As with most Arsenal games, their League Cup clash against Doncaster started well before descending into mediocrity.

Arsenal should have been two or three up in the first half but alas… I think you know how this goes.

The teams were off to a frenetic start as Theo Walcott had a shot saved before Doncaster broke forward at pace and Olivier Giroud was denied a penalty by referee Scott Duncan.

The striker was wrestled to the ground but any appeal was waved away.

It was Big Sexy himself who almost scored a lovely overhead kick in the sixth minute but the 30-year-old was denied by the crossbar.

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Jack Wilshere was keen to get involved from the get-go and was part of some rather pretty build-up play for Giroud’s shot.

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With Wilshere in midfield, Arsenal were able to consistently build attack after attack during the opening exchanges and with 15 minutes on the clock, Doncaster had barely touched the ball.

Despite mostly dominating, Arsenal still looked vulnerable when Donny broke, with the League One side gradually growing into the game after they weathered the opening 20-minute storm.

Theo Walcott looked bright and was full of dramatic twists and turns with the ball but, as is often the case with the forward, his end product was lacking and the Rovers had no trouble keeping him out during the first 20 minutes of the League Cup clash.

The 25th minute, however, was a different story and Theo finally put the Gunners 1-0 ahead after a lovely ball from Alexis Sanchez, who had already been giving Doncaster hell.

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After the ball found the back of the net for Arsenal, the intensity dropped slightly. Although the Gunners still saw the lion’s share of the ball, they dropped in urgency and likewise while Donny had a go when the ball fell to them, they didn’t look overly eager to do much.

In the 44th minute, Darren Ferguson’s team even had four players to Arsenal’s three in the Gunners’ box but the attack fizzled out. However, a minute later, Alfie May hit the side netting.

Calum Chambers was taken off at half time.

Within minutes of the second half kicking off, Theo almost scored his second after he and Giroud broke away at pace. The forward was convinced it should have been a corner but a goal kick was given.

Donny grew into the game significantly in the second half, turning up the tempo and asking Arsenal all sorts of questions, which Arsenal being Arsenal, were happy to allow.

In the 59th minute Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who had a strong match overall, had to bust a gut to deny Alfie May his second opportunity of the game following an Arsenal mistake.

At the other end, Giroud had another go at his 100th Arsenal goal. Another overhead kick.

After the hour-mark, Wenger’s side finally started to apply more pressure with Wilshere, Reiss Nelson, Alexis and Giroud all getting into dangerous spaces. However, time after time, they missed.

Minutes later, Big Sexy went down clutching his ankle but got up and appeared to run it off.

Theo was subbed off for Alex Iwobi.

Doncaster looked the more likely team to score during the final minutes and Arsenal were, quite frankly, lucky to win in regular time.

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