Burnley continued their giant-killing spree as they beat Arsenal's young guns 2-0 to reach the Carling Cup semifinals for the first time in 25 years.
The match was locally billed as 'Capital Punishment III' following Burnley's earlier wins in the competition over Fulham and Chelsea - and Owen Coyle’s Clarets lived up to expectations thanks to Kevin McDonald’s double.
While McDonald grabbed the goalscoring spoils, the man Burnley fans really have to thank for their dream semi-final is goalkeeper Brian Jensen.
The Dane, nicknamed the Beast, was again proving difficult to beat after an impressive display in the last round victory against Chelsea.
Arsenal almost took the lead after only five minutes when Aaron Ramsey released Nicklas Bendtner, however Jensen stayed alert and smothered the shot.
Within a minute, the Championship side took the lead when McDonald tapped in a rebound after Arsenal goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański had failed to collect Chris Eagles' low cross.
Arsenal responded in the 37th minute as Bendtner sent Mark Randall clear with a clever flick, but Jensen was out to make the block.
And it looked as though Carlos Vela would equalise just before the break but Jensen again cleared the danger.
Fran Mérida came close to a brilliant solo goal early in the second half but he curled his shot just wide.
Burnley doubled their lead on 57 minutes as McDonald, the youngest player in the Burnley team at 20 years old, anticipated Eagles' quick throw-in and bustled past Randall to put the ball past Fabiański with the outside of his right foot.
Bendtner should have pulled a goal back with three minutes remaining but the striker failed to capitalise on a good ball from Vela to cap a miserable night for the Gunners.
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Technorati tags:Soccer news Football news Carling Cup Soccer result Arsenal
The match was locally billed as 'Capital Punishment III' following Burnley's earlier wins in the competition over Fulham and Chelsea - and Owen Coyle’s Clarets lived up to expectations thanks to Kevin McDonald’s double.
While McDonald grabbed the goalscoring spoils, the man Burnley fans really have to thank for their dream semi-final is goalkeeper Brian Jensen.
The Dane, nicknamed the Beast, was again proving difficult to beat after an impressive display in the last round victory against Chelsea.
Arsenal almost took the lead after only five minutes when Aaron Ramsey released Nicklas Bendtner, however Jensen stayed alert and smothered the shot.
Within a minute, the Championship side took the lead when McDonald tapped in a rebound after Arsenal goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański had failed to collect Chris Eagles' low cross.
Arsenal responded in the 37th minute as Bendtner sent Mark Randall clear with a clever flick, but Jensen was out to make the block.
And it looked as though Carlos Vela would equalise just before the break but Jensen again cleared the danger.
Fran Mérida came close to a brilliant solo goal early in the second half but he curled his shot just wide.
Burnley doubled their lead on 57 minutes as McDonald, the youngest player in the Burnley team at 20 years old, anticipated Eagles' quick throw-in and bustled past Randall to put the ball past Fabiański with the outside of his right foot.
Bendtner should have pulled a goal back with three minutes remaining but the striker failed to capitalise on a good ball from Vela to cap a miserable night for the Gunners.
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Also see:
- Carling Cup: Burnley dump out Chelsea
- Carling Cup: Arsenal and United through
- Carling Cup: Ronaldo back with a bang!
- Jack Wilshere Arsenal prodigy
Technorati tags:Soccer news Football news Carling Cup Soccer result Arsenal
