Arsenal whiz into Carling Cup quarters

England winger Theo Walcott scores twice as Arsenal cruise into Carling Cup quarter-finals.

LONDON: England winger Theo Walcott scored twice as Arsenal cruised into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup with a 4-0 rout of Newcastle at St James Park.

Walcott’s brace, an own goal from Newcastle reserve keeper Tim Krul and a Nicklas Bendtner strike settled the tie for Arsene Wenger’s men, riding high after last weekend’s victory over Manchester City.

Wenger was left purring over the contribution of Walcott, scoring his first goals since returning from injury sustained on England duty last month.

“Walcott is more composed in front of goal this season. He is an intelligent boy and because of that he will always improve,” said Wenger. A comedy goal and a controversial effort helped Arsenal. An attempted nodded clearance from Ryan Taylor hit his own goal-keeper Tim Krul before going into the Magpies net to give Arsenal the lead. Theo Walcott raced through and dinked in a second after Nicklas Bendtner appeared to block a Magpies defender as he came back from an offside position. Bendtner then curled in a shot and Walcott slotted in Arsenal’s fourth.

Hammers broke Stoke

West Ham came from behind to defeat Stoke 3-1 in extra time after trailing for most of the match. Trinidad and Tobago international Kenwyne Jones looked to have headed Stoke into the last-eight after only six minutes, giving his team a 1-0 lead. But Hammers captain Scott Parker forced extra-time with an equaliser before Manuel da Costa put the home side 2-1 ahead on 96 minutes. Substitute Victor Obinna completed the scoring two minutes from time to seal the victory.

Aston Villa triumphant

Aston Villa overcame spirited resistance from Championship side Burnley to win 2-1. Emile Heskey looked to have settled the contest when he put Villa 1-0 up in the 86th minute only for Clarke Carlisle to level minutes later. Yet winger Stewart Downing rifled in to restore Villa’s lead to break the deadlock. Villa were forced to endure a nervous finale after Marc Albrighton was sent off for a professional foul but Gerard Houllier’s men hung on for victory.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2010.