Burnley 2 Arsenal 0: Match Report & Player Ratings

As if to prove their victory at Chelsea was no fluke, Burnley knocked Arsenal's reserves out of the Carling Cup last night with a 2-0 victory.

After only 4 minutes Arsenal had their first clear cut chance, when good interplay across the midfield saw Fran Merida feed Bendtner clean through. The keeper, Brian Jensen, did well to rush out and block his shot, although Bendtner was slightly indecisive.

Less than 80 seconds later Burnley were in front, as former Man Utd youngster Chris Eagles drifted past Gibbs at left back and fired in a low cross. Fabianski came out and dived into the feet of Silvestre and an oncoming Burnley attacker, but the ball squirted to Kevin McDonald who was presented with a tap-in. 1-0 Burnley. Was Fabianski right to come out?

As expected, Burnley were closing down Arsenal all over the pitch, clearly high on confidence following the Chelsea result allied to a very good run of league form.

On 8, a long Arsenal through ball was headed on by Vela to Bendtner who ran clean through, one-on-one with the keeper for the second time in 5 minutes. Again, Jensen rushed out and spread himself well. Again, Bendtner took a second too long to make his decision.

Merida lets a high ball drop over his shoulder, striking well with his left-foot. Meanwhile, Gibbs appears to have his work cut out against Eagles - ultra-motivated to impress with his ex-Man Utd boss Ferguson in the stands.

Midway through the first half and Fabianski is looking increasingy nervous having committed a poor Almunia-type clearance and a needless fumble of a placid Burnley long shot.

On 24, Ramsey loses possession in midfield - not for the first time, and Burnley manage another effort on goal. Much like the first team, the young guns lack a defensive midfielder who can help protect the back four.

27, Arsenal centre-back Paul Rogers drifts to the right and makes a mistake leading to yet another strike on Fabianski's goal. Fabianski fumbles yet again - he's having a mare, especially when one minute later Patterson strides onto a through ball and the Polish keeper shows terrible indecision in not coming for the ball. Patterson's strike is eventually saved by Fabianski's legs.

In midfield, all Arsenal's play is centrally-compacted and there's no width, because as we know, Wenger is not fond of wingers. It doesn't help that full-backs Hoyte and Gibbs have not been able to get out of their own half.

On 36, Bendtner does something good, a marvellous flick with his instep into the path of Randall who streaks through. Randall strikes with plenty of power but at a comfortable height for Jensen.

On 40, Bendtner plays in Vela who shows great strength to muscle his way through. Arsenal's fourth one-on-one, Vela has little time to get the shot away and Jensen smothers yet again.

Arsenal showing more belief towards the end of the first half, the goal they conceded knocked them back for 1/2 an hour.

Henri Lansbury replaces Rogers at the start of the 2nd half, moving to right back with Hoyte shifting centrally next to Silvestre.

On 48, Vela passes to Merida wide-left, who cuts inside and beats two Burnley defenders effortlessly before curling a shot inches wide of the post. Fantastic play by Merida.

The game is more spread now, with both teams probing. Then on 56, a dangerous pass to McDonald through the channel sees the Burnley striker enter the box. Randall attempts to cover but makes a mess of it leaving McDonald a clean strike on goal. He curls with the outside of his right foot past Fabianski. Very good finish, 2-0 Burnley.

"Are you Chelsea in disguise" sing the Burnley fans. Ho, ho, ho.

On 63, Wilshere replaced by Jay Simpson, and two minutes later Burnley should have made it 3-0 when an excellent drifting cross by Robbie Blake is headed straight at Fabianski by Martin Paterson.

Arsenal running out of ideas and not coping particularly well with the predicament they're in. Wrong decisions in the final third the chief cause. When they should play it short they play it long, when they should go wide they come in-field, when they should pass they shoot. Nothing's sticking, nothing's working.

On 86, at last a Burnley player makes an individual error. Vela profits and plays Bendtner in, but he's too close to Jensen this time who saves yet again. The story of Arsenal's night.

So, Arsenal fans deprived of the pleasures of the Carling Cup for another season. Burnley thoroughly deserved the victory, they were very well-organised, confident and stronger all over the pitch - fielding a lot of experienced pros.

A difficult game for Wenger's young guns who performed fairly well in patches, but needed to grab a couple of those good early chances they created. They failed to, and paid the price.

Fabianski (5)
Performed adequately but looked very nervous throughout, making loads of fumbles. Bit worrying that he's number two to a distinctly average number one.
Hoyte (6)
Played reasonably well at the back, but hardly ever got forward.
Rodgers (6)
Anticipated through balls well in the air, not quite so good on the deck. Not sure why he was subbed at half time though.
Silvestre (7) STAR MAN
Captained the team, made no indivdual errors and distributed the ball well throughout the ninety minutes.
Gibbs (7)
Sturggled to cope with Eagles in the first half, but adapted well getting stronger in the second half.
Wilshere (6)
Showed some nice touches, rarely giving the ball away, but should not have been played wide right. Every time Wenger plays a central midfielder out wide, Arsenal are getting half a player, half a performance.
Randall (5)
Had a patchy game, often giving the ball away and tracked back feebly. I don't see any future for this player at Arsenal at all.
Ramsey (5)
Again, gave the ball away constantly throughout. I'm sure he'll be a very good player one day, but right now he looks a waste of £5m for various reasons - none tied to his ability.
Merida (6)
Played fairly well, but is a flashy player. Needs to learn there is a time and a place for being extravagant. I don't see Merida breaking into the first team for several years, for me he's just another youngster being groomed for profit.
Bendtner (5)
Linked up play well in the first half, despite his glaring misses. Was pretty bad in the second half though. Sometimes looks as if he resents playing in the Carling Cup.
Vela (6)
Struggled to make an impact along with the rest of the team.

SUBS

Lansbury (6)
Performed adequately at right back.
Simpson (5)
Carved himself a few half-chances but never fully got into the game.
Bischoff (5)
Only remember him touching the ball once in the 20 minutes he was on.