LONDON, Jan 21: Middlesbrough drew first blood in their Cup triple header against Arsenal on Tuesday when they won the first leg of their League Cup semi-final 1-0 at Highbury.

It was Arsenal's first domestic defeat of the season. Brazilian Juninho got the only goal in the 53rd minute and Middlesbrough then weathered a storm from the home side, made up predominantly of reserves and youth team players.

The teams meet again in the FA Cup at Highbury on Saturday then resume their League Cup semi-final duties on Jan 28 at the Riverside. As if that was not enough, they also played 10 days ago in the league, when a full-strength Arsenal outclassed Middlesbrough 4-1 at home, following up their 4-0 away success in the first week of the season.

The Arsenal side on duty on Tuesday, however, found things much tougher. The unfamiliar line-up failed to sparkle, despite the urgings of a Highbury full house, and the best chance of a low-key first half fell to Juninho, who hit a post in the 16th minute and saw the ball bounce straight back into the arms of goalkeeper Graham Stack.

Arsenal's defence were left exposed seven minutes into the second half and Juninho picked his spot with a low drive from 12 metres. Quincy Owusu-Abeyiewhipped a shot just past a post as the hosts upped the tempo and David Bentley side footed straight at Mark Schwarzer.

Arsenal continued to press, with Nwankwo Kanu at the heart of things, though Joseph Desire-Job should have given Boro some extra breathing space four minutes from the end when the Cameroon striker spooned over the bar from inside the sixyard box.-Reuters