Arsenal loose in Carling Cup. Do they Still have the Skill to be a good team?

Wigan 1-0 Arsenal. The lights may have briefly disappeared on Wigan's moment of history, but their hopes of Carling Cup glory are burning brighter than ever on a night to remember for debut boy Paul Scharner. It means with Wigan playing in their first major semi-final, they are now just 90 minutes away from completing a remarkable journey to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for next month's final. How extraordinary the club's rise has been for it was on this day exactly 29 years ago they played Darwen in a Lancashire Senior Cup tie, winning that game 5-0. It's almost like considering Arsenal as Darwen!

In the 78th minute, Paul Scharner scores a good goal from left goalbox left low with his head. In the 65th minute, Stephane Henchoz is awarded a yellow card for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Perhaps unsurprisingly, and in stark contrast, Arsene Wenger opted to remain loyal to those players who had carried Arsenal to this stage, albeit with this tournament also fourth on his list of priorities. Remarkably, just three players - Fredrik Ljungberg, Pascal Cygan and Gilberto Silva - were the only survivors from Arsenal's thrilling 3-2 Barclays Premiership win over Wigan at the JJB Stadium two months ago. That day there was also a then record club and stadium attendance of 25,004, but given the general apathy towards the Carling Cup - even at this exalted stage for Wigan - there were 13,000 missing for this game. But given the respective line-ups, there appeared to be a sense among the Wigan players the Gunners were there for the taking. In the space of 11 minutes striker David Connolly limped off with a hamstring injury, while winger Lee McCulloch suffered a groin strain that also resulted in an early exit. In between, midfield powerhouse Jimmy Bullard sustained a gaping hole in his ankle as he went to ground in being shoved by Kerrea Gilbert. At least that teed up Graham Kavanagh for a 20-yard free-kick through a fragmented wall that forced a superb, low save from Manuel Almunia. After Stephane Henchoz had bravely thrown his body in the way of a fierce drive from Flamini, McCulloch's departure resulted in the arrival of Scharner. With the Austria international sporting blue and white stripes shaved into his hair, his first touch was to chest a poor Almunia clearance and go for broke from 30 yards, but with his effort way off target. Despite the understrength nature of Wenger's team, their football was still the sharper compared to Wigan's more gritty approach, underlined by the running battle Roberts endured with Phillipe Senderos and Pascal Cygan. That was until the lights went out nine minutes into the second half due to a powercut in the Wigan area. What is Wigan, a freak team with miracles happening every game? Haven't you Arsenal fans had enough? I think it's time to switch to Manchester United. What do you say?