Sampdoria, driven on by a frenzied, firework-wielding crowd, took the lead in the first half through Mancini and held off a series of attacks from Arsenal which almost culminated in a goal for Merson near the half-time whistle. His rasping cross-shot was acrobatically saved by the Sampdoria goalkeeper.
Arsenal battled supremely against the odds, and Ian Wright finally maintained his record of scoring in every game when he fired in a Hartson nod-on from a Merson corner in the 67th minute. Wright, who had taken terrible punishment at the hands of the Sampdoria defence, went off shortly after to be replaced by Kiwomya.
In the 84th minute, tragedy struck: A Sampdoria free kick cannoned off the wall only to be fired back in; a lurking and *clearly* offside Belluci was on hand to divert an otherwise off-target shot past the stranded Seaman. Things looked to be over when Arsenal, pressing forward in search of an equalizer, were caught on the break with Belucci, the Sampdoria Substitute, rattling home a second to make it 3-1, 5-4 on aggregate.
But the battling Gunners still pressed forward and were rewarded when Swedish midfielder Stefan Schwarz fired in a long range free-kick in the 87th minute to send the Arsenal fans and his team mates into raptures.
The final whistle blew on time, and so the game went into extra time, although both teams were clearly suffering from a fast-paced, hard game. There were no real efforts to speak of in the extra periods, and so, with the entire crowd holding its breath, the tie went to penalty kicks.
Report from Kevin Lovegrove
From the Sun
"Football at its most attractive, as demonstrated by Milan and Ajax in reaching the Champions' Cup Final, is about style, grace and ingenuity. But there will always be scope for simple, raw heroism to triumph. And Arsenal drew on all theirs to reach their second successive Cup-Winners' Cup Final.
"While the Italians and the Dutch displayed their erudition, Arsenal supplied the emotional appeal. Their movement may not have compared, but they moved you nevertheless. It was impossible for even the neutral in the Luigi Ferraris stadium not to warm to their tireless, virtuous endeavour. This after the Paul Merson heart-searching, the George Graham revelations and dismissal. Any sourness towards the club was lost in the dank Genovese night."
. From the Independant on Sunday.