We now know that we will meet Birmingham on the 27th February, who themselves haven’t featured in a Wembley final in 55 years, in what will be the best opportunity of a trophy in Wenger’s tenure at the club.
Ipswich set themselves up as well as any Championship side could. They offered more in attack than Man City could muster in their recent visit to the Grove and continued the disciplined shape that served them so well in the first leg at Portman Road. We created chances throughout the first half but there was a growing sense of frustration at the Grove which was threatening to hamper our chances. Fortunately Niklas Bendtner opened the scoring in the 60th minute and we powered through the final thirty, finally turning our technical superiority into goals.
Bendtner has struggled this season and there was no sign that this was about to change until he brought down a long ball expertly on the left flank, cut inside the defender with a neat flick and curled a well controlled effort into the far corner from 20 yards. It was scored with such apparent ease that the crowd were left wondering why it had taken us 150 minutes to break Ipswich’s resistance.
Andrei Arshavin was next up to make a confidence boosting contribution. His perfectly struck corner was powered in by Laurent Koscielny and the Grove erupted. The Arsenal were standing up to be counted and every player, no matter how badly they were struggling with their form, put a shift in. Arshavin, the most obviously out of touch, gave another reminder of his quality when he played in Fabregas who slipped the ball past the ‘keeper to seal victory.
Arshavin and Bendtner struggled in the 90 minutes as a whole but the fact that they still have the quality to make such a decisive difference highlights the quality in our squad. It enabled Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott to enjoy the luxury of a very brief cameo and the options available to the manager not only keep our players fresh but vitally, off the treatment table. Our rate of injuries has dropped markedly in recent weeks, despite the hectic schedule, and this is because Wenger has been able to rotate. The only game we have suffered in was away at Wigan but if that means we can have our best players available for the very biggest games, then two points will have been a price worth paying.
Rotating is a tricky game for Wenger but one he would much rather play than the one where he has no choice but to play everyone until they get injured. Watching the evolution of this squad has been a rollercoaster ride but there is a feeling we could be about to witness the final ascent.