Arsenal beaten by Blackburn in FA Cup
Blackburn registered a 1-0 win over Arsenal in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Arsenal s miserable season reached a new low on Saturday when the team was beaten 1-0 by second-tier Blackburn in the fifth round of the FA Cup, leaving manager Arsene Wenger facing an eighth straight season without silverware.
Humiliated by fourth-tier Bradford in the League Cup quarterfinals in December, Arsenal left to jeers from its own despairing supporters after Colin Kazim-Richards stabbed home a 72nd-minute winner at Emirates Stadium to create the latest big surprise in the FA Cup.
Wenger had never previously lost to a lower-division team in the famous old competition in his 17 years at the London club.
"It s painful and disappointing to lose a game like that," said Wenger, whose gamble in resting many of his top players ahead of Tuesday s Champions League last-16 first leg against Bayern Munich completely backfired. "It s very difficult to accept."
The Champions League is the only trophy Wenger s men have left to play for and they are big underdogs in that competition, too, especially after this lackluster display. The club s last trophy was the FA Cup in 2005.
