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Arsenal dumped out of FA Cup by a McCarthy wonder goal |
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Written by Andrew Davidson
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Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
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Arsenal lost out on second cup competition in four days when a Benni McCarthy wonder goal dumped them out of the FA Cup in a game that should have been easily won by the Gunners.
Having lost in the Carling Cup final on Sunday, Arsenal were determined to go all the way in the competition and started out brightly. Julio Baptista had left his shooting boots in the dugout as the "Beast" missed a host of chances to put him team ahead and the Gunners were unlucky to have two first-half penalty appeals rejected.
Mark Hughes decided to go in with Nonda and top-scorer McCarthy saw himself relegated to the bench for more than an hour of the game. Without McCarthy, Blackburn were worse than a blunt knife and were only kept in the game by a brilliant Friedel who made a host of reflex saves to keep Arsenal at bay.
Both Jeremie Aliadiere and Fredrik Ljungberg had their penalty appeals in the first half dismissed by the referee Graham Poll while Wenger fumed on the sidelines. Baptista had the best chance of the game for Arsenal in the first half but headed it over the bar.
Hughes introduced McCarthy after just over the hour mark and though the South African looked some what out of sorts to start with, he grabbed the chance to score in the 84th minute when he rounded over Senderos, who was filling in the right back role with Eboue out with an ankle injury, to smash a diagonal shot into the top corner of the net.
"The goal deserved to win any game and I can't wait to see it again. Benni brings world-class quality and he's shown that all through the season. What a good decision from the manager to bring him on as an impact player!" said Hughes. Blackburn now face Manchester City in the quarter finals of the cup
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