Arsenal have prevailed over West Bromwich Albion to reach the fourth round of the League Cup.
The Gunners were second best at The Hawthorns but triumphed on penalities, despite being behind at one point in the shootout.
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The first half was a sloppy affair, with plenty of misplaced passes from both sides.
Craig Dawson looped header a head that went just over the crossbar in the 26th minute, while Graham Dorrans struggled to find his range with three wild shots on goal.
Steven Reid clipped the top of the crossbar with a free kick in first-half injury time, meaning that the teams went in level at the break.
Despite creating little in front of goal in the first 45, it was the Gunners who took the lead against the run of play in the 61st minute.
Thomas Eisfeld got the goal, as he skipped onto a Nicklas Bendtner through-ball to calmly slot past Luke Daniels.
However, the Baggies drew level through Saido Berahino 10 minutes later, profiting off some slack marking to bury a header past Lukasz Fabianski.
The final whistle went with both teams level, which therefore brought 30 extra minutes in the Midlands.
Bendtner was left head in hands after being tackled by Diego Lugano having wasted what seemed like an eternity to shoot, while Morgan Amalfitano rattled the crossbar in the second 15-minute period.
The home side finished strongly but could not find a winner, meaning that penalties were needed to separate the two teams.
First blood went to the Baggies, as Daniels saved from Serge Gnabry, but poor misses from Dawson and Amalfitano gave Nacho Monreal the chance to put the Gunners into the fourth round, which he did with aplomb.
Arsene Wenger's men will play Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in the fourth round.
Michael Penkman
