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| December 13, 2001 | Thursday | Ramazan 27, 1422 |
Blackburn Rovers outgun Arsenal
LONDON, Dec 12: A Matt Jansen hat trick helped Blackburn Rovers to an emphatic 4-0 home win over a below-strength Arsenal side on Tuesday and into the semifinals of the League Cup.
To complete a bad night for Arsenal their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur won 6-0, at home to Bolton Wanderers, with Les Ferdinand hitting three in nine first-half minutes.
Despite the UEFA Cup place available for the competition’s winners, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger again played an almost entirely reserve team, making nine changes from the side which fought back to beat Aston Villa 3-2 in the league on Sunday.
Blackburn took immediate advantage as Jansen struck twice in the first 15 minutes.
The first was a nice individual effort as he turned inside Matthew Upson before curling the ball beyond Stuart Taylor while the second was a tap-in to deflect a Tugay Kerimoglu shot.
Mark Hughes then scored his first goal in 30 games, again cashing in on poor Arsenal defending, to make it 3-0 after 21 minutes and Damien Duff hit a post minutes later.
Jansen completed his hat-trick in the 68th minute, tucking the ball into the corner to finish a sweeping passing move.
“We’ve been playing well all season and it’s about time we put some goals past someone,” Jansen told ITV Sport.
Manager Graeme Souness agreed. “We’ve been creating chances like that for a while but tonight we put them away which was the big difference from the last couple of games,” he said.
“At home we are capable of doing that to any team - people might say it’s Arsenal’s second team but there was still a job to be done.
“Our priority is the premier league but it’s the semifinals now...we’ll see who we get and who ever it is if we play with the same spirit we’ve shown all this year we’ve got a chance.”
Wenger conceded that Blackburn had fully deserved their win and defended his decision to field a weakened team.
“We have no choice,” said the Frenchman. “If you want to bring some young players on you must see them at that level. I learned a lot about many players tonight.
“It doesn’t mean we didn’t want to win tonight but you have to give credit to Blackburn.”
It was similarly one-sided match at White Hart Lane as Spurs, the 1999 winners, raced into a 4-0 first half lead thanks to Ferdinand’s trusty forehead.
Simon Davies put them ahead after 21 minutes then the former England international striker hit the target in the 29th, 30th and 38th minutes — all headers.
An Anthony Barness own goal made it 5-0 in the 79th minute and Steffen Iversen tapped in the sixth six minutes from time after Darren Anderton had three successive shots blocked.
Bolton, with eight changes from the team beaten 1-0 by Derby County on Saturday, were overwhelmed, but like Arsenal, will be back to full strength against Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
Chelsea play Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge in the third quarterfinal on Wednesday while the all-first division clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Watford completes the round on Wednesday Dec 19.
The draw for the two-legged semifinals takes place on Saturday.
Tuesday’s results
Quaterfinals:
Blackburn Rovers 4 Arsenal 0
Tottenham Hotspur 6 Bolton Wanderers 0
—Reuters
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