Saturday 15th October 2005, Barclays Premiership, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 3:00pm Albion 2 - 1 Arsenal Kanu 38   Senderos 17 Carter 76           39% Possession 61% 4 Shots On Target 10 1 Shots Off Target 4 3 Corners 6 23 Fouls Against 10 4 Offsides 2 1 Yellow Cards 2 0 Red Cards 0 Albion: Kirkland, Albrechtsen, C Davies, Clement, Robinson, Watson, Wallwork (Carter 68), Greening, Kanu (Moore 70), Kamara, Horsfield (Ellington 78). Subs not used: Kuszczak (gk), Earnshaw Watson 14 (foul) Arsenal: Lehman, Lauren, Toure, Senderos, Clichy, Ljungberg (Eboue 36), Fabregas, Flamini (Owusu-Abeyie 77), Pires, Bergkamp, Reyes. Subs not used: Almunia (gk), Song Billong, Cygan Reyes 41 (foul), Clichy 74 (foul) Referee: Barry Knight (Kent) Assistant Referees: Andrew Butler (Lancashire), Gary Kellett (West Yorkshire) Fourth Official: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire) Half-Time: Albion 1-1 Arsenal Attendance: 26,604 Conditions: Warm and hazy MATCH REPORT BY: Dale Brookes WEST BROM TEAM NEWS: Manager Bryan Robson made three changes to the side that lost 2-0 at Blackburn Rovers a fortnight ago. Kanu made only his second start of the season, turning out against his former club as he replaced the injured Kevin Campbell. Steve Watson and Geoff Horsfield also earned recalls in place of Zoltan Gera and Richard Chaplow as the Baggies started with a 4-3-3 formation. ARSENAL TEAM NEWS: Boss Arsene Wenger was forced to make five changes to the side that won 1-0 at home to Birmingham City two weeks ago. Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and Alexander Hleb were all out injured whilst Gilberto missed the clash due to arriving back late from International duty. In came Flamini, Clichy, Bergkamp and Senderos to replace them. GUNNERS SHOT DOWN BY CLASSIC CARTER WINNER!!! Darren Carter came off the bench to score an absolute screamer as West Brom produced the shock of the day with a 2-1 win at home to Arsenal. The Gunners had taken an early first half lead through Senderos but that was soon cancelled out as Kanu blasted the Baggies level against his former club. Chris Kirkland then pulled off a number of superb saves to prevent Arsenal retaking the lead before Darren Carter struck the winning goal with a 25 yard rocket.  Albion began the brightest as they forced a couple of early corners but it was Arsenal that created the first opportunity of the game when a shot from Fabregas rebounded off Curtis Davies and fell straight into the path of Dennis Bergkamp who with just Kirkland to beat looked set to open the scoring, however Paul Robinson magnificently threw himself at the ball in the nick of time to deflect the shot over the bar saving the Baggies from going behind. In the 17th minute Robson’s men were not so lucky though as from a Jose Antonio Reyes inswinging corner Philippe Senderos arrived unmarked at the back post to volley home from close range and put the Gunners in front. The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Albion as Bergkamp almost made it 2-0 when he curled a beautiful right footed shot towards goal but Kirkland produced a fine save to tip the ball over for a flag kick. Arsenal continued to cut through the West Brom defence as Mathieu Flamini was next to try his luck but he could only screw a right footed shot well wide albeit from a difficult angle. Despite the pressure the home side almost grabbed an equaliser when Paul Robinson sent a blistering 30 yard left-footed half-volley just wide of keeper Lehman’s right hand post. The Gunners were still looking dangerous at the other end as Kirkland was once again in action saving a Pires pile driver, Robinson then came to the rescue clearing the ball off the line from a Reyes attempted cross. All of Arsene Wenger’s side’s hard work was undone in the 37th minute however as Kanu came back to haunt his old club with a vicious right footed strike after Senderos could only head the ball straight into the Nigerian’s path from an Albrechtsen right wing cross. Half Time: West Brom 1-1 Arsenal Kanu was unlucky not to score again just after the break as he rose to meet an Albrechtsen cross but the Nigerian’s header lacked power and Lehman was able to comfortably save. Albion soon had their goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to thank again as he somehow managed to finger tip away a Lauren shot which looked to heading towards the bottom corner of the net after a Reyes corner had caused havoc in the penalty area. Reyes was creator once more as this time he slipped in Bergkamp but the onrushing Kirkland came out bravely to save before Davies cleared away any chance of a rebound. A great move then by the Baggies at the other end so nearly split Arsenal open at the back but Horsfield’s attempted through ball was just too long for the pacey Kamara as he looked set to be in on goal.  Arsenal continued to press for a second goal but Kirkland was just too good for them as once again he pulled off another top class save to parry away a powerful Flamini 20 yard drive. Arsenal’s dominance forced Bryan Robson into making his first substitution of the afternoon, bringing on Darren Carter for Ronnie Wallwork to try and freshen things up in the centre of midfield as the Baggies were clearly being over-run. The change had an immediate effect as Carter put Albion in front with a 25 yard blockbuster shot. The ex-Birmingham City man took one touch before rifling the ball with his left foot which gave Lehman not a prayer of saving as the ball flew into the top corner of the net. From then on Albion defended superbly as Arsenal threw everything but the kitchen sink at them to get a equaliser although Ellington almost killed the game off totally in injury time but his angled right footed drive was superbly kept out by Lehman. Against all the odds and predictions the Baggies held on for a magnificent three points.   Full Time: West Brom 2-1 Arsenal MAN OF THE MATCH: Chris Kirkland PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN Kirkland 9 - Absolutely superb! Kept us in the game on many occasions, today I think we saw the ‘REAL’ Kirkland as his all round game was fantastic. Albrechtsen 7 - Another solid performance from Martin, his pace causes never ending problems. It’s just a shame his final ball is not always there, but other than that good performance. Davies 7 - Started off slow as he let Senderos in for their goal but after that was solid and made a number of last ditch saving challenges. Clement 7- He too was also at fault letting Bergkamp in just after the goal, but following that he was much better. Robinson 8 - This guy is surely knocking on the England door? He was once again tremendous, made one excellent goal saving block from Bergkamp and was unlucky not to score. Watson 8 - Without doubt his best performance in an Albion shirt, won every tackle and battle there was going. Wallwork 6 - A much improved performance from Ronnie, still not brilliant but probably his best performance of the season so far. Greening 6 - Didn’t really get into the game until he was put out into his natural wide position, played better there and turned in an average performance. Kanu 7 - He surely can’t be dropped after this performance? Deserved his goal and kept possession superbly for us at times. Kamara 7 - Never afraid to dribble and I like that, always looked a threat with his pace and was involved in the winning goal.   Horsfield 6 - Offside far too much as usual, although you can never accuse him of not trying, battered Arsenal’s back line at times. Subs: Carter 7 - Showed a couple of neat touches when he came on, scored great goal. Moore 7 - Certainly helped us when he came on, organised the backline and added much needed strength to cut out the high balls. Ellington 7 - Although he wasn’t on for long he was so unlucky not to score! He looks 100 per cent fit now and I think we are going see a lot of goals from him in the near future. REF WATCH Barry Knight 4 - Poor for both sides, never consistent with his decisions and that’s what made him look bad. FAN WATCH Albion 6 - Was awful to begin with when we were 1-0 down, but following the equaliser it picked up and hopefully that will bring the ‘REAL’ Albion atmosphere back again! Arsenal 6 - Started off good when they were 1-0 up but it soon fizzed out after the equaliser and they were hardly heard in the second half. MY REVIEW Well what a great performance! Ok it wasn’t exactly scintillating stuff from Albion but you're not going to get that against a top class team like Arsenal as they do make you work for every point. A battling performance was what it was, we just never gave up against them and we showed the kind of fight and determination that has not been seen once this season. It was so pleasing to see players like Watson, Kanu and Wallwork all put in good performances and that makes a difference as we have not played like a team in my opinion since the game at home to Portsmouth at the end of last season. Hopefully now we can kick on from here and start showing our true colours as we know on paper the team we have got has been disastrously underperforming, today was evidence of what we can do when the right attitude, commitment and work rate is there! One special mention has to go to Steve Watson, everybody who follows my match reports and previews will have seen how much I have slated Watson for his performances so far this season. Well today he was superb in the centre of midfield in a position which I honestly believe suits him down to the ground. He is far too slow in my opinion to be a right back and with Albrechtsen playing out of his skin at the moment there is no room for him there to be honest, however in the centre of midfield I reckon he could really do a job for us as he has the battling qualities to win the ball and also his distribution was much better I just hope it’s not a one off! He has to start the next game in midfield in my view. Next weekend we face Bolton and after their 5-1 hammering from Chelsea it’s probably not the best time to play them so I would settle for a draw there especially after beating Arsenal. I just hope now that Robson sticks with the same side as after all you surely can’t change a winning team? We all know what he’s like though and if captain Campbell is fit I fear he will be amongst the substitutes or even the starting line up, I sincerely hope not anyway as the players who won that game for us yesterday certainly deserve a second chance to show what they can do next week. wba.co.uk arsenal.com baggies.com wbaunofficial.com arsenal-world.co.uk premierleague.com sportinglife.com Bryan Robson: "We showed great character." "I thought Kanu came in, kept possession of the ball well and brought us into the game better than we have been doing in previous games. There was a good spirit from the lads after the run we've been on and they showed great character. The lads haven't been down in training. They get on well together and train hard everyday. Thankfully, they got their just rewards today.” "Chris Kirkland made some outstanding saves and we scored two cracking goals. Maybe this is the break we need to turn things around and instil more confidence in the lads. Hopefully, we can go on from here.” "There is better to come from us. We've been disappointed with our start to the season. We wanted to win the game which is why I put 'Joe' Kamara through the middle when Kanu went off. With the injury Kanu had at the start of the week, he missed quite a bit of training and fatigued towards the end. Later in the game we put three at the back, five in the middle and kept two up front. The few times last year we did that and put Darren Moore in the middle we looked pretty strong and compact." Source: wba.co.uk Arsene Wenger: "We lost a game we should not have lost. I feel our side played with a team spirit showing some great quality, but the overall thing is that we were punished for a lack of experience and maturity. We did not take advantage of the chances we created and we gave goals away for fun. That is why we were not rewarded." "With a bit more experience we would not have conceded the first goal and then maybe we would have won the game if we had gone in at half time 1-0 up. There were plenty if chances to win the game and there was plenty of quality in the side but the overall balance of experience and youth was not right." "Chris Kirkland had a great game because West Brom were very, very subdued I feel. They didn't create a lot. They did not even have the ambition to come out in the second half. It was a bit like they were happy with 1-1. But we couldn't take advantage of this and in every department we lacked a bit of what makes the difference." Source: arsenal.com Darren Carter scores his first goal for Albion. Neil Clement starts his 200th league game for the club.
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