Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0: Wenger goes from hero to zero after Hillsborough flop - 7M sport

Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0: Wenger goes from hero to zero after Hillsborough flop

ARSENE WENGER went from hero to zero after becoming the victim of some Capital One Cup carnage at Hillsborough.


Posted Wednesday, October 28, 2015 by Dailystar.co.uk

Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0: Wenger goes from hero to zero after Hillsborough flop
FLYING HIGH: The Owls celebrate

This time last week Wenger was watching Arsenal beat the mighty Bayern Munich to keep his Champions League dream alive.

The Gunners then dismissed Everton to join Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table and Wenger was feeling on top of the world.

But he hit rock-bottom again tonight after being brought crashing back down to earth with an almighty bang following an evening of utter devastation at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

The in-form Championship outfit ripped the Gunners to shreds to win the game inside an hour.

Goals from Burnley reject Ross Wallace, Lucas Joao and Sam Hutchinson stunned the Premier League giants to make it a famous triumph for Carlos Carvalhal’s men.

Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0: Wenger goes from hero to zero after Hillsborough flop
CROCKED: Oxlade-Chamberlain

But if the result wasn’t bad enough, Wenger also had salt rubbed into his gaping wounds by first half injuries to England stars Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott.

Chamberlain limped off inside five minutes then his replacement Walcott did the same not long after to leave Wenger shaking his head in utter frustration as his injury list got that little bit longer.

It was one of those nights, but Wenger should have half expected things wouldn’t go to plan.

The Gunners haven’t won this trophy since beating last night’s opponents in the 1993 final and Wenger has never won on this ground in almost 20 years managing in England.

The hoodoo never came close to being lifted here, it has to be said, as the Owls tore into their top-flight opponents from the start and never looked back.

Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0: Wenger goes from hero to zero after Hillsborough flop
HEAD BOY: Lucas Joao scores Wednesday's second

The underdogs earned this glamour tie thanks to a stunning win at Newcastle in the previous round and took on the Gunners on the back of an unbeaten eight-match run.

The omens weren’t good for Wenger and his night got off to the worst possible start when Oxlade-Chamberlain limped off without having really touched the ball with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

He was replaced by Walcott, who then followed him down the tunnel 13 minutes later with a calf problem as the Gunners started to fall like flies.

Some backbone was required in the Steel City, but the Gunners fell behind instead as Wenger’s trip north turned into a nightmare.

Daniel Pudil was given acres of space to run into down the left before picking out the unmarked Wallace, who guided a clinical effort past Petr Cech.

Sheffield Wednesday 3 Arsenal 0: Wenger goes from hero to zero after Hillsborough flop
STUNNED: Giroud looks on


Moments later Wallace almost doubled the advantage when his powerful free kick whistled inches wide as the Gunners threatened to panic.

It became a full-blown crisis six minutes before half time when the unmarked Joao rose to meet Wallace’s corner and power an unstoppable header past Cech to make it 2-0 and leave the Gunners keeper feeling like he was back at Chelsea.

Wenger just sat there stunned, desperate to get into the sanctuary of the dressing room while opposite boss Carvalhal was mobbed by his backroom staff.

The Gunners were lacking class and composure all over the pitch and whatever Wenger said at half time – it didn’t work.

The Owls made it 3-0 six minutes into the second half when Hutchinson bundled in from close range following more shambolic and chaotic defending from the Gunners defence.

The closest Wenger’s men came to pulling one back was when Per Mertesacker saw a header superbly tipped wide by Joe Wildsmith but even if it had gone it wouldn’t have made the slightest bit of difference.



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