Arsenal punished for not finishing

SOCCER/English FA Cup/Blackburn 1 Arsenal 0: Benni McCarthy had spent much of this match watching the game forlornly from the sidelines.

The South African striker, Blackburn's leading scorer, is entitled to feel aggrieved about being left out of the side and he made his point in devastating style, scoring the game's decisive goal with only three minutes remaining.

McCarthy's 16th goal of the season was an extraordinary strike in an otherwise ordinary tie.

The upshot is that Arsenal have been dumped out of two cup competitions in the space of three days. Blackburn, eliminated from the Uefa Cup last week, will go on to face Manchester City at home in the quarter-finals and there were scenes of wild jubilation at the final whistle.

The result was hardly just - Arsenal had dominated long spells - but there are signs that Arsene Wenger's team are feeling the strain of their gruelling fixture list.

In total, Wenger had 10 players missing through injury, suspension and what the Arsenal manager classified as fatigue in the aftermath of Sunday's English League Cup final. Emmanuel Eboue limped his way through most of the match after Morten Gamst Pedersen accidentally trod on his heel inside the opening five minutes and William Gallas could also be seen grimacing in pain after needing another lengthy spell of treatment.

One thing this Arsenal side does not lack is heart.

It is certainly no longer applicable to say that Wenger's team freeze on their trips to the north-west. Arsenal undoubtedly missed the guile and presence of Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas, to name but two, but they were in control for long periods and, having subdued Blackburn early on, Wenger was entitled to feel they should have been more clinical. Had they been so, the game could have been settled as early as half-time.

Julio Baptista could only wave an apologetic hand after squandering the most inviting opportunity of the opening period, heading a Denilson free-kick over the crossbar just after the half-hour.

To Wenger's intense irritation, Arsenal also had legitimate claims for a penalty a couple of minutes earlier when Freddie Ljungberg scampered past Brett Emerton and cut into the penalty area before being brought down from behind.

There was little doubt that Ljungberg was waiting for his opponent to make contact but that does not alter the fact that Emerton not only clipped his heel but was using his arms illegally as he tried to get back into position.

Outside of the penalty area it would have been a clear foul but, inside, the referee Graham Poll waved play on.

Wenger was visibly aggrieved, and rightly so, yet Arsenal lost a certain amount of sympathy because of Jeremie Aliadiere's poorly executed dive over the challenge of Blackburn's goalkeeper Brad Friedel earlier in the game.

Aliadiere is a player of immense potential and he has clearly learned a lot from his senior colleagues, but it would be a shame if he has developed a fondness for what, in essence, remains cheating.

Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager, did not start with David Dunn or McCarthy and the team suffered at times from a lack of creativity and penetration in attack.

Their first-half display could be summed up by a Shabani Nonda shot that went out for a throw-in.

There was an improvement after the break but, as the home side, it was a performance of dull conservatism full of misplaced passes and dreary sideways football. Given Arsenal's list of absentees, it was mystifying that they chose not to adopt a more attack-minded approach.

Their first serious chance of note did not arrive until the 59th minute, when Pedersen slashed an unchallenged shot over Manuel Almunia's goal, and David Bentley showed a few glimpses in front of the watching England manager Steve McClaren.

In fairness, Bentley was not alone in struggling to impress on the rutted pitch. Nonda, in particular, looked hopelessly out of touch until Hughes decided to give into the crowd's demands to introduce McCarthy.

In the final stages both sets of supporters in a half-empty stadium tried to lift the players for a grand finale. Matt Derbyshire sliced his once chance of the night over the crossbar.

Then McCarthy picked up the ball on the left of midfield and darted inside Philippe Senderos, a centre-half playing the last few minutes at right-back. Senderos gave way meekly and McCarthy lashed in a brilliant, diagonal drive into the top corner of Almunia's goal.

Guardian Service

BLACKBURN: Friedel, Emerton, Samba, Nelsen, Warnock (Khizanishvili 46), Bentley, Kerimoglu (Dunn 63), Mokoena, Pedersen, Nonda (McCarthy 63), Derbyshire. Subs not used: Enckelman, Roberts. Booked: Kerimoglu, Dunn, Derbyshire, McCarthy. Goals: McCarthy 87.

ARSENAL: Almunia, Eboue (Walcott 61), Senderos, Gallas, Traore (Clichy 66), Hleb, Denilson, Silva, Ljungberg, Aliadiere, Julio Baptista. Subs not used: Poom, Gavin Hoyte, Randall. Booked: Traore, Clichy.

Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).