Priskin gives Ipswich famous win
Tamas Priskin fired npower Championship strugglers Ipswich to a deserved 1-0 win over a strong Arsenal side in Wednesday night's Carling Cup semi-final first leg at Portman Road.
The Tractor Boys had been thrashed 7-0 at Chelsea in their FA Cup third-round tie on Saturday after axing Roy Keane.
However, there was to be no repeat as under the guidance of Ian McParland, with new boss Paul Jewell watching from the stands, a second-half strike from Priskin gave the Suffolk side reward for their endeavours and a slender advantage to defend at the Emirates Stadium in a fortnight's time.
Both teams made positive starts, with half-chances for Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas, while Ipswich forward Connor Wickham, a reported Arsenal target, was also lively on a slick playing surface.
After 14 minutes, the hosts broke quickly as Priskin received the ball up on the left before cutting inside and unleashing a 20-yard curling effort which flashed just wide.
The home fans were on their feet when Priskin netted an acrobatic overhead kick after 42 minutes, but celebrations were immediately cut short by an offside flag.
Just after the hour, somehow Arsenal survived when a long ball caught out Laurent Koscielny. For a moment Priskin was clean through on goal, however Johan Djourou made a brilliant interception to knock the ball over his own crossbar from inside the six-yard box.
Arsenal looked to raise the tempo and Marton Fulop had to make a smart save at his near post after Walcott had been played in by Fabregas. The Arsenal skipper then put Kieran Gibbs' cross over from four yards out off his thigh after Chamakh had just failed to connect.
Ipswich finally made the breakthrough after 78 minutes when Colin Healy's through-ball split the Arsenal centre-backs and Priskin got ahead of Djourou to calmly slot into the bottom right corner.
The Gunners pressed forward, with Fulop coming out to block Walcott before Wojciech Szczesny saved from Carlos Edwards at his near post and the Tractor Boys closed out for a famous victory.
