Arsenal vs Aston Villa. CCC semi 1st leg. 14/02/96

Arsenal (2) 2 - 2 (1) Aston Villa

Coca Cola Cup, semi-final first leg

Highbury, Wednesday 14th February 1996

Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Linighan, Winterburn, Jensen, Hillier, 
         Helder, Merson, Bergkamp, Wright
         Subs: Parlour (Helder 63), Morrow, Hartson

Villa:   Bosnich, Charles, Southgate, Staunton, Ehiogu, Wright, Draper, 
         Townsend, Johnson, Yorke, Milosevic
         Subs: McGrath, Taylor, Oakes

Result :  Arsenal              (2) 2   Aston Villa             2 (1)
Scorers:  Bergkamp 26,32               Yorke 39,72             

Bookings: Wright                    
                                     
Att     : 37562
Referee : P A Durkin (Portland)

Slightly mixed feelings coming away from this game, the main one being disappointment at the way Arsenal let a 2 goal lead slip. On the other hand Villa were well worth at least a draw and it was worth going to the game just to see Bergkamp's 1st goal. His all-round display was superb and the most heartening aspect of the game.

Arsenal started with the team that beat Forest on Saturday, which one suspected might leave us a little short of creativity in the middle. And so it proved, though Bergkamp showed an early sign that he might be in the mood to make up for any such shortcomings with a strong early run. Both sides were fairly cagey for the first few minutes though, and it was Villa who had the first direct goal threat with a viciously hit shot from outside the box by Townsend which moved in the air and Seaman could only parry.

Arsenal hit back though with a good move when Wright volleyed a superb first time pass on to Helder to send him clear down the left wing. Only Bergkamp was up with the play though and Helder's cross into the box was poorly hit and failed to find him. Soon afterwards Villa again went close when Johnson broke from the halfway line and fired in a 25 yarder which Seaman again could only parry, but he recovered just in time to foil Milosevic's attempt to force home the rebound.

Villa were beginning to dominate things, so it was somewhat against the run of play that Arsenal took the lead with one of the goals of the season. Bergkamp played the ball forward to Merson to the right of the middle of the Villa half, Merse let the ball run on and played a first time pass along the edge of the area to WWW. Wrighty touched a cushioned first time pass back to Bergkamp running on, and the Dutch master connected with a beautifully struck shot along the ground from over 25 yards which was perfectly placed just inside the far post, leaving Bosnich no chance.

Buoyed by such a great goal Arsenal now dominated the next 10-15 minutes and barely five minutes later looked to have the tie half won with a second goal from Bergkamp. It was really only a clearance from Keown which Bergkamp reacted like a sprinter out of his blocks to, and raced clear of the vaunted Villa defence. As Bosnich advanced to meet him and stayed on his feet, Bergkamp teased him and then slipped the ball through his legs in a beautiful nutmeg. If they'd been playing parks football rules it would have counted as two goals.

Not long afterwards Bergkamp was close to his hattrick. A Villa attack broke down and Helder raced away down the right. He turned back onto his left foot and with a lovely long ball, picked out his fellow Dutchman as he made a run beyond the defenders at the far post. Unfortunately it fell to Bergkamp's left foot and his attempted volley from an angle was mistimed. Wright later also almost got free with a run down the right, but was forced wide and tried a chip from and angle which just cleared the angle of post and bar, when a better option might have been a pullback towards Bergkamp and Merson in the area.

Five minutes from half time came the goal that turned the match, a real comedy of errors. From a corner which I think followed a Johnson shot which deflected wide, the ball was nodded forward but seemed to be dropping harmlessly to Winterburn more or less on the left corner of the 6-yard box. For some reason, instead of volleying it clear, he let it drop and bounce over his head, Yorke nipped in behind him and pulled it back into the middle, where Merson in the 6-yd box unaccountably tried to cushion a header towards Dixon and Winterburn, but misdirected it slightly, and headed it almost straight to Johnson. Fortunately Dixon lunged in to clear, but the ball rebounded off another Villa player to the feet of Draper, wide of the right hand post. He chipped it back across goal to Staunton who had a clear header on the 6-yd line. He almost completely missed it though, and the ball glanced off his head and landed at the feet of Yorke, just beyond the left corner of the 6-yd box, and he lashed it inside the near post.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first in terms of possession. The first 5 or 10 minutes saw some wary fencing with neither side really taking control, but after that Villa started to get a grip on things and were allowed the greater share of possession. However, it was Arsenal who first threatened a goal. A Villa attack broke down on the edge of the Arsenal area and Winterburn came away with the ball and passed it out to Bergkamp who turned superbly on the halfway line. He set off on another good run with Wright and Winterburn who for a change continued and kept up with the attack. Bergkamp passed to the fullback who in turn chipped into the box to find Wright in the clear. His attempted volley screwed wide, but he was flagged offside anyway, thought the TV replay suggested he wasn't.

About 20 minutes into the half Parlour came on for Helder (who appeared to be suggesting he had a slight injury), and Merson moved over to the left side of midfield. A few minutes later Villa had yet another long range shot which went close. This time it was Draper who hit a lovely effort which appeared to be swerving just beyond the post, but Seaman made sure, getting a touch which conceded a corner.

A minute or two after that the visitors did get the equaliser. Milosevic for once got the better of Linighan and ran on down the left to receive the return ball from Yorke. Set free, he got to the byline and crossed. The cross deflected off Keown's back which looped the ball over Seaman and the defenders in the middle to Yorke at the back post, and he scored with a brave header as Seaman came across to challenge.

Minutes later Yorke should have had his hattrick. There was some dithering about on the edge of Arsenal's area and the ball wasn't cleared properly. Johnson swung a boot at it and from just over 20 yards his dipping volley crashed against the bar. Yorke anticipated better than anyone else and was first to the rebound, and 34000 Gooners' hearts sank. However Seaman somehow recovered and flung himself across and blocked the shot with his legs.

Seaman made another good save not long afterwards at his near post as Townsend fired in a snap shot from just outside the box which may or may not have been going wide. Meanwhile at the other end Hillier went equally close with a good effort from outside the box which had Bosnich worried but dipped onto the roof of the net.

Meanwhile Wright got himself booked with an overenthusiastic tackle on his namesake which wasn't really malicious, but then must have tried the ref's patience with too much subsequent lip. One occasion was when Bergkamp put him through in the box only to have the ref blow for an earlier foul on the Dutchman. From the free kick Bergkamp set up Parlour, but his first touch meant he snatched at a left foot shot from just outside the area.

Bergkamp and Parlour soon afterwards combined down the right to set up Dixon from the edge of the box, but the ball possibly came at him a bit quickly and he put a half volley over the bar. A few minutes from time another nice move between Merson and Bergkamp ended with Merse playing a lovely pass into the box which picked out Parlour's run and put him through on the keeper. He tried to lift the shot over Bosnich, but the Australian spread himself well and made a great save with his legs.

Overall it was possibly a slightly disappointing performance from Arsenal and Villa certainly had the better of the game. However, it should be remembered that we had our 3rd and 4th choice central defenders, and probably our 4th and 5th choice central midfielders, and that Villa, who are a good and well organised side had a full strength team.

That said I thought the defence, Keown and Linighan in particular did reasonably well, and it is true that apart from the goals, all Villa's noteworthy attempts were from outside the box. There was also an element of luck about their 2nd goal, and a large slice of it for the first, though Winterburn and Merson must share the blame for that one.

Hillier and Jensen were never going to control the midfield against the likes of Draper and Townsend, but I thought Hillier didn't do too badly and both did a reasonable job of breaking things up. It might have been frustrating to see the amount of possession the visitor's had, but I suspect both of them were told to carry out a holding role, so it was always likely to be inevitable.

Helder had a poor game, and Parlour looked a bit rusty when he came on but nonetheless got in some good positions and got forward to good effect a couple of times. Merson was a bit in and out, but did have a hand in the first goal and created what should have been the winner for Parlour. Don't know what possessed him for the Villa goal though.

Wrighty was clearly giving his all, but had one of those games where things weren't quite running for him. Hopefully this will have cleared his recent bad run from the system and he'll be back with a bang next Wednesday. By my calculations he will be suspended for the games away to QPR and home to Man City. The real plus point of the evening was Bergkamp's performance, as he had easily his best game since he got injured before Christmas. If he maintains his hot streak I wouldn't be too unhopeful for the return leg.

reports by Derek Brownjohn

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