Young Gunners see off 10-man Albion

Carlos Vela ensured Arsenal’s youngsters enjoyed a smooth passage into the League Cup fourth round as his live-wire display inspired a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.

The Mexican striker, making his first appearance of the season after a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury, was deployed from the bench by his manager Arsene Wenger just when the north Londoners were beginning to labour against the Championship leaders, who had been reduced to 10 men after Jerome Thomas’ sending-off late in the first half.

But his arrival gave Arsenal some timely impetus and, after setting up a breakthrough goal for the debutant striker Sanchez Watt, he added the second himself with 15 minutes remaining.

The scoreline was harsh on West Brom, who played with enough polish and poise to suggest that a return to the top flight could be imminent this season, but ultimately Thomas’ dismissal was the game’s turning point.

Wenger’s determination to blood as many of his youngsters as possible in this competition, regardless of the circumstances, has been well established ever since he discarded the policy for a semi-final second leg against Wigan in 2005 and promptly saw his senior side stumble to a shock defeat.

There were, therefore, few surprises on the Arsenal team-sheet, which featured three debutants and just two players – Mikael Silvestre and Philippe Senderos – with reasonable amounts of first team experience, although West Brom’s decision to dispense with many of their regulars did raise an eyebrow.

Arsenal duly took charge, with Senderos twice heading over after being picked out by pin-point corners from Jack Wilshere.

The latter then teed up Watt for an inviting chance six yards out but, with the goal gaping, the 18-year-old stumbled and his effort trickled onto the post, with goalkeeper Dean Kiely smothering the rebound.

However it was another one of Wenger’s debutants – Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny – who prevented the visitors tearing into an early lead.

The 19-year-old was forced into two smart, one-handed saves at his near post, the first from Simon Cox and then, moments later, from the impressive Robert Koren.

At that point, Albion looked the likelier scorers but then came Thomas’ moment of madness. The winger, perhaps overly eager to impress against his former club, first crashed into Wilshere as he chased a loose ball and then, infuriated by Wilshere’s theatrical reaction, compounded his idiocy by shoving his hand into his opponent’s face as he sat on the turf.

That prompted another bout of histrionics from Wilshere but, while that did him little credit, referee Lee Mason still had little option but to flash the red card at a crestfallen Thomas.

It was the tie’s pivotal moment. Playing against 10 men, Arsenal were able to dominate possession in the second period and, with Albion’s legs tiring, it only appeared a matter of time before they turned their dominance into goals.

Sure enough, the appearance of Vela in the 58th minute proved the catalyst. Twelve minutes later, his stinging shot was only parried by Kiely and Watt was on hand to slide in from an acute angle.

Albion’s resistance had been punctured and it collapsed entirely five minutes later when Mark Randall’s exquisite chip hit the bar and Leon Barnett made a hash of chesting back to Kiely. Vela snaffled the loose ball and gleefully slammed in from a yard out.