Ipswich stun weary Arsenal.
By: Paul Fletcher (BBC Sport). 
Tamas Priskin scored as struggling Ipswich stunned Arsenal to deservedly win the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final at Portman Road.
Arsenal struggled against Championship opposition as they were held by Leeds in the FA Cup on Saturday - and they again found it difficult to come to terms with a side from the second tier.
The goal came on 78 minutes after Priskin ran on to a through ball from Colin Healy and took one touch before drilling his strike into the bottom corner beyond Wojciech Szczseny.
And it might have got even worse for Arsene Wenger's team but goalkeeper Szczensy saved a late effort from Carlos Edwards.
Ipwich keeper Marton Fulop twice saved from Theo Walcott and Gunners skipper Cesc Fabregas failed to convert a cross that dropped invitingly inside the six-yard box, but across the 90 minutes the visiting side team had precious little to show for their efforts.
Town were thrashed 7-0 by Chelsea in the FA Cup on Sunday, are a lowly 19th in the Championship and had caretaker boss Ian McParland in charge after sacking Roy Keane last Friday.
But with new manager Paul Jewell watching from the stands before taking charge of the team on Thursday, the Tractor Boys belied a run of form that had seen them lose eight of their last 11 fixtures with a performance of tremendous desire and determination.
Ipswich visibly grew in confidence as the match wore on, received tremendous support from the sold-out Portman Road crowd of 29,146 and deservedly take their slender lead into the second-leg at the Emirates Stadium.
The Suffolk side lined-up with the dangerous Connor Wickham on the left side of a five-man midfield as Town successfully stymied their Premier League opponents.
Arsenal, hoping to use the Carling Cup to end a six-year wait for a trophy, threatened in the opening minutes and Fabregas was inches from connecting with a square pass from the largly ineffectual Andrey Arshavin.
Midway through the opening half Ipwich midfielder Edwards inadvertently forced keeper Fulop into action with a looping header towards his own goal.
But Arsenal, despite the presence of Fabregas, Arshavin, Walcott and Jack Wilshere in their starting XI, were poor and Ipswich grew in confidence as the match wore on.
Arsenal full-back Kieran Gibbs made a decent block from a shot by Edwards after 15 minutes, while Priskin went close with a vicious strike across goal after picking the ball up on the left and cutting inside just after the half-hour mark.
The Tractor Boys created a flurry of half-chances close to the break, the most notable of which came when Wickham showed great skill to create the space to cross from the left but skipper David Norris could not quite connect with his attempted header.
Priskin had the ball in the net with a spectacular overhead volley but he was offside and the Hungarian striker missed with a long-range strike as Ipswich worked up a head of steam against a sluggish Arsenal side.
Ipswich continued to play on the front foot after the restart, with veteran Mark Kennedy exemplifying the surging self-belief by attempting to chip Szczesny from close to the half-way line.
In contrast, Arsenal's flagging form was epitomised when the disappointing Denilson played team-mate Koscielny into trouble with a weak pass across the face of his team's penalty area.
Arshavin shot wide from the edge of the box in a rare Arsenal opening, while at the other end if took a last-ditch clearance from Johan Djourou to deny Priskin after a long-ball upfield from Jaime Peters unlocked the visiting team's defence.
Prior to conceding Arsenal had finally started to build some pressure, with Fulop smothering a Walcott effort from a tight angle and Fabregas failing to convert Gibbs' cross.
The goal came when another ball over the top caught out Arsenal, with Priskin's crisp low finish no less than his team deserved.
The Gunners had 12 minutes of normal time to find an equaliser but Fulop again denied Walcott as Ipswich closed out the match to give themselves a lead to defend in the second leg.
