LONDON, KOMPAS.com - Arsenal menjadi tim pertama yang melangkah ke semifinal Piala Liga Inggris atau Carabao Cup. The Gunners menyisihkan sesama tim Premier League - kasta teratas Liga Inggris, West Ham United, Selasa (19/12/2017) atau Rabu dini hari WIB.
Pada pertandingan di Stadion Emirates, Arsenal menang 1-0 atas West Ham United. Gol tunggal kemenangan tuan rumah dicetak oleh Danny Welbeck pada menit ke-42.
11 – Danny Welbeck has ended a run of 11 games without a goal in the League Cup, netting his first in the competition since October 2009 (vs Barnsley). Overdue.
ARSENAL take on West Ham as they look to win their first League Cup under Arsene Wenger's stewardship.
David Moyes has boosted the Hammers' survival hopes since taking over from Slaven Bilic and will look for his side to repeat their impressive performance in last week's 0-0 draw with the Gunners.
Danny Welbeck scored the only goal of a forgettable game as Arsenal booked a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals at the expense of West Ham.
The pair had shared a goalless draw in their Premier League meeting at the London Stadium last week but this time out, with both sides fielding very different line-ups, it was Welbeck who made the difference to seal a 1-0 win.
The 27-year-old will not care how the goal came about as he got on the scoresheet for the first time since his double against Bournemouth on September 9.
It proved to be enough to book Arsene Wenger's side their first League Cup semi-final place in six years as West Ham offered very little in the way of goal-threat.
As expected, Wenger made wholesale alterations as he introduced an entirely different starting XI to that which toiled to victory over Newcastle on Saturday.
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
(Image: REUTERS)
The likes of Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud, Francis Coquelin and Welbeck were again afforded the chance to stake a claim for a place in the Gunners' Premier League line-up.
West Ham, too, made changes - with David Moyes bringing in six new faces as Joe Hart returned in goal and Manuel Lanzini missed out having been handed a two-match ban earlier on Tuesday having been adjudged to have dived in the weekend win at Stoke.
The first-half lurched along with the type of broken, inconsistent football expected with so many changes as neither goalkeeper was forced into meaningful action.
Walcott then wasted a superb chance, heading a Sead Kolasinac cross wide when picked out free in front of goal.
The deadlock was broken before the interval in a fashion befitting the opening 45 minutes as Welbeck bundled home from close-range after Mathieu Debuchy had headed Coquelin's perfect pass across goal to find the England international.
(Image: Arsenal FC)
(Image: Action Images via Reuters)
(Image: REUTERS)
West Ham's first genuine attempt on goal saw Aaron Cresswell send a free-kick wide of David Ospina's post with 26 minutes remaining - Moyes reacting to such lean attacking statistics by introducing both Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho.
However, there was bad news for the hosts when Giroud pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Reiss Nelson replaced the France international for the closing stages.
The introduction of Carroll and Sakho offered the Hammers more of an attacking outlet but Moyes' side were still unable to test Arsenal's second-string defensive unit.
(Image: Getty)
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Kolasinac has sat out the last two Premier League games but returned at left-back for Arsenal here and was assured in possession of the ball.
He will be hoping for a return to Wenger's A-team when Liverpool visit on Friday, while Welbeck is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench once again despite his winning goal as Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez come back in.
The League Cup might remain the one glaring void on Arsène Wenger’s domestic CV but progress last night to a first semi-final since 2011 came at a significant cost to his Arsenal team. Olivier Giroud left the Emirates in considerable pain after being forced off with a hamstring injury and Wenger now expects his striker to be out for the entire Christmas period. A scrappy 42nd minute goal by Danny Welbeck with the only shot on goal in the entire match was ultimately still sufficient to get past a West Ham United team who were certainly stubborn but lacking any sort of coherent attacking threat.
Wenger is already also without midfield Aaron Ramsey until the New Year and, while clearly pleased to have the chance now to join a select list of managers in winning all three domestic competitions, his more immediate concerns were obvious.
Giroud will have scan on Thursday and, with this win setting up a sequence of 10 games in the next 36 days, there is concern at how his players will absorb the schedule. “When you hear Olivier the pain is quite big,” said Wenger. “We already have a tough schedule behind us. What is very worrying in my job is when you start to lose players. You can’t afford to lose another one. It puts more pressure on the rest of the squad but I still have Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sánchez and Alexandre Lacazette who can play up front.”
Such strength in depth is the one big reassurance for Wenger, although the severity of Giroud’s injury is now likely to influence Arsenal’s approach in January over Sánchez. Arsenal might have increasingly taken the character through 2017 of a Cup team but Wenger’s priorities remained strikingly evident here in his team selection. All 11 players who started on Saturday against Newcastle United were rested ahead of Friday’s Premier League match against Liverpool.
Despite the changes, Wenger still fielded an all-international front three of Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Welbeck in continuing with the 4-2-3-1 system that he played while drawing 0-0 with West Ham in the Premier League last Wednesday.
Arsenal had struggled badly at the London Stadium to turn two-thirds of possession into clear chances and similar challenges were again evident, with his team dominating the ball in central midfield but constantly running into dead ends. West Ham manager David Moyes had rather less options to rotate amid a three-game unbeaten streak but, even with six changes, the same diligent organisation was evident.
