Arsenal vs Tottenham. 15/04/96

Arsenal (0) 0 - 0 (0) Tottenham

Arsenal stadium Highbury, Monday 15th April 1996

FA Carling Premiership

Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Linighan, Marshall, Winterburn, Platt, 
         Parlour, Merson, Bergkamp, Wright
         Subs: Helder (Merson 72), Hartson, Rose 

Spurs: Walker, Edinburgh, Mabbutt, Campbell, Wilson, Fox, Howells, 
       Dozzell, Rosenthal, Sheringham, Armstrong. 
       Subs: Nethercott (Campbell 72), Anderton (Dozzell 78), Day

Result : Arsenal               (0) 0   Tottenham Hotspur         (0) 0
Scorers: 

Bookings: Bergkamp, Parlour            Edinburgh, Dozzell 
      
Att     : 38273
Referee : M Reed (Birmingham)

In the end rather a frustrating and disappointing North London derby last night which ended in stalemate. Arsenal played well in the first half when their domination should have given them a comfortable lead, but were let down by some poor finishing. The second half was a more even and scrappy affair during which both sides wasted reasonable opportunities which were more likely to stem from defensive mistakes.

With Winterburn recovered from illness, the Arsenal team was as expected apart from Parlour replacing Hartson, and the formation thus reverting to a sort of 3-4-2-1, Bergkamp and Merson floating behind Wright. Spurs played their normal 4-4-2 with Campbell moving across to replace Calderwood in the centre of defence.

The match started at a frenetic pace, with Arsenal looking very bright in the opening minutes. Bergkamp cut in from the right towards the area and fired in a 25 yard shot straight at Walker who nonetheless almost let it through his legs. Then Merson ran round Edinburgh down the right wing and cut the ball back into the middle to Wright who tried to sidestep Mabbutt instead of shooting first time, which allowed the Spurs captain to block.

Spurs then had a good period of five minutes or so, during which Armstrong had a couple of good runs down Arsenal's left, the most dangerous of which forced Seaman to dive to but out his cross. But the Gunners gradually reasserted their dominance and might have taken the lead when a lovely Bergkamp turn put in Merson for a shot from just outside the area which he could only blast a couple of feet over.

Bergkamp was again the creator soon afterwards when a brilliant early through ball from inside his own half released Wright for a run in on goal. Edinburgh was always going to be second to the ball and brought Wrighty down a few yards outside the area. It seemed a fairly clear case of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity being denied, but the ref decided a yellow card was sufficient, and Bergkamp wafted the free kick well wide.

Arsenal continued to press, coming close with some regularity. WWW was almost put clear in the box, but was denied by a desperate Campbell lunge which rather fortuitously took the ball as well as Wright. Dixon very nearly got on the end of a glorious long ball from Platt, but Rosenthal just managed to get enough of a touch on it. Merson then wasted the best chance of the game so far. Parlour dispossessed Rosenthal on the halfway line and ran clear down the right. He held the ball up just outside the box before playing across a neat ball into Merse's path as he charged into the area, but he blasted over the bar from about 12 yards.

Wrighty then did some nice work down the right, getting past Mabbutt along the byline before cutting the ball back to Bergkamp at the near post. The Dutchman tried to control it when a first time shot might have been the better option, the ball got away from him slightly and Dozzell then felled Bergkamp. Another day, another ref, another circumstance it might have been a penalty.

Another glorious Arsenal move then almost brought the goal the home side deserved. Under some pressure just inside his own half, Wrighty headed on a clearance to release Bergkamp down the left. The Dutch master held the ball up just outside the area before picking out Merson's run into the opposite side of the box. Merse hit a sidefoot volley pretty well, but with Walker beaten it grazed the bar.

At the other end Spurs were occasionally breaking with some menace, most notably when Armstrong cut in from the left before curling in a shot which Seaman was a full stretch to get fingertips to. I think it was missing the far post anyway, and the ref obviously agreed because he gave a goal kick. Tottenham's only other notable chances came when Sheringham released Armstrong again, but Seaman held onto his cross shot from the edge of the box reasonably comfortably. Spunky also saved comfortably from a Sheringham long range effort.

Meanwhile Arsenal were finishing the half strongly. Another good Merson run released Wrighty down the right and his cross picked out Platt's run into the box, but the header went well over the bar. Wrighty also set up Dixon and Winterburn in turn for speculative efforts before Arsenal did eventually get the ball in the net. Bergkamp picked out Platt with a far post cross and he beat Walker with a header only to see the goal ruled out for offside. The TV replay showed that he probably was, marginally.

In the final few minutes Arsenal scorned two more good opportunities to take the lead. A Keown cross from the right to the far post should have been cleared by Fox, but he tried a risky volleyed flick which was blocked by Winterburn to leave himself with a clear chance, but on his right foot Nutty snatched at the chance and put the ball a foot wide of the near post from 10 yards.

Then in injury time a Merson corner from the right went untouched through to Marshall who seemed surprised, didn't control the ball properly and then stood debating with Linighan over who should take the shot. Linighan eventually toe poked the ball goalwards and Edinburgh headed away from in front of the line, and Spurs broke and might have scored at the other end.

Francis was obviously worried by what he saw in the first half and tightened things up a bit in the second. It seemed to me that Fox and Rosenthal were playing somewhat deeper, with the result that there was less space on the flanks for the Arsenal BMW to exploit, and the game became much more scrappy.

Indeed it was Spurs who had the best early chance when Keown and Parlour tackled each other on the halfway line which allowed Howells to break into the Arsenal half and release Sheringham on a run into the box. "England's best player" dragged his angled shot wide of the far post.

At the other end Arsenal were making some promising looking breaks, only for them to end with a poor final ball or a decent cross with not enough red shirts in the area. Winterburn put in a couple of crosses from the left, from one of which Wrighty had an audacious overhead shot blocked. A good break from Bergkamp put in Parlour for a shot which he scuffed badly, a Platt break almost put in WWW before he had his heels clipped on the edge of the area.

In the best move of the half Wright then released Dixon down the right with a lovely first time ball, but the wingback's cross along the ground went just behind both Wright and Bergkamp. Meanwhile at the other end Armstrong outdid Arsenal's finishing ineptitude by missing what was probably the best chance of the game. In his only major mistake of the game Keown was unaccountably slow coming out with the rest of the defence and played Armstrong onside when Sherigham played a ball through to him in the box. From about 15 yards with loads of time and space and only Seaman to beat he shot wide of the far post.

As the game ground on towards the final whistle it was again Arsenal who finished the stronger. Merson broke well from the half way line before passing to Bergkamp, but his well hit shot from the edge of the box was too close to the keeper and allowed Walker to save. Just after that Walker was again in action making a similar save when Wrighty turned well on the edge of the box to fire in shot.

Bergkamp then forced the Spurs keeper to touch the ball over the bar when he lobbed in a free kick in from a deep position wide on the right. A minute or two later Wrighty had probably his clearest opportunity of the game when a Parlour cross from the right picked him out unmarked at the far post, but his attempt to place his header back across goal and inside the opposite post was badly misdirected.

Arsenal's final chance came in injury time when Parlour was tripped on the edge of the box when he tried to pick up the loose ball which resulted from Bergkamp's break into the box down the left. Instead of shooting the Dutchman chose to chip a cross back which missed out Wright at the near post and was just too short for Dixon at the back post. From the free kick Bergkamp whacked in a tapped pass from Platt which Walker did well to hold on to.

Given the context (ie local derby and a UEFA place) it was ultimately a rather disappointing match. However I thought Arsenal played pretty well, particularly in the first half, deserved to win and were really only let down by their finishing. Wrighty was voted man of the match by Sky viewers, which surprised me slightly, though on reflection he did play pretty well. When he plays as the lone front man (which he plainly doesn't like much) he tends to get far fewer chances, but he did a lot of work chasing into the channels last night and made several opportunities for others.

If I'd been voting I would have chosen Bergkamp who I thought was outstanding in the first half, and was generally working his bollocks off. At one point in the 2nd half when Dixon had gone upfield it was the Dutchman who chased back to cover when the move broke down. Two of his four bookings this season have been against Sperz (though neither of them were really deserved in my view) which to me shows the right attitude. El Veg was there yesterday, and if he was comparing the relative merits of Sheddy and Dennis as their respective national team's "shadow strikers" I suspect he won't have been terribly pleased.

Merson also had quite a good game, if only he'd put his shooting boots on. Platt was making quite a few forward runs, possibly as a result of having Parlour to cover, and played one or two nice passes but also conspicuously gave the ball away on more than one occasion. Parlour I thought had a so-so game - one or two good moments, two or three bad.

Winterburn's lack of pace and unconfident first touch was once again rather obvious, though fortunately Tottenham's lack of adventure meant that Fox didn't get at him as much as he did at WHL. The 3 centre backs were all reasonably solid though I thought Armstrong exposed Marshall's lack of experience and pace on occasion. Keown endeared himself yet further with the home crowd by showing what he thought of some sneaky shots at him, first by Howells, then by Sheringham on the final whistle.

report by Derek Brownjohn

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