Sport 03-12-2003 Gunners And Saints March On who: Wolverhampton Wanderers what: Thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal in Caroling Cup fourth round where: Highbury, LONDON when: Last night snippet: Arsene Wenger last night hailed two-goal Jeremie Aliadiere, says The Mirror, "as Arsenal`s youngsters delivered a Carling Cup humiliation at Highbury" and the second 5-1 victory for the club in a week. Premiership newcomers Wolves were destroyed by what the Arsenal manager called the "future of Arsenal Football Club," as 20 year-old Aliadiere, David Bentley (19) and Francesc Fabregas, just 16 years of age, ran riot over the West Midlands side. Don`t forget, says The Sun, that the Highbury boss had apologised in advance for fielding a team of virtual rookies. "But the only people who deserved an apology last night were poor old Wolves." Poor old Wolves boss Dave Jones, who had only an Alex Rae goal as consolation, admitted to The Mirror that it doesn`t matter how old a player is, it`s how good they are that counts. "Arsenal have got such quality in their team the last thing we need to do is give them a helping hand," he groaned. "It`s all very well saying that we are playing kids but they have got the shirt on because, just like at our place, they are good enough." Meanwhile, on the south coast, the first meeting between great rivals Southampton and Portsmouth in almost eight years went the way of Gordon Strachan`s Saints, whose 2-0 win prompts The Telegraph to murmur about "a goal glut...given the teams` recent records." It was a match "high on workrate if low on finesse", says The Times, "but no one should have been surprised. Two out-of-form teams were hardly likely to produce much coherent football and the derby atmosphere was never going to help." James Beattie broke a goalless Saints spell of more than 6 hours by scoring from close range after half an hour, then winning and converting a penalty a minute in stoppage time. Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp may have a better excuse than most losing managers, reckons The Sun, as his team had "a miracle escape in a motorway pile-up" on the way to the match. The Pompey coach driver had to swerve to dodge a 14-car crash on the M27 near Fareham in which six people were injured. [... more]

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