Arsenal managed to get into the fourth round of the League Cup after beating Premier league opponents West Brom on penalties. The match finished as a 1-1 draw and it went into penalties. Despite not having won a major trophy in the last eight years, Arsene Wenger decided to use a young line-up for this match. Eisfeld opened the scoring in the 62nd minute after a goalless first half. However, West Brom were back into the match shortly afterwards through a goal from Berahino in the 71st minute. The match went into extra time after the two teams were unable to score again.
Since League Cup matches are decided on the same day, the match had to go into a penalty shootout after there was no separating both teams even after 120 minutes of football. Unlike in the past, Wenger’s team managed to stay resilient and survive the penalty shootout. The 4-3 victory on penalties means that Wenger will be able to take his team into the fourth round where they will be facing Chelsea. Wenger said after the match that he is extremely happy with the performance of his young players.
Arsenal have been criticised to the season for lacking the squad depth unlike clubs like Chelsea and Manchester city, but this victory shows otherwise according to Wenger.
“I decided to go for young players with the penalties and they coped well with the pressure. Of course, penalties are a bit of a lottery, but overall I think the most important thing is that we played well in the game and that the young players came out and showed that they can play the way we want to. It is always good to know that you can win even when you thought you were dead and tired,” said Wenger.
