The Nigerian came off the bench with seven minutes of normal time remaining, and in the 89th minute capitalised on a calamitous mix-up in the Arsenal penalty area to tap in the goal which lands the Blues only their second ever major trophy.Nikola Zigic had headed the Blues in front near the half-hour mark to send fans of the underdogs into raptures, only for Robin van Persie to equalise with a stunning volley 10 minutes later.Alex McLeish's side spent much of the second half repelling attack after attack from the Gunners - with goalkeeper Ben Foster making a string of vital saves - before Martins was in the right place at the right time to pounce as Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny conspired to let the ball loose inside the box.The Blues held on to win their second League Cup to add to their victory in the competition in 1963, and go some way to overcoming the heartache of their penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the final in Cardiff a decade ago.For Arsenal, their six-year wait for a major trophy continues, and their attention must now turn to Wednesday's FA Cup fifth round replay against Leyton Orient on Wednesday and then a Champions League trip to Barcelona the following week.The second half is on the way,on the46 min: Arsenal begin the second half in front of a 90 per cent empty middle tier.47 min: Sagna's cross for Wilshere is caught at height by Foster.57 min:Nicolas zigic's deflection was played by fahey and thats bar for him.58 min: Beausajour wins the ball after a weak attemped pass by Sagna. He passes to Fahey whose shot rebounds to him off Zigic. His second attempt smacks the inside of the post agonisingly and bounces just clear of danger. So very very close.59 min: Wilshere's long shot deflects behind for a corner.60 min: Zigic gets a head to it but lets the ball bounce. It's fed to Clichy on the left but his dissapointing cross is cleared62 min: Beausejour has made a tremendous impact since coming on, giving Birmingham some much-needed width and pace. He beats Song before getting a decent cross into the box. Szczesny holds.64 min: Roger Johnson looks in trouble after landing awkwardly following an aerial challenge with van-Persie. He's off the pitch receiving treatment66 min:A counter attack by samir nasri down through Rosicky but lose the ball tojiranek.69 min:A foul by Ridgwell,nasri took the freekick but a header from song was wide.71 min: Nasri's free kick comes through for Song, just outside the six yard box in line with the far post. His glancing header is harmlessly wide.73 min: Bendtner loses a foot race with Roger Johnson, who seems to have made a miraculous recovery from what looked like a game-ending injury. This has been a disjointed second half, all told75 min: Arsenal are beginning to look dangerous, with gaps appearing between Birmingham's defensive and midfield lines. They're yet to exploit them. Jiranek, who's been immense, is the latest to cut out an attempted through ball.77 min:A substitution,Arshavin comes out for chamakh.80 min:A freekick taken by nasri,not too wide.82 min:fahey comes out martins in.87 min: Stephen Carr bounds into the box and gets an inviting cross in that's just behind Martins. Arsenal have lost their impetus in the last 10 minutes.Goal89 min: GOAL!!! Arsenal 1 Birmingham 2 it is Oba Goal(martins)91 min:nickolas zigic comes out jerome in.it is 4mins added time.90+4 min:it is martins with the counter but loses in front of the keeper.IT IS ALL OVER and Birmingham has the CARLING CUP
Read more…
