You might not think the fourth round of the EFL Cup is worth getting excited about, but a glance at this week’s fixtures will tell you otherwise.
Liverpool v Tottenham, West Ham v Chelsea and Manchester United v Manchester City all have the hallmarks of potential classics, but there’s one repeat fixture from the competition four years ago that really caught our eye: Arsenal v Reading.
It's #EFLCup Round Four week! ðð
Here's what's coming up… pic.twitter.com/cfqIUhhKGW— EFL Cup (@EFLCup) October 24, 2016
You might remember it started badly for the Gunners, all those moons ago.
This is Jason Roberts, celebrating his side’s opening goal either by patting his badge or the Waitrose sponsor. Both great options.
And here are Ignasi Miquel and Francis Coquelin, looking a bit glum, having gone 2-0 down courtesy of a Laurent Koscielny own-goal.
To round off the opening 35 minutes, goals from Mikele Leigertwood and Noel Hunt gave the Royals a 4-0 lead. Didn’t see that coming, did you?
But after a Theo Walcott breakaway goal just before the half was over, Arsenal’s belief (and competence) grew. A fresh-faced Olivier Giroud made it 4-2 with 25 minutes to go…
…but it wasn’t until the 90th minute that Koscielny added a third for the north London side. With four minutes of injury time, was an equaliser within the realms of possibility?
Indeed, the magic of the League Cup was too strong to allow the game to peter out. With 95 minutes on the clock, Walcott nudged the ball over the line.
The ball was cleared, before Carl Jenkinson smashed it in just to be sure. Sorry Carl, but Theo’s shot had already crossed the line. Awkward…
With the score at 4-4, extra time beckoned. Nobody told Olivier Giroud however, who threw his shirt into the crowd, only to have to ask for it back…
It was a strange old game, as is evidenced by Jernade Meade hurling himself through the air, here.
And Arsenal looked to have found a hero in Marouane Chamakh, who found the bottom corner in style to make it 5-4.
But all was not over. The energetic Pavel Pogrebnyak gave Arsenal plenty to think about, and notched Reading an unlikely equaliser with just five minutes left.
Unfortunately for Reading, it was Arsene Wenger’s men who had a little extra in the remaining minutes. First, Walcott put Arsenal 6-5 to the good…
Before Chamakh finished the game in style with a sumptuous lob.
But Reading had the last laugh, after Arsenal were knocked out in the very next round by Bradford City – wasn’t really worth the effort after all, was it Arsenal?
