ARSENAL 1 van Persie 39'
BIRMINGHAM CITY 2 Zigic 28', Martins 89'
Arsenal Szczesny - Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy - Rosicky, Song, Nasri, Wilshere - Arshavin (Chamakh 77), van Persie (Bendtner 69).
Subs not used: Almunia, Denilson, Squillaci, Eboue, Gibbs.
Booked: Koscielny, Clichy
Birmingham Foster - Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell - Fahey (Martins 83), Gardner (Beausejour 50), Ferguson, Bowyer, Larsson - Zigic (Jerome 90+2).
Subs not used: Taylor, Murphy, Phillips, Parnaby.
Booked: Larsson, Jerome, Ferguson
Attendance 88,851 at Wembley Referee Mike Dean (Wirral)
OBAFEMI MARTINS took advantage of a dreadful late defensive muddle to fire Birmingham City to their first major trophy since 1963.
Martins pounced on the mix-up between goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and centre-back Laurent Koscielny to tap the ball into an empty net from 12 yards in the 89th minute.
It was no less than the Blues had deserved after they stunned strong favourites Arsenal with a surprisingly enterprising performance.
Birmingham are the most goal-shy team in the Premier League with just 25 from 26 games but they could have been 1-0 up within three minutes.
Nikola Zigic slipped the ball through to Lee Bowyer who was brought down by Szczesny in the box.
It would have been a red card for the keeper and a penalty for the Blues but Bowyer was incorrectly flagged offside.
Undeterred, the Blues continued to play above the standard of a team sitting 16th in the league and they took the lead on 28 minutes.
The goal predictably came from the head of 6ft 8in striker Zigic who exposed the Gunners' continued inability to deal with set pieces.
More than half of the goals conceded by Arsenal have come from dead-ball situations in the league this season while Birmingham have had notable success in this area.
And, this time, Roger Johnson and Zigic won successive headers in the box with Szczesny stranded in no-man's land.
Zigic could have made it 2-0 shortly afterwards but he proved to be less adept with his feet after the ball had broken to him kindly in the box.
But, as the half drew to a close, Arsene Wenger's men finally began to respond. It looked as if Jack Wilshere had brought the Gunners level but his 25-yard screamer crashed off the bar.
It did not matter as the ball rebounded back into play where Andrey Arshavin twisted and turned before fashioning a cross for Robin van Persie to score with a fantastic finish.
However, in the process of hooking the ball from behind him, the Dutchman appeared to pick up a knock and he was replaced midway through the second half by Nicklas Bendtner.
If van Persie is injured, it would cause Wenger a further headache after he was deprived of the services of Theo Walcott and captain Cesc Fabregas for the Final today.
There are worries that, after this defeat, the injuries and fixture pile-up may cause Arsenal's season to be derailed with further important cup matches against Barcelona and possibly Manchester United coming up.
But the truth is that deficiencies in the Gunners' defensive armoury was well-known before this season's assault on all four competitions - and yet Wenger has still not sought to rectify this.
To give too much focus to Arsenal's weakness would be doing a disservice to Birmingham, though.
The Blues were unlucky not to have retaken the lead earlier than they did when Irish midfielder Keith Fahey hit the inside of the post.
But, in a refreshingly entertaining and open Cup Final contest, Arsenal threatened with notable efforts from Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Samir Nasri.
Clearly looking to avoid a period of extra time, Wenger's second half changes pointed towards an attempt to win the match inside the 90 minutes as Marouanne Chamakh replaced Arshavin and Bendtner stepped in for the ailing van Persie.
It was the equally-positive substitution from Alex McLeish which ended up making the difference, though.
With extra time looming, former Newcastle United man Martins, on for Fahey, found himself in the perfect place at the perfect time to capitalise on Koscielny's indecision.
And, with such little time left - four minutes of added time - Arsenal were unable to find a second equaliser.
Indeed, Martins could have made doubly sure of Birmingham success in stoppage time but he could not find a finish to his mazy run.
But, in the end, that mattered nought as McLeish became only the second-ever Birmingham manager to win a major trophy, after Gil Merrick beat Aston Villa over two legs in the 1963 Final of this competition.
In the build-up to the match, much had been made of Arsenal's supposed 'Cup drought' of almost six years but Blues fans had been waiting for 48 years until today.
Now, for the blue half of the Second City, the wait is over.
ROAD TO WEMBLEY
Arsenal
R3 beat Tottenham Hotspur (a) 4-1 after extra time
R4 beat Newcastle United (a) 4-0
R5 beat Wigan Athletic (h) 2-0
SF1 lost to Ipswich Town (a) 0-1
SF2 beat Ipswich Town (h) 3-0 to win 3-1 on aggregate
Birmingham City
R2 beat Rochdale (h) 3-2
R3 beat Milton Keynes Dons (h) 3-1
R4 beat Brentford (h) 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw a.e.t
R5 beat Aston Villa (h) 2-1
SF1 lost to West Ham United (a) 1-2
SF2 beat West Ham United (h) 3-1 after extra time to win 4-3 on aggregate
PREVIOUS LEAGUE CUP FINAL APPEARANCES
Arsenal
1968 lost 0-1 to Leeds United
1969 lost 1-3 to Swindon Town after extra time
1987 won 2-1 against Liverpool
1988 lost 2-3 to Luton Town
1993 won 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday
2007 lost 1-2 to Chelsea
Birmingham City
1963 won 3-1 against Aston Villa on aggregate (3-1 home, 0-0 away)
2001 lost 4-5 on penalties to Liverpool after 1-1 draw
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