Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Arsenal

As we suspected, today's starting XI was almost entirely different from the squad that featured against Everton. Petr Cech remained in goal, thanks to a David Ospina injury, but he was supported by Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers, Per Mertesacker, and Kieran Gibbs. Mathieu Flamini and debutant Glen Kamara paired in midfield with Joel Campbell, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex Iwobi, and Olivier Giroud making up the attacking quadrant.

The poor omens began in the 4th minute as Ox went out clutching his hamstring. Sky Sports reported that it was a precautionary measure, so we can all hope that it is not actually a strain or, even worse, a tear. Replacing the young Englishman was his compatriot, Theo Walcott.

Because the universe has a sick sense of humor, Walcott was forced off before the 20th minute due to a tight calf. Reports indicated his lack of a warm-up before coming on may have played a part in this knock. In Theo's place came the competitive debut of young Ismael Bennacer, a young French attacking midfielder brought in to bolster our youth ranks this summer.

The Arsenal side was clearly discombobulated by the injuries and substitutions, and that, coupled with the fact they're second string players or lower and are missing any semblance of cohesion since they never really play together all that much, meant that Arsenal did not exert much influence on the match in the first half.

They were undone/found out/pick your cliche in the 27th minute, as Debuchy allowed a runner to get down the right and cross to Ross Wallace, who buried a fine finish into the corner. Flamini could definitely have done a better job of tracking the midfielder and erasing the possibility of a shot attempt.

Wednesday doubled their lead in the 40th minute, as Lucas Joao got in between Mertesacker and Debuchy and put a header past Cech. The cross came off of a short corner which Arsenal were not prepared for at all.

In the 51st minute, Sam Hutchinson made it 3-0 Wednesday, and that, for all intents and purposes, was that. Arsenal bossed the ball to no great effect for most of the second half, but for the most part that last 45 minutes was an exercise in "let's not get anyone else injured".

This game is over. The injuries are hopefully minor. Let's not dwell on it; nobody cares about the Capital One Cup anyway.