Arsenal 4-0 Cardiff City – FA Cup Live Blog – 16 February 2009

The FA Cup fourth round replay between Arsenal and Cardiff City finally goes ahead after the first attempt on 3 February was snowed off. The Gunners will start as firm favourites to win but fourth-placed Championship side Cardiff City are no mugs either. Daily Soccer Blog will provide updates throughout the match tonight.

Match Preview

Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by a spirited Cardiff City when the duo met on 25 January but the Gunners have not been knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition under Arsene Wenger. Indeed, it was Sheffield United who eliminated a Bruce Rioch led Arsenal side back in 1996. The Gunners are undefeated in 11 matches in all competitions, winning four and drawing seven. Their last four league and cup matches have ended all square and three of which goalless.

Cardiff are undefeated in 13 league and cup matches, winning seven and drawing six since they last tasted defeat – a 2-1 reverse at Plymouth on 22 November. The Bluebirds have won their last two matches but have not played since their 2-0 home victory against Nottingham Forest on 31 January.

Arsenal are without transfer window signing Andrei Arshavin, who is ineligible, while Emmanuel Eboue is suspended and both Emmanuel Adebayor and former City starlet Aaron Ramsey are injured. This match has come too soon for Eduardo, who has recovered from a broken leg, but Gael Clichy should feature after recovering from a head wound suffered last week against Tottenham Hotspur.

Cardiff City will Start with on-loan Manchester United goalkeeper Tom Heaton as Peter Enckelman is out for two months with a knee injury. Winger Peter Whittingham and defender Gabor Gyepes are back from injury but Stephen McPhail suffered a knock in midweek and is ruled out. Neither City’s former Arsenal striker Quincy Owusu-Abeyie nor Michael Chopra, both on loan, are ineligible for tonight’s fixture.

Line Ups

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Gibbs, Nasri, Song, Denilson, Vela, Eduardo, Bendtner.
Subs: Almunia, Van Persie, Ramsey, Wilshere, Clichy, Bischoff.

Cardiff: Heaton, McNaughton, Rae, Purse, Johnson, Parry, Ledley, Kennedy, Burke, Bothroyd, McCormack.
Subs: Capaldi, Whittingham, Johnson, Comminges, Scimeca, Blake.

Goals

Arsenal: Eduardo (20′), Bendtner (34′), Eduardo (pen 60′), Van Persie (89′)

Live Blog

90+2′ Arsenal almost made it five when Bendtner dinked a wonderful ball from left to right towards the unmarked Van Persie. The Dutchman had a free header from six yards but his effort hit the post. Seconds later, Mark Halsey decided enough was enough and blew for full time.

89′ Goal! Arsenal 4 Cardiff 0. Scimeca gives the ball away cheaply in the centre circle to Bendtner who slips the ball through to the advancing Robin Van Persie in the box. He has all the time in the world to slot the ball home and to condemn the Bluebirds to a heavy and embarrassing defeat,

88′ A half chance for Burke who attempts to take the ball around Fabianski in the box but the keeper is equal to it and nicks the ball off his feet.

85′ A sublime turn from Van Persie and he touches the ball through to Bendtner into the box. The ball is too far in front of the Great Dane and he lunges for it at the same time as Heaton comes out for it. The keeper momentarily looks injured but he gets up unscathed.

81′ Bischoff goes inches wide for Arsenal. He takes the ball into the box, goes past McNaughton and shoots across the face of goal, beating keeper Heaton and defender Blake. It rolls just wide of the far post much to City’s relief.

79′ Bendtner receives a yellow card for a reckless sliding tackle on McNaughton, who is wily enough to jump out of the way.

78′ Back to the football, Van Persie drives a thundering effort into the chest of Heaton, but he had already been flagged offside.

77′ What looks like a “work” shoe has also appeared on the touchline. What other items of clothing will be used as makeshift missiles before full time is called? Arrest the idiot with only one shoe on the way out please officer.

74′ Arsenal make their third and final substitution, by bringing on Amauri Bischoff for Carlos Vela. Riccardo Scimeca replaces Gavin Rae for the Bluebirds. There will be no Eddie Johnson and therefore no comedic performances up front.

72′ The substitutions appear to have taken the edge off the game. Arsenal are retaining the ball comfortably while City are chasing shadows.

69′ The camera zooms in on a mobile phone which was hurled at Fabianski in the Arsenal goal. They could only manage rolled up socks at Goodison Park so the credit crunch can’t have hit South Wales that badly yet.

68′ For all their Eddie chants, the City fans instead get Peter Whittingham and Darcy Blake on for Parry and Purse. The talismanic striker may yet get a run out though.

67′ Two goal hero Eduardo is replaced by Robin Van Persie while Aaron Ramsey comes on for Nasri.

66′ Shambolic defending again from Cardiff. McNaughton, who has been one of City’s better defenders, makes a complete cock-up of a Nasri cross from the right, giving the unmarked Eduardo a free pot shot at goal. The striker is denied a hat-trick by the chest of Heaton and is soon to be replaced.

65′ Song bundles Ledley over just outside the D and eventually McCormack takes the free kick. It takes a deflection and goes behind for a corner.

60′ Goal! Arsenal 3 Cardiff 0. Rae wrestled Eduardo to the ground and Halsey had no option but to point to the spot. The Croatian international coolly slots home the penalty for his second of the game.

59′ Nasri slips Bendtner into the box and he drills a low shot into the near post. Heaton, dubbed “No Hands” by a section of the City supporters, again gets down and saves with his feet.

57′ Bothroyd has a run at goal and would dearly love to score against the club who dumped him as a youngster. However, his shot from distance is not that great and comfortably smothered by Fabianski.

56′ Gibbs sends a cross into the six yard box as City again fail to pick him up on the byline. Purse gets there first and thumps the ball behind for a corner.

54′ Vela turns McNaughton and cuts through the labouring City defence. Johnson makes up for his first-half blunder by getting back and blocking the inevitable shot. Hull City may well be interested again.

50′ William Gallas becomes the first player to enter Mark Halsey’s notebook for a foul on Bothroyd. McCormack takes the free kick but his ball into the box is easily dealt with.

48′ The City supporters are getting desperate. Only three minutes into the second half and they are calling for the introduction of “Super” Eddie Johnson, the club’s wage-draining mascot and token American. Oh dear.

46′ Arsenal get the second half underway. Let’s see if Cardiff realise there is a match on or whether they will surrender this half as meekly as they did the first.

Half Time. Cardiff are lucky to go into the break only two goals behind as Arsenal are dominating with relative ease. City just don’t look interested enough in the match and are not able to compete in the way they did at Ninian Park three weeks ago. Bendtner’s miss moments before half time was a shocker and if it had gone in, it would have been curtains for the Bluebirds. As it stands, they still have a chance but they need to pull their fingers out.

45′ There’s the Bendtner we’ve grown to love and mock. Sagna delivers a delicous cross for Vela, who turns, shoots and forces a great reaction save from Heaton. The loose ball falls into the path of the awaiting Bendtner, who clatters the post from a full four yards out. Not wanting to look a complete idiot, he attempts to poke in the rebound but Heaton pulls off another great block. This is the player who should be featuring in every Arsenal game, no matter who is fit.

43′ Burke takes a free kick on the right which goes out for a throw in. The commentator mentions Ledley’s name for the first time. I didn’t realise he was playing and he’s supposed to be the heartbeat for the Bluebirds. That £6 million transfer to Stoke isn’t going to materialise if he doesn’t buck his ideas up.

42′ Not long left till half time now. Cardiff have barely been in the game since it kicked off. Arsenal are enjoying the lion’s share of posession and it’s all too easy for them.

37′ The replay clearly shows Johnson daydreaming, possibly about the transfer to Hull that never was, while Bendtner sneaks up behind him and then has a free run to meet the delivered ball. That’s £4 million worth of defender there folks.

34′ Goal! Arsenal 2 Cardiff 0. Perhaps he had a point after all. Or perhaps it was just more shambolic defending by City. Anyway, Nicklas Bendtner gets a free header direct from a corner while City’s defence try their best to get in eachother’s way and it’s 2-0. It’s a long way back for Cardiff now, who have barely been in the game.

28′ A real let off for Cardiff. Nasri was allowed to keep going forward before unleashing a howitzer from the edge of the box. Heaton somehow blocks it but the ball squirms away from him and bounces wide. It could have easily ended up in the back of the net.

26′ Cardiff get a corner which Burke delivers to Johnson along the floor. The defender takes a swipe at it first time but it goes wide and he ends up on his backside.

20′ Goal! Arsenal 1 Cardiff 0. It has been coming. Eduardo marks his return to the first team with a bullet header from Vela’s cross. Five City defenders in the box and not one was anywhere near the Gunners striker. The Bluebirds need to get their act together or this could be a rout.

20′ Arsenal are getting chances galore. Kolo Toure ambles forward, turns Ledley and sends a tame shot straight at Heaton.

16′ Cardiff get their first half chance. Ledley plays it through to McCormack on the edge of this box but his effort is blocked. Arsenal break immediately with Vela playing the ball across the face of goal towards Bendtner and Eduardo, but McNaughton makes a last ditch interception and clears.

13′ Bendtner sweeps a cross in from the right towards the head of Eduardo. The Brazilian-born Croatian looks match-rusty and heads well over the bar. He follows it up with a Beckham-esque attempt from just inside his own half, but again it’s well wide.

11′ Burke sees the linesman’s flag rise for the second time in as many minutes when trying to get a cross in from the byline. Twice the ball has been judged to have gone out of play but twice the replays suggest it was on the line.

7′ Arsenal have another chance, well, two. Vela breaks quickly and a snap shot from the edge of the box is parried by Heaton. Bendtner pokes the rebound but forces a save from Heaton’s feet. Seconds later Gallas has a headed effort, which is again saved by the feet of Heaton. It could be a long night for the Bluebirds.

5′ World Player of the Year Bendtner has the first real chance of the match. He beats Johnson for height and heads a cross from Sagna towards goal. Unbelievably, for a player who should start each match without question, it goes wide.

3′ A cagey start from both sides. Most of the action is occurring in the middle of the park. Roger Johnson finds himself in an attacking position but cannot keep the ball in play.

0′ Some really bizarre pre-match comments from Nicklas “No Goals” Bendtner, who clearly harbours ambitions as an alternative comedian. I mean, his claim of: “It does not really matter to me who is fit and available, I should start every game, I should be playing every minute of every match and always be in the team” would be quite funny it wasn’t said in a deadly serious tone. While “I’ve never seen Arshavin. I did not watch Euro 2008″ is just downright disrespectful. It must be a barrel of laughs in the Gunners dressing room these days.

0′ Good evening and welcome to the match which gives the winner a shot at Burnely and then either Hull City or Sheffield United in the quarter final. Contrary to the match preview, Eduardo does start for Arsenal but Gyepes does not for Cardiff. The Gunners also feature exciting youngster Carlos Vela while former City youngster Ramsey is on the bench for the home side.

Reaction

Cardiff City gifted Arsenal a home tie against Burnley with a poor performance. They showed none of the heart displayed the first time the pair met at Ninian Park and Arsenal were allowed to do as they pleased throughout the game. The Gunners were clinical this evening without really stepping up a gear and if it wasn’t for a combination of poor finishing from Bendtner and alert goalkeeping from Heaton, the score could have been much higher. Arsenal progress in the Cup, while last season’s finalists City can now concentrate on their Championship promotion bid.

Man of the Match

Bendtner would surely nominate himself for the accolade. Well, that first-half miss was something else. However, it has to be awarded to Eduardo, who marked his return to first-team action with a brace. Both goals were expertly taken and he didn’t look like a player who has been out of action for the best part of year, let alone one who suffered an horrific, career-threatening injury. The Gunners need a boost in what has been a poor season and the Croatian international could be just the man to provide it.