Teams Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould, Winterburn, Jensen, Schwarz, McGoldrick, Merson, Kiwomya, Wright Subs: Hartson (McGoldrick h-t), Parlour (Kiwomya 78), Keown, Linighan, Bartram
Auxerre: Cool, Goma, West, Verlaat, Mahe, Rabarivony, Lamouchi, Voileau, Laslandes, Martins, Vahirua Subs: Remy (Rabarivony 78), Baticle (Vahirua 80), ?
Result : Arsenal (0) 1 Auxerre (0) 1 Scorers: Wright 60 pen Verlaat 62
Bookings: Schwarz, Adams West, Voileau, Vahirua
Att : 35508 Referee : Leif Sundell (Sweden)
There's probably not much I can add to what's been said about the match already, but I'll carry on with a report anyway, out of habit as much as anything else. The game was played in swirling sleet/snow which certainly didn't add to the spectacle, but the real disappointment was that Arsenal just couldn't get to grips with Auxerre's tactics and superb organisation. The French team also played some beautiful one-touch football, and their neat passing movements often threatened to produce more than the one goal it did.
At times, certainly in the first half, it seemed everybody apart from Adams and Bould was being closely man-marked and there was nobody on the home team with the wit to overcome this problem. Slightly surprisingly Kiwomya partnered Wright up front, with Merson drifting around though mostly on the left, and Eddie on the right. All three forwards were closely shadowed by their markers for the whole match and none of them were able to escape for more than a moment.
Early in the first half things looked quite promising. Kiwomya did well in the opening minute, wriggling free for a moment in the area but his pass across the area was blocked. Then after 5 minutes or so, Schwarz won a tussle for possession just outside the area and turned to fire an instant shot which the keeper did well to beat away.
Meanwhile, at the other end Auxerre were already looking very dangerous on the break, and should have scored soon after Schwarz's attempt. Vahirua played a diagonal ball into the area from the left (which I think in fact was a mishit shot), Bould left it not realising Laslandes was behind him with Winterburn nowhere in sight, to leave the Auxerre striker with only Seaman to beat from the corner of the six yard box. Fortunately he completely mishit his shot and it rolled just wide of the far post.
Arsenal then almost scored a typical goal. Bould flicked on a Schwarz near post corner but it was just too high for Wright and was cleared almost off the line by a defender. Jensen, I think, then mishit a volley back but it went to Kiwomya standing on the corner of the 6-yd box, and he swivelled to shoot but dragged it wide of the post.
The rest of the half was fairly comfortably controlled by Auxerre. Arsenal had most of the possession but only other real threat I can recall was when Schwarz beautifully set up Winterburn for a run into the box with a backheel. Nutty crossed to the far post where Kiwomya stretched to head wide with McGoldrick possibly better placed behind him.
Auxerre should have scored a couple of times later in the half when Laslandes twice beat the offside trap to get on the end of a chips into the box. One from the left he backheaded just over the bar, then from one from the right he didn't seem to realise how much time he had and put a mistimed header tamely wide.
The second half was an improvement, and credit to Houston for accepting that things weren't working and replacing McGoldrick with Hartson. However, it was Auxerre who might have scored first. Another quick break resulted in a ball into the box from the left being taken by Lamouchi, I think. He didn't control it properly but Winterburn, following the flight of the ball lunged in and appeared to bring him down. The ball however broke to another Auxerre player who put his shot wide of the near post. Thankfully, the ref didn't give the penalty.
With Hartson at least offering some sort of target for the inevitable long balls forward Arsenal were able to exert more in the way of pressure, and it almost paid off soon afterwards. After a bit of a scramble just beyond the left corner of the box, Winterburn played a nice ball forward into the path of Merson, and his pull back along the six yard line evaded everybody and went just behind Wright at the far post. He turned to collect it and then swivelled to fire in a shot which cleared the angle of far post and crossbar by a matter of inches.
The goal finally came when yet another corner was half cleared to Jensen on the edge of the box. His volley was blocked, but the ball came back to him, he pushed it back into the box, typically too far but West had already lunged in with a needless tackle and the ref had no hesitation or option in awarding a penalty. After a slightly worrying delay while Jensen was stretchered off, Wright calmly slotted the ball inside the keeper's right hand post.
Much relief, but within a couple of minutes Auxerre were level. A mishit shot was heading out for a throw or goal kick, but hit the corner flag and stayed in. It was retrieved by an Auxerre player before Dixon, dashing back, dived in and cleanly put the ball out for a throw. The ref however deemed it a dangerous challenge and awarded a free kick. The ball was whipped in to the near post by Martins, where Verlaat won the battle between two unmarked AJA players and nodded it simply down and inside the post.
Soon afterwards Arsenal could have gone in front again with what was probably their best chance. Hartson received a ball into his feet just outside the box and turned well to touch a pass into the path of Wright running virtually onto the penalty spot. For once he'd got just in front of his marker but a well hit rising shot just clipped the top of the bar.
After that Auxerre defended even deeper, Arsenal huffed and puffed but only occasionally looked like scoring. Merson had a couple of shots from outside the box which on another night might have gone in, but this time cleared the bar and the post by a foot or two. The last ten minutes saw fairly sustained pressure with a series of corners on the left from Schwarz which almost brought some reward. One to the near post was half cleared by Bould's marker to be collected by Hartson, but his shot from an angle was deflected wide by a defender when it could have gone anywhere.
After another corner was half cleared, Dixon I think swung it back in to the far post where Hartson and Adams got in each other's way, but still managed to nod the ball back, where the keeper and a defender in turn got in each other's way. The ball dropped awkwardly to Wright, but under challenge from a defender his miscued shot was still heading for goal before it was cleared off the line.
Soon after that Merson did well to dribble into the area on the right and curl in a cross which went just over Hartson's head and just eluded Adams' lunge at the far post. In injury time Hartson could have won it for Arsenal when Dixon again I think, played in a diagonal ball from the right which was headed up into the air. Standing more or less on the 6-yd line Hartson misjudged the spinning ball, first failing to get his head to it, then missing it again as it bounced. Meanwhile, Auxerre almost stole it at the death after another break when Martins lobbed a delicate volley over Seaman, but fortunately just over the bar as well.
It's probably true that Arsenal didn't really deserve to win the game. Certainly Auxerre played much the better and more threatening football. However, on another night we might just have nicked it. The goal was given away through poor marking and most refs wouldn't have given the free kick to begin with. Individually, I'd say Schwarz had a pretty good game, Jensen was his usual plodding self, Winterburn did look woefully short of pace on a couple of occasions, and the best thing that can be said about Wrighty was that he showed the effects of not playing any competitive football for four weeks. The Adams - Bould partnership also looked a bit rusty at times and Merson, while looking lively on occasion, was so closely marked by Goma that he only occasionally was able to produce anything creative.
Auxerre apparently have a formidable home record so the Gunners face a steeply uphill task in the return leg. I'm not too downcast though, and having a feeling we might sneak it. After all, we haven't really had a traditional Arsenal against-the-odds win yet this season, have we?
Report by Derek Brownjohn