Wenger's young guns see off Liverpool as Merida and Bendtner strike in 2-1 fourth round win
Wenger's young guns see off Liverpool as Merida and Bendtner strike in 2-1 fourth round win
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First blood: Arsenal's Fran Merida (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal against Liverpool during their Carling Cup fourth round match at the Emirates football stadium yesterday. PIC/AFP |
Liverpool could harbour few complaints at the result, despite Emiliano Insua's well-struck first-half equaliser.
Defeat ensured the bubble of optimism blown up by Sunday's win over Manchester United was quickly pricked, although Kops manager Rafael Benitez will console himself with the knowledge that this tournament ranked a distant fourth on his list of priorities.
For Benitez it was a chance to see whether the sweeping changes he made to Liverpool's youth system in 2007, which included instigating a globe-trotting recruitment policy based on Arsenal's academy, had born fruit.
Wenger, meanwhile, will have been more interested in assessing the fitness of Samir Nasri, who has missed the last three months with a broken leg.
The first goal came in the 20th minute when Merida made no such mistake as a sloppy error from Andriy Voronin allowed Craig Eastmond to gobble up possession and release the Spaniard 25 yards from goal. The angle was uninviting, but Merida planted the full force of his left boot behind his shot, which crashed into the net off the right-hand post.
Seven minutes later Liverpool were on level as Insua scooped up Ngog's nod-down and propelled a dipping volley over the flat-footed Lukasz Fabianski. However, within five minutes of the half-time, Liverpool were behind again. Merida picked out Ramsey and the Welsh international failed to control properly but Bendtner was lurking to seize the loose ball and smash in at the near post.
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