FA Cup: Arsenal 1 - 1 Leeds: To Elland Road We Go...

Damn you, Schmeichel Two! Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 1: Fabregas 90 (pen)

Leeds United 1: Snodgrass 54 (pen)

There was a lot to ponder at way too early of an hour in the morning yesterday, following Arsenal's last gasp equalizer to force a replay with Leeds United. I have to say, Arsenal, these 7:45 in New York matches are way too early for you to keep putting me through the wringer.

That being said, we learned a lot about Arsenal's "B team" against Leeds. I think the main lesson is that, while full of great individual talents, the B team does not work well enough as a unit to win anything. While they kept Leeds's chances to a minimum, the Championship side took advantage of the chance they did receive, while Arsenal B did not, and it required the introduction of Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott just to force a replay. And should Arsenal get past that replay at Elland Road in about nine or ten days, they'll have a date with League One's Huddersfield Town at the Emirates in the fourth round. Not a bad draw at all.

Arsene Wenger made nine changes to the side that was frustrated at home by Manchester City; of the two players who started both, one was surprising (Alex Song) and the other was not (Johan Djourou.) Wojciech Szczesny started in goal, Emmanuel Eboue slipped in for the banned Bacary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs deputized for Gael Clichy, and Sebastien Squillaci did the same for Laurent Koscielny. Denilson joined Song as the second holding midfielder, Tomas Rosicky wore the armband and started in the middle, Marouane Chamakh started as the center forward and the the wingers were Andrei Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner. That front four were the same four from the 2-2 draw at Wigan.

Right off the bat, a few thoughts about that line-up:

• Andrei Arshavin is as enigmatic as ever. He's clearly lost his touch and confidence, but is the type that could surge into a huge run of form if he just wants it enough. The problem is, it just doesn't look like he does want it enough. I mean, he started jogging off the pitch when Theo Walcott came on, even though Marouane Chamakh was the man whose number was in red on the board.
• Nicklas Bendtner has been fairly useless as a center forward this season, despite all of his talk. However, it's quite possible that he's even more useless as a winger. Seriously, Wenger, stop trying this. Then again, Bendtner's two huge misses came from the center (the header in the 80th and the left footed shot wide in the 92nd.)
• The emergence of Jack Wilshere this season has essentially played Denilson off this team. Denilson appears uncreative and flat footed and has a habit of conceding bad penalties. He was serviceable last year, but with Wilshere to compare him to this year, he now seems expendable.
• Marouane Chamakh cannot create his own chances. If the midfield is not creative enough or technical enough to work him into dangerous situations, he does not work up front. He hasn't scored since November 27th at Aston Villa.
• Tomas Rosicky, while a good leader, is past his prime enough that he seems incapable of handling the play-maker role. Aside from Fabregas and Samir Nasri, I don't really know who else on the bench can handle that role in a "B team" situation, though. Abou Diaby played it a bit in October before getting hurt. Then he got hurt again.
• Positives: Wojciech Szczesny will be #1 at some point soon. Johan Djourou has settled into the center back role incredibly well, especially after a year off through injury. Really, the back four as a whole were fine enough, save some adventures with Squillaci. No major complaints there.

Anyway, on to the match itself. It was a shaky start from Arsenal, as you'd expect from the B team that doesn't play as a group often, and largely hadn't in a week and a half. Eventually, throughout the first half, Arsenal was able to pick up where they left off on Wednesday, that is to say, they frustratingly wasted away chances. Arshavin was through on goal in the 11th, but Kasper Schmeichel came off his line well, and the Russian's shot was straight at the Danish son of Peter. Arshavin had a volley stopped with a diving save about fifteen minutes later. Right after this, off two corners, Arsenal had two shots cleared off the line.

Robert Snodgrass put Leeds ahead 1-0 from the spot in
the 54th minute. Pic via Daily Mail.

Leeds had to be happy about how the situation had played out in the first half. They were still hanging tight at 0-0, knowing that Arsenal's defense is porous enough to snatch a goal against the run of play. And, in the 54th, that goal came and it was against the run of play, but the defense was not to blame. Max Gradel poked the ball past Denilson in the area, and the Brazilian stuck his leg out to impede the Irish midfielder's progress. Stone cold penalty. Szczesny guessed right on Robert Snodgrass's spot kick, but the ball slipped just under the diving keeper. And with 36 minutes to play, Arsenal were up against it.

Aaron Ramsey had returned to the bench for Arsenal in this match, and you have to think that if the Gunners were winning comfortably, he could have made an appearance. However, at the hour mark, the necessary substitution was to bring on Cesc Fabregas. The captain came on for Alex Song, however, which meant once again, I had no idea how the substitution was supposed to work tactically.

Going back to something I said earlier in this post, Chamakh's best chance came about two or three minutes after Fabregas's introduction, but his header glanced wide after a last second defensive deflection. Szczensy made two big saves in the following ten minutes to keep Arsenal in the tie, first on a header in the 64th and later on a dipping free kick in the 71st. In the 80th minute, Nicklas Bendtner had a golden chance to head in the equalizer, but his attempt, from a central location, was over the crossbar.

Cesc Fabregas equalizes from the penalty spot in the 90th.

Then, the major twist. In the 88th minute, Theo Walcott went down in the area, then the ball squirted to Bendtner, who was offside. Phil Dowd pointed to the spot but the linseman's flag was up. Considering the foul came before the ball slipped to an offside player, the penalty should not have been negated. But, strangely, it was. I guess that's for the best, as after the match, Walcott apologized for diving on that challenge. Something tells me we won't see an embargo on Arsenal penalties like we did after the Eduardo incident last year, largely because Walcott isn't foreign.

But, one minute later, Walcott was hauled down again, this time his shirt having been tugged by Ben Parker. At the time, in the pub, I thought this call was weaker than the first, and we all chalked it up as a make-up call for what had happened a minute earlier. Cesc Fabregas stepped up to the spot and coolly fired the ball straight down the middle, as Schmeichel dove to his right. Arsenal was level in the 90th.

Arsenal then had two great chances for a winner in injury time. Again, Bendtner had a golden opportunity, breaking in down the left wing on Schmeichel, but Arsenal's Dane fired completely wide with a left footed shot. Walcott had a chance for a winner one minute later, but his shot found the side netting on the right side, and that was it. Arsenal had drawn level but could not find a dramatic winner and the Gunners now have themselves a replay scheduled at Elland Road coming on the 18th or 19th.

The Gunners by no means deserved to win this game and going to a replay is not as bad as crashing out in the third round. But, with a two-legged semi-final tie in the Carling Cup, suddenly Arsenal has a fixture congestion problem in January. The good news in this respect is that Arsenal has three cup ties against Championship sides, two league games against the bottom two teams in the table, and a fourth round tie with a League One side should they win at Leeds. It could all be a lot worse, no?

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Kasper Schmeichel