As a great (sic) man once said, success breeds envy, so perhaps Arsene Wenger has been on a mission to rid the world of sin by avoiding the stuff for the last six years. It's been six long years since Arsenal last lifted a trophy, Patrick Vieira's final act in a red and white shirt scoring the penalty that beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final. Only three players remain from the Arsenal side that day: a teenage Cesc Fabregas started the match, Robin van Persie came off the bench in stoppage time and Manuel Almunia was an unused substitute. Arsenal's six-year trophy drought has been a stick for their devoted critics to beat them with, although at times, Wenger hasn't seemed that bothered. He's got a plan, you see. "If you win the Carling Cup, for me you cannot really say you win 'trophies'," he said last year. Yeah, right, Arsene, winning's for losers, if you really think long and hard about it. That philosophy hasn't done Arsenal much good - the painters at the Emirates had to stop drawing trophies on the stadium once they got to 2005 - but this year something has clicked. Wenger has tended to treat the Carling Cup as an opportunity to play the youngsters; enough against the Sheffield Uniteds of this world, foolhardy against Chelsea and Manchester United. But Wenger has realised this miserable statistic needs arresting and when Arsenal played Tottenham in the third round, the likes of Samir Nasri started and they won 4-1.

Of course, the quote doesn't really have that much import. It's just a thing managers say, an automatic defence mechanism, like Sir Alex Ferguson defending Wayne Rooney's liberal use of his elbow yesterday. There are plenty of fans who would love to have experienced Arsenal's 'drought' of course; constant top-four finishes, title challenges, cup finals, brilliant football, Champions League runs and Emmanuel Eboue. But that's not enough for a club like Arsenal and, in a way, they've held an Indian sign over themselves for the last six years. Not Winning has become a complex; when Jose Mourinho came to Chelsea in 2004, he made sure he won a trophy as soon as possible, even if it was only the Carling Cup. Manchester United didn't know they could win the Champions League, until they won a group match against Juventus in 1997 - maybe Arsenal's victory over Barcelona will have a similar effect (although perhaps only if they go through). Winning breeds winners. So, yes, it's a competition sponsored by a beer so putrid I've refused to even countenance drinking one of the free cans that are lying around this office, but its importance can be under-played. After all, after three trophyless years, a young United side beat Wigan 4-0 in 2006, won the league the next year and the Champions League in the one after that. So, just saying. From 1997-2004, Wenger created three thrilling teams at Arsenal. This one could - could - be his fourth.

Standing in their way, though, are their own insecurities Birmingham City. Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon have just made a film about this lot. As you can tell from the previous two paragraphs, Birmingham are huge underdogs for this game. As you'd expect, they've lost both of their league games against Arsenal this season, the last a depressing 3-0 defeat at home. But, as they proved in their marvellous comeback against West Ham in the semi-final, only a fool would write them off. They're a great second-half side. Arsenal could be 4-0 up at half time and, well, Phil Dowd. Birmingham will be encouraged by the injuries to Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott, and the knowledge that possess all the tools (ie, Lee Bowyer) to irritate Arsenal beyond belief this afternoon. If Birmingham aren't exactly Stoke, they certainly like to play the percentages, and plenty will depend on whether Arsenal will cope with the incessant long balls to Nikola Zigic, who scored a header at the Emirates earlier this season. When Alex McLeish was at Rangers, they won five out of five cup finals. Birmingham's history is not exactly glittering. They haven't won anything since 1963, when they beat Aston Villa 3-1 in the League Cup final. Forty-eight years. 48! Now that's a trophy drought.

Team news: As we knew, there's no Fabregas or Walcott, so Tomas Rosicky and Andrey Arshavin come in for Arsenal. Otherwise they're at full strength, with the exceptional Robin van Persie recovering from a calf injury to start on his own up front. Laurent Koscielny was also a slight doubt but he's in too, so his impressive partnership Birmingham had injury worries over Stephen Carr and Martin Jiranek, but other than the absence of Scott Dann, their defence is as strong as they could hope for. Nikola Zigic is on his own up front, and Birmingham will have to get forward from midfield to support him. To be fair, all of their midfielders do that very well.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy; Song, Wilshere; Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin; Van Persie. Subs: Almunia, Denilson, Eboue, Chamakh, Bendtner, Diaby, Squillaci.

Birmingham (4-5-1): Foster; Carr, Jiranek, Johnson, Ridgewell; Larsson, Ferguson, Gardner, Bowyer, Fahey; Zigic. Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Phillips, Jerome, Martins, Parnaby, Beausejour.

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

Cup final songs: As far as I'm aware, cup songs were never really used for the League Cup, another example of its status as the FA Cup's poorer relation. Neither side has concocted one today anyway, so here are a few suggestions for what they could have used.

Arsenal Away Boyz. Yes, Boyz. With a 'z', not an 's'. Banterrific!

As for Birmingham, this will have to do.



This match is being shown on BBC and Sky. BBC have an interview with Bob Wilson now, so I'm going with them. How about you?

Our first email of Cup final day! Who do you reckon it's from? "Re Wenger's view of this competition, do you think he'll do a Mourinho and fling his medal into the crowd?" asks Gary Naylor. "And if so, how much will it go for on Ebay tonight?"

Jingo-watch: "I guarantee you Arsenal won't have as much determination as our lot on the day," says Craig Gardner, presumably because Arsenal aren't as BRITISH and ENGLISH as Birmingham, and as such have very little determination.

The internet in action: On Wikipedia, Birmingham are listed as the runners-up of the 2011 Carling Cup. Tempting fate or what? They might as well not turn up.

More emails.

"How much do you have to hate your team to actually sit down and pen that song(live + breath)," asks Anish. "Apparently they've got albums of songs just like that. Surely they're a bunch of Spurs fans on a WUM, right?" No, actual Arsenal fans.

"The urgent question that I need an answer to is what to watch - England's exciting but ultimately futile run chase or Arsenal's inevitable defeat to a scrappy Birmingham goal in the 86th minute?" asks Kat Petersen. "Please advise." Do you work for Wikipedia?

"Although I am confident in Arsene's team, I have never been truly convinced by Clichy and I wish Ashley Cole was still with Arsenal," says Scott Stricker. "Cole's experience, defensive know-how, and winning mentality would be invaluable to this young side, and though he isn't the most prolific goal scorer I am impressed by his determination to improve upon his shooting ability, by any means necessary." I waited a long time for you to get there, but by jove you got there in the end! When John Terry told Chelsea to man up, this probably wasn't what he had in mind.

"I had my photo taken with Bob Wilson outside the Stade de France during the 1998 World Cup," says Mark Judd. "He is a top bloke."

"Mr. Steinberg-Casual, how exactly did you notice this change in Birmingham's wikipedia entry?" asks Alexander Wilson. "Are you trying to tell me that your research for this game involves nothing more substantial than a cursory glance at both side's wikipedia pages just before kick-off? Forsooth." You've rumbled me.

"Considering how much it's said that this is a spring board to other tropies, surely if Arsenal do win now they will go on to lose all the others, if they lose today they'll win all the others, just to spite the pundits," says Oliver Lewis.

The teams stride out on to the Wembley pitch. Van Persie leads out Arsenal, Carr leads out Birmingham. Birmingham are wearing tracksuit tops over their kits; that never looks good.

The teams are meeting the sponsors. All the players are smiling a lot, which is nice. That's followed by the national anthem - I can only see Liam Ridgewell singing. Alex Song opts out.

1 min: Birmingham, attacking from left to right, get us going. There's a rare old atmosphere inside Wembley. I've got a good feeling about this one. Birmingham go on the attack immediately but Clichy halts Larsson's run with a fine tackle. Arsenal win the ball back and are immediately booed by the Birmingham contingent. "Ashley Cole's presence can give anyone a shot in the arm," honks Jon Millard. Keep them coming people.

2 min: What an escape for Arsenal, who have been let off the hook by a poor offside decision. Zigic immediately causes problems with his height, as he takes down a fine lofted pass from Fahey on his chest. Arsenal stand off him and Zigic gloriously slips a pass through to the onrushing Bowyer, making one of his trademark runs from midfield. Bowyer gets to the pass before Szczesny and nips it round the goalkeeper who brings him down! That's a penalty! And a red card - but the flag, incorrectly, goes up for offside.

4 min: This has been a very good start from Birmingham, who are playing with very little inhibition. Arsenal haven't seen much of the ball yet. They look nervous.

5 min: Gardner wheeches a shot well wide from 30 yards. But Arsenal will have to keep an eye on him; he's got a superb shot from long range on him. They've just shown the offside decision again and Bowyer was at least a yard onside. It was a clear foul by Szczesny too and although I'm not a fan of the last-man rule, it was a sending off too.

7 min: The first glimmer of threat from Arsenal. Sagna breaks clear down the right, but his pass inside to Nasri is cut out by a Birmingham defender. The ball comes back to Sagna, who finds Van Persie on the edge of the area, and the Dutchman plays a clever one-two with Wilshere, whose stabbed pass over the top sends the Dutchman too wide on the left. He scored from a similar position against Barcelona, but this time his hooked volley goes well over Foster's near post.

8 min: This is a cracking start from both sides and Arsenal are starting to dominate proceedings. Nasri slides a pass into Arshavin's feet inside the area. On the six-yard box, Arshavin has his back to goal and is seemingly well marked by Jiranek but a clever turn by the Russian completely dupes the Czech defender, who has no idea where the attacker has gone. Having worked a yard of space, Arshavin drives a low shot towards goal but Foster saves brilliantly with his feet.

9 min: It's all Arsenal all of a sudden and from two corners in quick succession, Djourou causes havoc in Birmingham's area. He wins both headers from respective corners from Nasri and Van Persie but the first goes wide and the second loops over. He might have done better with both.

11 min: "I think you might be right about 'True Grit'," says Steven Hughes. "If Bridges and Damon's film is indeed about Birmingham City then the lifeless body that Bridges' character comes across (which crashes to the ground from a great height) must be Nikola Zigic." To be honest, you had me at 'I think you might be right...'

13 min: A lull, Birmingham stroking the thing round at the back before Foster ruins it all by hoofing the ball straight back to Sagna. "Who was the girl singing the national anthem?" asks Laura. Anyone? She was very good, mind you.

14 min: Sorry to dwell on the controversy surrounding the Bowyer non-penalty, but it strikes me that there was a similar incident in last year's final when Vidic wasn't sent off for his foul on Agbonlahor that led to Villa's penalty. Back to the action, Arsenal are crackling with menace now, and this is a lovely run from Nasri, a twinkle-toed run from the right befuddling Birmingham's defence. He dances into the area in mesmeric style but with Birmingham only able to stand and watch in complete awe, he slices his shot over the bar from a tight angle. Rosicky, I think, was steaming in at the far post and he could have crossed it. But would anyone dare criticise Nasri this season?

17 min: Great play from Zigic sets up a Birmingham attack. He had a posse of Arsenal defenders surrounding him but he used his strength expertly to hold them all off. He released the ball to Fahey on the left, but his cross was poor and ended up at the feet of Larsson out on the right. He took a touch and hoicked the ball back into the box, but Fahey heads his deep cross straight at Szczesny who holds well.

19 min: "It'll be interesting to see how Arsenal will fight back from 1-0 down with only ten men," says David Goldstone. "Oh wait."

20 min: Arsenal's fans are singing a naughty song about Adebayor but this is a family site, so we won't be repeating any of that here. After that flurry from Arsenal, Birmingham are finding their feet again, and as if to prove my point, Koscielny hands them a throw-in with a dire pass to Clichy on the left.

21 min: Oh dear. When he's good, he's brilliant. When he's bad, he's bad. And he fluctuates from the sublime to the ridiculous in the course of one match. So here's Arshavin darting forward on the left and dragging a ludicrously poor shot around 20 yards wide of Foster's right post. "The BBC really needs to step up it's efforts to find a number one commentator who isn't the terminally bland, cliche ridden Guy Mowbray," says Ben Stokes. "He's Partridge-esque in his total lack of any wit or humour and crushing sincerity. I don't think Lawro likes hime either."

22 min: Wilshere nearly breaks on to a through ball inside Birmingham's area but Foster is alert and speeds off his line to smother the danger. A goal is coming, you can feel it, and it's probably coming for Arsenal. That said, they do miss Fabregas and Walcott; they've got one too many ball players on the pitch.

23 min: Arsenal indulge themselves in some silly buggers in their own box, Djourou slamming his clearance against Sagna. The ball nearly breaks for Zigic, but eventually the danger is cleared. The Birmingham fans are in fine voice. "I thought that A. Cole was a former Gunner," says Fred Lane. HONK!

25 min: Clichy cuts on to his right foot and curls a high cross towards Arshavin in the box. Arshavin shows him what he thinks of such tactics by not even bothering to jump, and Johnson heads away easily.

26 min: Ferguson tries to spring Arsenal's offside trap, but Koscielny gets in the way of his attempted pass through to Zigic. Arsenal counter at a thrilling speed, Nasri's cute pass slicing through Birmingham's midfield and getting Rosicky scampering through the middle. He slides a pass to Van Persie on the left, but as the Dutchman tries to trick his way past Jiranek inside Birmingham's area, the Czech defender tackles him beautifully.

GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Birmingham (Zigic, 28 min): Wait a minute, there's a shock on the cards here! The underdogs are in front and the big man has undone Arsenal again. Bowyer picked up possession on the left and curled an inswinging cross towards him at the far post, forcing Arsenal to concede a corner on the right. Larsson took the corner and crossed it well away from goal, around 15 yards out. There should have been no danger for Arsenal but Johnson rose above Kosicelny to head it into the mixer, and around two yards from goal, Zigic flicked the ball past the flapping Szczesny, who was all over the place. As far as Arsenal are concerned, that is such a foolish goal to concede but Birmingham are jubilant.

29 min: Arsenal nearly hit back straight away but Van Persie's flick from a cross from the right - I'm not sure who put it in - drops inches wide of Foster's left-hand post.

31 min: Bowyer scoots down the right and under severe pressure from Clichy, whips a superb low ball across the face of Arsenal's goal. Unfortunately for him - and perhaps unforgivably on Birmingham's part - none of his team-mates had made it into the area, and it would only have needed the merest of touches.

33 min: Zigic barely had to jump to score. Szczesny is 6ft5 and couldn't get near him. Rosicky catches Carr with a late tackle, but he's not booked. Carr accepts the foul with a grin.

34 min: Arsenal are all over the place and what a pivotal moment this could turn out to be. From another long ball, Zigic causes more problems for Arsenal, heading down to the unchecked Gardner on the edge of the box. Gardner looks to shoot but is bundled over by Wilshere, who inadvertently knocks the ball through to Zigic. With Arsenal's defence nowhere, Zigic bursts through but the ball wouldn't quite sit nicely for him, which allowed Szczesny to block his weak prod at goal. It should be 2-0; instead Arsenal are still in it.

35 min: Birmingham have the bit between their teeth and Arsenal don't know what's hit them. Larsson drives a low cross into Arsenal's six-yard box, and Djourou clears in a panic.

36 min: The move that led to Birmingham's move was started by a loose pass in his own half from Sagna. I can tell you this because there's a stoppage in play due to an injury for Bowyer, who was caught by a stamped tackle from Koscielny. He's booked and is lucky he didn't actually make proper contact on Bowyer, because that could have been very nasty indeed. "I'm harbouring a niggling worry that the intense atmosphere and physicality of the opponents might precipitate an Arsenal melt-down a la St James Park, with Lee Bowyer in the Barton/Nolan role.," says Justin Kirkham. "Oh no they've just scored. Oh why did I tempt fate like that?" Fool.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Birmingham (Van Persie, 39 min): And just how much are Birmingham going to regret Zigic's miss? Barely five minutes after they could have made it 2-0, they've lost their lead after a goal of the very highest quality from Robin van Persie, who, well, what a player. What. A. Player. Arsenal were really under the cosh before this, but after they'd coped with a Birmingham free-kick, they broke forward at quite some pace. With Birmingham creaking, Wilshere picked up possession on the edge of the area and produced a sublime left-footer that cracked on to the bar, with Foster beaten. If Birmingham thought they'd got away with it, they were wrong though. The ball broke to Arshavin on the right and he wriggled clear of Ridgewell, making his way to the byline and then hooking the ball towards Van Persie. Despite the presence of many Birmingham defenders, he contorted his body to acrobatically hook a superb volley with his 'weaker' right foot into the bottom left corner from eight yards. Unstoppable. How did he manage that? Foster didn't even bother moving. Just when Birmingham thought they were out, Arsenal go and pull them back in.

42 min: Phew. What a final this is turning out to be. Larsson is booked for a foul. He's not happy about it but Arsenal have a free-kick just inside Birmingham's half. It's lofted into the area, and although Foster drops his catch at first, eventually he recovers to avert the danger. "When Arsenal go on to win this final, do Mike Dean and his assistants receive winner's medals, or, as they likely haven't played the requisite minimum matches, do Arsenal have to apply for special dispensation?" asks Jonathan Francis. To be fair, it wasn't the worst mistake you'll ever see, it was just poor eyesight. Offsides are tricky to call at the best of times. Bowyer was on, but you can't blame Mike Dean.

45 min: Bowyer is down again. Makes a change. There will be four minutes more in this half. "Agree with your point of Arsenal having one too many ball players on the pitch," says William Marzouk. "RELEASE THE NIK BENDTNER!!"

45 min+1: Well so far nothing has happened in injury time.

45 min+2: Larsson picks out a diagonal pass to Zigic again but the big Serbian mistimes his jump and heads the ball straight to Szcezsny.

45 min+4: A last chance for Arsenal in this half, as Nasri wins a corner on the right off Ridgewell. He takes it short with Van Persie, before laying the ball back to Sagna. For a moment it looked like his cross was going to find the unmarked Djourou just in front of Birmingham's goal, until Johnson headed away crucially.

45 min+5: Make that one more chance. Nasri again finds space between the lines and welps a stinging, swerving drive that Foster beats away.

Peep! Peep! Mike Dean brings a breathless half to a close. More, please! That was excellent.

An alarming stat for Birmingham: In 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 the team who scored first in the final went on to lose.

46 min: Arsenal get us going then. As usual at the start of a second half at Wembley, there are plenty of empty seats. Carling's not that good.

47 min: The second half starts as the first half ended, bright, open and entertaining. Arsenal cut Birmingham open through the middle - they've done that far too many times today - and the ball is worked to Nasri by Arshavin on the right side of the area. He doesn't have many options though, and delays and delays and delays, unsure whether to shoot or cross. He does neither in the end and finds Sagna instead, whose cross is headed over by Wilshere. He took a blow to the head from Carr as he did, but he's ok to continue.

48 min: Sagna has been such a threat for Arsenal on the overlap and here he is again, bursting on to a pass down the inside right channel. He reaches it before it goes out for a goalkick and cuts it back to the edge of the area, where Nasri beats it on the full, clipping a lovely low drive that skims ominously across the wet Wembley turf, but zips just wide of the left post, with Foster beaten. That would have been a great goal.

50 min: Birmingham substitution: Craig Gardner appears to have picked up a knock so Jean Beausejour come on in his place.

51 min: Arsenal corner, as Van Persie slithers on to a pass from Nasri, forcing Johnson to put the ball behind. Nasri's corner is dreadful though, low and straight to the defender at the near post. A professional footballer and all. Arsenal have started this half well and Birmingham have barely made it into their half yet.

53 min: Now they do, and as they do, Clichy is booked for a bodycheck on Fahey on the right. Fahey beat Clichy so easily there. This is a highly promising position for Birmingham.

54 min: Great defending from Koscielny who heads Larsson's devillish, pacy free-kick over his own bar in the six-yard box. Another chance for Birmingham though, Larsson trotting over to the left to take it. His corner is cleared as far as Ferguson, who sprays the ball out to Fahey on the right. His cross is poor though and Djourou heads away.

55 min: Carr chips the ball over Arsenal's high line, but Zigic is roughly 457 yards offside.

56 min: This match is fascinatingly poised. If Ashley Cole pointed an air rifle at my head and made me choose, I'd probably go for Arsenal, but Birmingham carry a real threat, especially with Zigic playing so well. Here is again, nodding down for Bowyer, who shanks a volley miles over the top from 30 yards, to jeers from the Arsenal fans.

58 min: Now it's Birmingham's turn to rattle the woodwork! It was catastrophic defending from Arsenal that led to the chance, the bumbling Djourou losing the run of himself and gifting possession to Beausejour. It looked like he had taken too long to decide what to do but managed to squeeze a pass to Fahey on the edge of the area. It looked like he was going to be crowded out but when his first shot was deflected back to him, in a flash he instantly smashed the ball low and hard on to the base of Szczesny's left post. So, so unlucky for Birmingham who have arguably had the better chances in this final, although perhaps not the better of the game.

60 min: I should point out that Djourou was played into trouble by a rather ill-advised lob from Wilshere. I'd say he should know better but he's only 19, bless him, the absurdly talented little scamp.

61 min: Beausejour has had a massive impact for Birmingham since coming on, offering them pace and skill on the left. He skins Song with alarming ease on the left, but his low ball into the area is too close to Szcezny. After Arsenal started the second half well, Birmingham are back on top.

63 min: This match is as wildly unpredictable as Ashley Cole with an air rifle. One minute Arsenal are in the ascendant, then Birmingham. It's terrific stuff. At the moment, Wenger looks the more troubled of the two managers.

64 min: Johnson is limping after landing awkwardly. He went off for treatment but he's back now.

65 min: "So Birmingham should be a man up and have had a penalty and have still created the better chances but have not had the better of the game?" points out Joshua Schaefer. "Maybe you're just being seduced to say nonsense by the absurdly talented little scamp?" That's a fair point. Hmmm. I take it all back. I'm not sure Johnson is going to be able to continue, you know.

66 min: Birmingham free-kick. It's lumped to Zigic - who else - and although he wins his header on the right of the area, it wouldn't quite come down for either Bowyer or Fahey and Arsenal get it clear. Like most sides, they have been rumbled by Zigic today.

68 min: Now Jiranek is down. Both Birmingham defenders are struggling with injuries. Oh, this is not good.

69 min: Arsenal are offering nothing at the moment. Bendtner is getting ready to come on and I expect Rosicky, who has been invisible (although not literally), to come off.

70 min: Arsenal make their first substitution and this is what Birmingham want to see: Van Persie, who's also hobbling, comes off and The Best Striker In The World™ comes on in his place.

71 min: Welcome to the game, Nicklas. His first contribution is to win a free-kick for Arsenal on the right, Ridgewell dragging him down two yards away from the assistant referee. Nasri takes it but Song heads well wide on the left.

72 min: The pace has slowed a little here. Remarkably, despite appearing to only have the use of one leg, there's no sign of Johnson going off.

75 min: Arsenal have done nothing for about twenty minutes but suddenly they burst into life, Nasri, of course, leading the charge forward. This is the danger for Birmingham - they've edged this half mostly, but Arsenal have players of such quality, and Nasri nearly makes the difference, scooting through into the area, and smashing the ball towards goal. Luckily for Birmingham it was straight at Foster who blocked it well.

78 min: Apologies. The mbm tool just crashed momentarily (there's an open goal here) which meant I wasn't able to inform you of another superb save by Foster from Bendtner's shot from six yards out. It took a heavy deflection and spun up, Foster brilliantly sticking up a hand to palm it away and then grab the ball with Nasri lurking. Then Arshavin went off for Marouane Chamakh.

80 min: It's increasingly becoming Arsenal v Ben Foster. Has Birmingham's chance to win this gone? First Jiranek dawdled on a long pass down on the left, allowing Chamakh to nip in and steal the ball. He slid a low cross into the six-yard box, where Nasri tried to score with a delicate backheel, Foster saving at his feet. Then Nasri cut in from the left, and unleashed a swerving shot towards the far corner, Foster flying to his left to beat the ball away.

81 min: Nasri, Nasri, Nasri. Nasri's aim eludes him this time as he drags a low free-kick wide of the left post from 30 yards out.

83 min: Finally Birmingham get some respite from the Arsenal pressure, as Beausejour wins a corner on the left. Larsson whips it in but nothing doing. Birmingham make another change now and it's an attacking one too, Fahey, who hit the post, replaced by Obafemi Martins. So they'll go to 4-4-2.

84 min: Oof. Nearly. Carr crosses from the right and Beausejour's header through to Bowyer just zips away from the midfielder on the skiddy surface.

85 min: It's a cup final, an unpredictable beast, but if Arsenal play like this against Barcelona, they'll be on the end of a thrashing. Although it's unlikely Barcelona have a Nikola Zigic type to call upon. Maybe Messi could do it; he did score a header last night after all.

87 min: Birmingham have found a second wind. Carr beats several Arsenal players on the right and digs out a dangerous cross towards Zigic and Martins, Koscielny getting in the way. I always think it's embarrassing for any player to be beaten by Carr. He retired!

88 min: Tomas Rosicky used to be such a fine player. These days, not so much. Birmingham back off him, inviting the shot but instead his pass through to Chamakh is woefully over-hit.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham (Martins, 89 min): What a disaster! Birmingham have surely won it! Birmingham have surely won the Carling Cup! Ben Foster smashed a high free-kick up towards Arsenal's area and Zigic, of course, won it, the ball running through harmlessly. Or so it seemed. There was no communication between Szcezny and Koscielny at all. Koscielny went to swing his foot to clear but must have heard a call from Szczeny and suddenly pulled his foot away, Koscielny tumbling over his keeper. Szczeny couldn't react quickly enough and spilled the ball straight to Martins who couldn't miss from six yards out. With his left foot, he didn't. What an utter, unforgivable farce.

90 min: Birmingham can barely believe it. That was a goal that sums up all of Arsenal's defensive failings. Cameron Jerome comes on for Zigic. There will be four minutes of stoppage time.

90 min+3: Oh, Arsene.

90 min+4: Martins nearly seals it! He beats Djourou to a long ball, steps round Szczeny ... and then loses control with the angle too tight to shoot.

90 min+5: Arsenal have a throw deep in Birmingham;s territory. Ferguson and Jerome have been booked. This is astonishing. Carr heads clear.

PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! BIRMINGHAM CITY HAVE WON THE CARLING CUP!

Wembley erupts! Well, one half of it. Birmingham can barely believe it. Nor can Arsenal.

That goal. Oh me, oh my. What were they playing at? Szcezny and Koscielny must accept equal blame, the lack of communication unacceptable. It's such a shame for two young players too, both of whom performing so well for Arsenal in recent weeks. No one should be too critical of Szczeny who is clearly a talented goalkeeper. But what a mistake, the footballing equivalent of a never-ending tickle.

Here's the match-winner, Obafemi Martins: to sum up, he's glad to have scored the winner. What an impact he had.

It's Birmingham's first trophy since 1963, which puts Arsenal's six-year wait in perspective. Alex McLeish calls it a "titanic effort" on the part of his players. He's mobbed by Barry Ferguson and on that subject, here's Ryan Dunne. "Great to see Big Eck and Pure Barry Ferguson getting some English silverware! Reminds one of their exploits with the Glorious Glasgow Rangers."

Arsenal's players look fairly sheepish. I'm guessing they won't be keeping those runners-up medals. The wait for a trophy goes on. "Last year it was Gibbs tripping in the box against ManU, this year it's Szczezny," says Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo. "Can we finally agree that depending on youth in these key games is a flawed strategy?" I'm not sure - it's not as if they had anyone else to call upon and this team, minus Fabregas and Walcott, beat Barcelona. They just didn't turn up properly today and Birmingham fully deserved it.

This might be seen as the culmination of six years of defensive hilarity from Arsenal. I think that would be slightly disingenuous, but FOR GOD'S SAKE.

Anyway, back to Birmingham. Stephen Carr, who retired and came back to football, leads his victorious team up to the trophy. Ben Foster is awarded man of the match. He was excellent. Carr lifts the trophy and half of Wembley explodes with joy.

"Well Jacob, that's one lost for us and three more left to lose," says Michelle Peters-Jones. "Can you tell I am very disappointed in Arsenal right now?" I'm getting that vibe, yes. That goal will be narrated by Nick Hancock for years to come.

"Queued up for 4 hours in the rain at Brisbane Rd for an FA Cup replay ticket yesterday," says Ian Burch. "I didn't realise then that the O's would start as favourites for the game on Weds." Imagine.

A huge roar as the impeccable Alex McLeish lifts the trophy. His introduction of Martins was inspired, as it came just when Birmingham looked like collapsing.

Post-match thoughts. What a mess. Still, Arsenal only have Barcelona to come next Tuesday. As for Birmingham, they were wonderful, completely confounding all the pre-match predictions. And, of course, they will play in the Europa League next season. If they avoid relegation, this will go down as their greatest ever season, I'd wager. And I refer you back to this. Thanks for all your emails, sorry I couldn't use them all.