Carabao Cup 2017/18: Arsenal 2-1 Norwich City (AET): 5 Talking Points
In the 4th round of Caraboa Cup, Arsenal welcomed Championship side Norwich City to the Emirates. On the face of it, this was meant to be another routine cup game for the Gunners, but the unbeaten-in-9-matches Norwich proved more than worthy opponents.
After a lacklustre opening half hour, Norwich surprisingly opened the scoring in the 34th minute as Josh Murphy coolly lobbed Arsenal debutant, Matt Macey. The Canaries took that lead into halftime and they looked good value for it too.
After the break, matters remained the same as Norwich looked the more likely of the two to score. However, deep into the second half, Edward Nketiah scored with his first touch of the game, with 4 minutes of normal time to go. That goal took us into extra time where the 18-year-old scored his second to win the game for the Gunners.
Here are 5 talking points from Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Norwich City:
#5 Jack Wilshere under-delivers
In a game where Arsène Wenger needed his more senior players to step up, Jack Wilshere did the opposite of that. The central midfielder was nowhere to be seen when it came to creating chances. Instead, the Englishman seemed to lose the ball at every opportunity. Harrison Reed was clearly tasked with man-marking Wilshere and did a good job of it.
Jack’s passing was wayward, his runs were limited and his creativity was minimal. The only positive to be taken from his appearance is the fact that he lasted close to 2 hours on a football pitch for the Gunners. The Englishman is currently in the last year of his contract, and with performances like that, there’s no reason for the club to offer him a new deal.