CARLING CUP FINAL LIVE: Arsenal 1

Birmingham 1 - follow all the action from

Wembley as it happens
Follow Sportsmail's coverage of the Carling Cup final where Arsenal and
Birmingham clash at Wembley Stadium to decide who will take home the first
piece of silverware this season. The Gunners start as favourites but are
without a couple of key players as the Blues look to spring a surprise. Email
me your thoughts on the action at dan.ripley@dailymail.co.uk

Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham (4pm)

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Rosicky, Song, Nasri,

Wilshere, Arshavin, van Persie (Bendtner 69).
Subs: Almunia, Denilson, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh, Bendtner.

Goals: van Persie 39.

Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Fahey, Gardner

(Beausejour 50), Ferguson, Bowyer, Larsson, Zigic.
Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Phillips, Jerome, Martins, Parnaby.

Goals: Zigic 28.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

73min: Chances have dried up in the past few minutes, it can't just be that's
thinking extra-time and penalties...not that I ever need a second invitation.

70min: But it's Arsenal who blink, bringing on Nicklas Bendtner for Van
Persie.

69min: Johnson looks to be struggling after landing awkwardly from a

header a few minutes ago. He is vital to Birmingham's cause and him going
off is the last thing they need.

66min: Still remains on a knife edge this. Birmingham will commit on set-
pieces but Arsenal counter when they clear their lines. Very cat and mouse
stuff.
63min: Good signs for the Wembley pitch. It's not cutting up like we know it
can and looks as neat as a snooker table.

61min: Looks like I can clear up the Mancini/Hughes incident too.

Seems to be the Italian didn't look Hughes in the eye when shaking his hand
after the game which caused the Fulham boss to bat away his hand in
frustration.

Rotten fans: Former Sex Pistol John Lydon (centre) cheers on Arsenal

60min: The Gunners respond with an attacking spell themselves but after
Wilshere has a shot charged down, Arshavin sends in a disappointing cross
that goes out for a goal kick.

57min: Such fine margins in finals! Fahey is fortunate to see his first shot on
the edge of the box come back to him, but his second finds its way through
before clipping the inside of the post and out to safety. Desperately unlucky.

54min: We have seen how deadly they are from set-pieces already. But
Larsson's cross is cleared for a corner before that too is dealt with by Arsenal.
53min: Free-kick for Birmingham on the left side of the area after Gael
Clichy trips Keith Fahey. he is booked.

50min: Interesting, Gardner is subbed and judging by his reaction it's not
through injury. Jean Beausejour is on in his place.

48min: Lovely from Arsenal. Sagna darts onto Nasri's ball down the right
and his cross from the byline is fired just wide on the half-volley by Rosicky
18 yards out.

46min: Alex McLeish's view on that second minute incident? ' A disgrace' is
what he called it.

Second-half: Away we go again, with nearly all those seats at the centre-
circle empty. One of football's most sickening sights.

Taking a tumble: Gardner (floor) brings down Wilshere

17.00: And if Arsenal win this game, Birmingham fans will all point back to
Szczesny bringing down Bowyer in the second minute.

They have been VERY harshly done by.

16.58: And this is proving to be a top cup final. Birmingham have done well
in stopping Arsenal from playing ad have created a few chances themselves.
Any thoughts that Arsenal would just turn up and lift the cup have proved
well wide of the mark.

16.53: Two points dropped for City and managers Roberto Mancini and Mark
Hughes seemingly exchanged a few angry words at the final whistle. Surely
that puts an end to City's title hopes either way.

Full-time: Manchester City 1-1 Fulham

Half-time: Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham

40+5min: Arsenal still applying all the pressure and Foster's hands must still
be stinging after he palms away Nasri's 25 yard strike.

45+3min: Good time for half-time as far as City are concerned. Arsenal are
starting to take it up a couple of gears and are starting to fin much more holes
in the Birmingham back line.

45min: Four minutes will be added on here after Bowyer and Van Persie
spent a couple of minutes getting treatment on the pitch.

43min: Van Persie is back on by the way as Arsenal look to press for a
second before half-time.

41min: Bit of dissent from Seb Larsson and he picks up a booking after
disputing a free-kick.
Agony and ecstasy: Robin van Persie (central) celebrates scoring Arsenal's equaliser but pulls
up injured

39min: GOAL! ARSENAL 1-1 Birmingham

Out of nothing the Gunners are back in it! Seconds after Arsenal hit the bar,
Arshavin twists and turns inside the box before delicately clipping a ball to
Robin van Persie.

He picks out the bottom corner with a right-foot volley but looks like he has
injured himself scoring it and will at the very least go off the pitch to receive
treatment.

37min: Laurent Koscielny is booked after having his studs up in a 50/50

challenge with Bowyer, Arsenal are losing all their discipline.

34min: Arsenal are completely on the rack. Craig Gardner looks to be

brought down by Johan Djourou inside the box but Zigic picks up the pieces
and looks certain to score until Szczesny is quick off his line to fumble the
striker.

33min: Signs of frustrations already from Arsenal as Tomas Rosicky is very

late in a challenge on Stephen Carr.
30min: Nearly an instant reply from Arsenal but Van Persie eight yards out
on his own heads Bacary Sagna's cross wide.

High riser: Nikola Zigic (blue right) heads Birmingham into the lead

28min: GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 BIRMINGHAM

Cupset?! Birmingham's first corner of the game is nodded goalwards by

Roger Johnson where Nikola Zigic jumps highest just a couple of yards out
to head City into the lead.

26min: Fantastic defending from Martin Jiranek. Van Persie has just him to
beat inside the box but the defender stands tall and steals the ball off him
before clearing.

23min: Arshavin scuffs a shot wide from the edge of the box but the Gunners
cannot blame City or any rough tactics so far.

Their final ball has been a bit wayward and City are coping very well with
what is being thrown at them.

20min: Buzzing first 10 minutes, but the next 10 not so much. Proving to be
very gritty stuff.
17min: Nice move by Birmingham. Zigic does well to hold up the ball and
after a few short passes, Stephen Carr's deep cross is headed across goal by
Liam Ridgewell where his shot is comfortably stooped by Szczesny.

14min: Brilliant from Samir Nasri. He runs through three Birmingham

players when he had no right to do so, before running out of space in the box
and firing wide.

12min: As you would expect Arsenal playing the eye-candy football and
Birmingham are keen to prevent them from doing so.

Contrasting styles but it's making for a good cup final so far.

Sent tumbling: Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny brings down Birmingham's Lee Bowyer

9min: Let off for Birmingham. Arshavin (who is back on) manages to turn
eight yards out but his low shot is well blocked by Ben Foster.

8min: GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 FULHAM

Clinical, Andrew Johnson scampers down the flank and his low cross is well
converted by Damien Duff.
7min: A lovely chipped ball from Wilshere finds Robin van Persie at a tight
angle in the box, but in a similar position to the goal he scored Barcelona fires
over the bar.

5min: Rocky start for the Gunners. Andrey Arshavin is off the pitch at the
moment getting treatment for a cut on his nose.

2min: Heart in mouth moment for Arsenal. Lee Bowyer is through one-on-
one with Wojciech Szczesny and is clattered by the goalkeeper as he goes
past him.

But play is brought back as Bowyer is flagged offside. But Clichy is playing
him on and Birmingham should have a penalty and Arsenal should be down
to 10 men.

It's like Nemnaja Vidic and Gabriel Agbonlahor from last season all over
again.

1min: The Wembley pitch looks lush by the way, hope it doesn't cut up as
usual. Will keep you up to date on that.

I remember you! Mark Hughes and Carlos Tevez greet each other at Eastlands
Kick-off: From left to right Birmingham kick off the 2011 Carling Cup
final.

15.59: I'm of course joking but this weekend makes it 12 years to the day the
last time a top flight side fielded an all English XI.

15.58: As the national anthem is sung, all the Arsenal players look round at
each other confused...Wilshere aside.

15.56: New or old, Wembley is full and it's an amazing sight.

I just wished they made the entrance for the players behind the goal like in
the old stadium.

Speaking of which the teams are out.

15.55: It's amazing to think Arsenal have not been in a major cup final at
Wembley since 1998.

They of course lost their last cup final at the Millennium Stadium in 2007,
where they were defeated 2-1 by Chelsea in this very competition.

15.52: As you can see from the below pictures, it's a pretty gloomy day in
London let's hope the game doesn't follow suit.

15.49: Half-time: Manchester City 1-0 Fulham

Not a classic by any means but the two sides are separated by a moment of
magic from Mario Balotelli, whose stunning 25-yard strike is proving all the
difference.

15.46: It's a 4-5-1 that Alex McLeish has selected, even with five men in the
middle of the park teams tend to get over-run by Arsenal. Nikola Zigic could
have a long afternoon ahead of him feeding off scraps.
Top Gunner: Arsenal fans on the walk up to Wembley Stadium, while below two
Birmingham fans show their support
15.43: Arsenal striker Robin van Persie recovers from a hamstring injury to
captain the side.

The Dutchman takes over the armband from Cesc Fabregas (hamstring),
while Tomas Rosicky is given the task of replacing Theo Walcott (ankle).

Birmingham midfielder Alexander Hleb has failed to recover from a knee

injury in time to face his former club.

Nikola Zigic is preferred to Obafemi Martins and Cameron Jerome as the

lone striker, while Lee Bowyer earns a recall in place of the cup-tied David
Bentley.

15.40: Routine win for Arsenal? Well it would certainly be easier if they had
their influential captain Cesc Fabregas and speed demon Theo Walcott. That's
a huge boost for Birmingham whatever way you look at it.

15.37: Quick stat from OptaJoe on Balotelli though, he gets enough stick as it
is so here is one to praise him:

6 - Mario Balotelli has now scored six goals from only nine shots on target in
the PL this season. Golden.

15.35: Team news from Wembley Stadium:

Arsenal v Birmingham
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Rosicky, Song, Nasri,
Wilshere, Arshavin, van Persie. Subs: Almunia, Denilson, Squillaci, Eboue,
Gibbs, Chamakh, Bendtner.
Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Fahey, Gardner,
Ferguson, Bowyer, Larsson, Zigic. Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Phillips, Jerome,
Martins, Parnaby, Beausejour.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

15.32: GOAL! MANCHESTER CITY 1-0 Fulham

As well as providing updates from Eastlands in the Premier League!

Mario Balotelli has hit an absolute cracker from the edge of the box that
Mark Schwarzer had no chance of saving. Just over 30 minutes gone in that
game.

15.31: The losing team’s ribbons!

Enough jokes though, as we focus on the serious issue of the Carling Cup
final between Arsenal and Birmingham. Team news coming up.

15.30: Little riddle for you…What is taken to every cup final but never used?

Leading the way: Robin van Persie will captain Arsenal in the Carling Cup final