West Bromwich Albion vs Arsenal: Carabao Cup report, goals and final score

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After bitterness, boos and jeers of turmoil, Arsenal finally had a flash of joy to start their season. It may not have been the most severe of tests, with the Covid-stricken West Bromwich side making a very inexperienced side, but it is nonetheless an antidote, a ray of hope to overcome the gloom that enveloped the club. To claim a place in the third round of the Carabao Cup is not an achievement worth celebrating, but it is a source of hope and assured destruction with six goals that provided so many positives.

First and foremost, the returning Arsenal captain’s hat-trick, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has been the most valuable. But the joy spread far and wide with little mercy for the rest. Martin Odegaard made a successful debut for the second time, Aaron Ramsdale kept a clean sheet and Bukayo Saka seemed to have settled into the same groove that lit Euro 2020 this summer. They are beacons that can still capture the light, renew a lost sense of confidence, and promise that this season can be so much more than another doomed story. A trip to Manchester City this weekend might trample on that optimism with the speed with which it raised its head, but that at least provided, albeit against much less opposition, something Arsenal supporters finally got to savor.

Under the burden of mounting pressure, Arteta has taken few risks and brought a £150m attack glamor to Hawthorn, yet the past few weeks have quickly stripped Arsenal of any illusions of greatness. Nor was there any reverence or restraint on the part of West Bromwich Albion’s young squad of five starters, who threw themselves into every encounter with thirst for hunger and nagging aggression for years waiting for this opportunity. Odegaard was the first to feel the weight of this urgency, with Kevin Castro hitting his ankles within the first few minutes.

West Bromwich Albion may have suffered relegation from the Premier League last season, but that duel alone showed the disparity between these two teams. A miraculous prize from Real Madrid hoping Arsenal cracks deep against another crush during trials and rejects academic football before it was eventually snatched out of the league. Then again, it was Castro who initially caught the eye, with feisty flair and irrepressible intent, and it was the Baggies who provided the first shots in Venom, forcing 18-year-old Tom Fellows Aaron Ramsdale to put a good finger on save at the first appearance for him. Just minutes later, a cunning cornering routine left Arsenal’s defense hopelessly cold and Adam Rich pulled his shot off the far post.

But before long, Arsenal’s quality – and West Brom’s inexperience – started to show. Odegaard developed in the game and provided a superb link in attack, but it was Aubameyang’s promise that would keep Arsenal’s hopes alive in the bigger and grueling tests ahead. The captain, now fully recovered from the latest bout of Covid-19, was energetic and direct, taking advantage of the opposition’s reckless defensive line as he pleased. Despite that, though, his two goals were the simplest to score. The first came courtesy of a rebound from Saka’s shot, and it went into the empty net as West Brom’s defense disintegrated. The second required more than just instinct, this time after Nicolas Pepe lunged and rebounded from the post into the striker’s path.

The two goals defused any tension around this equalizer and Arsenal finally settled into rhythm. For all the drudgery surrounding the club, the spectacle of feelings turning into constant repetition, this was the perfect treat and distraction. It didn’t take much imagination either, as Aubameyang surged again straight through West Brom’s central defense on the edge of the first half, and after a chip failure resulted in a bicycle kick, Pepe ended the theatrical performances by netting the third goal in the net. To make the rest of this tie obsolete.

There was no respite for West Brom, though, and the procession showed few signs of waning after the first half. Saka, who enjoyed Shafi’s performance, rewarded the superb performance with an even more impressive goal, passing three defenders ahead of one goal to two as Odegaard curled a curling shot into the top corner.

West Brom might not deserve any additional embarrassment, but nothing stands in Aubameyang’s way to completing a hat-trick. It was a goal worthy of that feat as well, and with Baggies’ defense succumbing to defeat, Aubameyang ran inside on his right foot and fired a superb shot into the top corner with an unmistakable careless note.

The last dagger in the massacre was delivered by Alexandre Lacazette, who was also on his way back from illness. The striker, who Arsenal have made no secret of his desire to sell this summer, may have helped in the cause as well, as he drove a low shot at the near post after running better on Pepe’s right wing. But with so little time to get away or celebrate that little glory, the bigger question is whether Arsenal can now do any sort of run.

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