Gunners At War As Adebayor Headbutts Bendtner

As Arsenal capitulated against bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup semi-final, things went from bad to worse as strikers Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner clashed heads on the field of play, an encounter that left the Danish youngster with blood on his shirt...

Tottenham tore apart city rivals Arsenal at White Hart Lane in front of a roaring crowd and eventually ran out 5-1 winners, and 6-2 on aggregate.

They had been the better side in the first leg, and in truth Arsenal were lucky to come away from that home tie with the draw, maintaining their unbeaten streak at their new home.

Spurs showed no mercy, which will delight their fans no end, as too often they float between blunders and brilliance.

Scoring in the second minute did their cause the world of good, and the own goal had a degree of fortune to it, but that should by no means take anything away from Spurs, who were by far the better side across the two legs.

Arsenal were all too aware of that fact, as frustrations boiled over on the pitch towards the end of the game, with team-mates Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor squaring up to each other and furious words were exchanged between the two.

Skipper William Gallas intervened, castigating Bendtner in full view of the capacity crowd and television cameras; referee Howard Webb also arrived on the scene to talk things over with the players concerned, but no cards were issued following the incident.

As the players headed down the tunnel at the end of the game Adebayor was restrained, and Bendtner had a visible gash on the bridge of his nose and blood on his shirt; it is thought that Adebayor headbutted Bendtner during their initial altercation.

Manager Arsene Wenger denied any knowledge of the incident, as is his trademark when questioned by the media regarding less complimentary issues involving his club.

"I don't know anything about it. Really I don't know," he insisted.

This incident will no doubt make a mockery of Arsenal's team spirit, which has been the source of high praise this season, many saying that since Thierry Henry's departure to Barcelona that the dressing room was much more unified and that there was less pressure.

It will take a lot to shake off such a humiliation, and it will truly be a test of the Gunners' character whether they can come out of this the same force they were in the first half of the season.

Arsenal Overcome Spirited Burnley At Turf Moor

Burnley 0-2 Arsenal

Two clinical finishes from Eduardo da Silva and Nicklas Bendtner led Arsenal to a 2-0 victory over a gallant Burnley side in the third round of the FA Cup at Turf Moor.

Burnley's manager Owen Coyle scored against Arsenal as a player during Bolton Wanderers famous win over the Gunners back in 1994 and was hoping to mastermind another upset 13 years later.

Coyle was without the suspended David Unsworth and the injured Clarke Carlisle and Alan Mahon. Stanislav Varga, who joined from Sunderland on Friday, was playing his first game in 11 months.

Arsenal rested a host of first-team players but still fielded a strong line-up. Jens Lehmann played in goal in what could prove to be his last-ever game for the club, while Bendtner partnered the in-form Eduardo up-front.

Emmanuel Eboue had the first attempt of the game on three minutes but fired high and wide from distance. However just minutes later Burnley were desperately close to taking the lead as Andy Gray found space down the right and crossed for Kyle Lafferty who saw his bullet header come crashing back off the crossbar.



The home side had made a bright start to the match, however on nine minutes they fell behind, and it was inevitable that Eduardo was the goalscorer. The Croatian latched onto an intelligent chipped pass by Kolo Toure, held off Steve Caldwell, and impudently stroked the ball past Gabor Kiraly. It was yet another classy finish from the hitman.

Burnley responded well to going behind and Gray held off a challenge from Senderos and fired straight at Lehmann. Senderos was looking very nervy and his terrible clearance inside the box fell to Robbie Blake in a promising position, but the forward couldn't keep his effort down.

Down the other end it could have been two on 20 minutes as Gilberto's header from a corner slammed off James O'Connor who was standing on the post. Eboue then nearly profited from some uncertainty in the Burnley box, but Kiraly rescued the situation. The Ivory Coast international was making some dangerous runs forward down the right and he fired another effort over the bar from distance.

Burnley were playing very well though and were arguably winning the midfield battle. Lafferty robbed Denilson of possession but his dangerous cross was cleared away by Senderos.

On 35 minutes Arsenal were awarded a free-kick in a decent position outside the area, but Eduardo's effort was tame and straight at Kiraly.

Burnley then wasted another fine chance to equalise. Armand Traore made a comical hash of a cross and was robbed of the ball by Wade Elliot, who fed Chris McCann, only for the midfielder to fire over the bar.

On 40 minutes Arsenal produced possibly their best move of the match. Some slick passing released Denilson down the right, and he crossed for Bendtner who executed a wonderful bicycle kick, but it was comfortable for Kiraly.

Burnley made a bright start to the second half and the impressive Jon Harley burst forward from left back and unleashed a long-range drive straight at Lehmann. Denilson also tried his luck from distance down the other end but he dragged his effort well wide.

On 50 minutes the usually clinical Eduardo missed a glorious chance to double Arsenal's lead. Bendtner released his strike partner, however he surprisingly fired wide of the post with just Kiraly to beat.



Burnley continued to cause Arsenal problems and McCann headed over completely unmarked from a free-kick from the right. The offside flag was up so the goal probably wouldn't have counted anyway.

The home side's hopes of getting anything from the game took a huge knock on 59 minutes when Lafferty was shown a straight red card for a dangerous, over-the-ball, studs-up challenge on Gilberto. The crowd were unhappy with the decision however replays showed that the referee probably made the correct decision.

Burnley were still displaying plenty of character and Senderos charged down an effort inside the box following a corner. The Swiss defender was making some crucial interventions now and on 67 minutes he just grew tall enough to take the ball off Gray's head.

Arsenal were creating precious little against Burnley's ten men, although Bendtner did waste a promising opener by mis-kicking the ball on the edge of the area after an Eboue assist.



On 74 minutes the tie was over as Eduardo fed Bendtner with a clever through ball and the Danish striker shifted the ball to the right of Kiraly before sliding the ball home.

Eduardo could have made it three on 83 minutes as Abou Diaby slid the striker through, however Kiraly read Eduardo's intentions to go round him and smothered the ball.

Arsenal kept possession for the remainder of the game, although Eduardo did have another effort in injury time which was deflected into the arms of Kiraly.

Line-Ups:

Burnley: Kiraly, Alexander, Caldwell, Varga, Harley, Elliot, O'Connor (Gudjonsson 76), McCann, Lafferty, Blake (Akinbiyi 78), Gray (Jones 78)

Arsenal: Lehmann, Sajma, Toure, Senderos, Traore (Hoyte 70), Eboue, Gilberto, Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner, Eduardo

Goals: Eduardo 9' (A), Bendtner 74' (A)

Sent Off: Laffery 59’ (B)