Arsenal 1-0 West Ham: Danny Welbeck sends Gunners into Carabao Cup last fourBy James Walker-Roberts
Last Updated: 19/12/17 10:10pm
Arsenal edged into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup as Danny Welbeck's goal secured a 1-0 win over West Ham at the Emirates on Tuesday. With both sides fielding almost entirely different starting line-ups from their goalless Premier League meeting less than a week ago, a largely uneventful encounter was decided by Welbeck's close-range finish in the 42nd minute.
The goal was the first that West Ham had conceded in 319 minutes and they could not muster any sort of response, failing to have a shot on target despite the introductions of Andy Carroll and Marko Arnautovic.
The win sees Arsenal, who lost Olivier Giroud to injury in the second half, move into the semi-finals for the first time since 2010/11 and they will learn their opponents in the draw on Wednesday evening.
Their quarter-final clash will not live long in the memory, with Welbeck's goal the only shot on target of a dour first half in which Arsenal controlled possession and neither side offered much attacking threat.
It took until late in the half for any chances of note as Sead Kolasinac fired over from the corner of the box and then Theo Walcott planted a diving header wide from 10 yards out.
The deadlock was broken in the 42nd minute when Mathieu Debuchy headed across goal and the ball fell for Welbeck to tap in from a few yards out.
Even though Arsenal rarely threatened a second goal, their slender advantage never looked in danger.
The hosts continued to dominate possession in the second half and the closest West Ham came was when Aaron Cresswell curled a free-kick wide.
Joe Hart was also untroubled at the other end, but even though Carroll added an aerial presence for the Hammers, they could not find an equaliser as they suffered their first defeat since December 3.
http://www.skysports.com/football/arsenal-vs-west-ham/385632
