltord's calmness under pressure, but also hailed the way in which his young side had handled the occasion, with seven players, including two 16-year-olds, making their senior debuts.
Wenger, who agreed that it was a 'get out of jail result' for his side, declared: 'It was a test of character that they passed very well.
'It was certainly the youngest side that has ever played for Arsenal that finished the game, so I'm very happy with the boys.
'It was a good experience for many of them to get a taste of senior football.
'It's now interesting for them to go through and to have another chance of playing.
'The younger players did ever so well and even the more experienced players got caught up in the game.
'I feel sorry for Rotherham as they gave absolutely everything, but the way in which my team coped with their comeback is the sort of thing you cannot replicate in training.
'I selected the first five penalty takers with a lot of difficulty as I didn't know them well enough or how they would react under such pressure.
'But they performed very well as a team and overall I believe we had more chances.'
Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore admitted he was 'frustrated, but proud' at the way in which his side had battled to the end, only to fall at the final hurdle.
'I was fearful of coming here having been embarrassed in losing 4-0 at Blackburn last season,' he admitted.
'The pace and ability of the Arsenal players, even without the likes of Thierry Henry, is unbelievable - but we held our own and it would just have been nice to have had the icing on the cake as well.'
Keeper Pollitt was, incredibly enough, similarly sent off for handling the ball outside his area less than a fortnight ago at Crystal Palace.
'He is swearing blind that it hit his head as I haven't seen the replays,' added Moore.
'But Gary Montgomery, who came on for him again, made some wonderful saves and the players didn't panic.
'It was just that the fates weren't with us.'
