Wimbledon vs Arsenal. 16/03/96

Wimbledon (0) 0 - 3 (0) Arsenal

Selhurst Pk, Sat 16th March 1996

FA Carling Premiership

Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Linighan, Marshall, Winterburn, Platt, 
         Merson, Bergkamp, Hartson, Wright
         Subs: Helder, Hillier, Rose 

Wimbledon: Sullivan, Cunningham, Kimble, Jones, Blackwell, Earle, 
           Ekoku, Holdsworth, Gayle, Harford, Perry
           Subs: Goodman (Harford 59), Thorn (Holdsworth 80), Euell

Result : Wimbledon             (0) 0   Arsenal                  3 (0)
Scorers:                               Winterburn 61, Platt 65, 
                                       Bergkamp 83
Bookings:         
      
Att     : 18335
Referee : D J Gallagher (Banbury)

Another satisfactory away win which extends the unbeaten league run to six games and augurs well for a good finish to the season which should ensure a UEFA cup slot. After a relatively uneventful first half, Arsenal took control of the second and ended up comfortable victors.

With Ray Parlour suspended, Bruce Rioch took the opportunity to restore his good chum Ian Wright to the attack alongside John Hartson. He stuck to playing 3 at the back, though for some reason this time chose Scott Marshall instead of Matthew Rose to play alongside Keown and Linighan. I guess he thought Marshall would be better able to cope with Wimbledon's perceived more robust physical style and greater aerial threat. Arsenal were thus playing a sort of 3-4-1-2, with Bergkamp behind Wright and Hartson. Wimbledon were without the suspended Leonhardsen.

It was Wimbledon who started the more brightly and had more of the play in the first 10 minutes or so. They caused one or two hairy moments in the Arsenal defence from crosses but I don't recall any direct threat to Seaman's goal. On a pudding of a pitch Arsenal were attempting to stick to a short passing game, and gradually began to dominate possession as the half wore on.

Merson was looking lively, particularly down the left, where a couple of runs down the touchline and cuts inside were only stopped by a pair of Wimbledon defenders blocking him off. A pretty clear case of obstruction at the least I'd have thought, but both times the ref waved play on. WWW was also making some good runs wide, and when a Merson pass put him through on the left it was to ironic cheers from the massed Gooners that the ref finally awarded a free kick when he was tripped a couple of yards outside the area. Merse tapped the free kick to Bergkamp whose shot was inches wide of the near post, hitting the base of the stanchion.

Hartson had earlier gone close after Wright had another run down the left and found him with a cross. Hartson took the ball with his back to goal and turned to fire in a shot which was only a foot or two wide. Wrighty also went close when Hartson bustled past a challenge on the right and cut the ball back from the byline. Wright's effort was deflected just over for a corner.

Towards the end of the half Bergkamp very nearly put Platt in with a precise pass into the area which picked out Platt's forward run, but a defender got across just in time to take the ball off his toe. The most noteworthy incident of the 1st half though was probably when Arsenal were denied what looked like a certain penalty. I think it was again Wrighty who fed Bergkamp as he found space in the left side of the area. He was in the act of shooting when Cunningham, I think, clumsily ran across the back of the Dutchman and knocked him over. Once again the ref merely awarded a corner.

The game was up for Wimbledon though, in a five minute spell early in the 2nd half. Fifteen minutes in Arsenal took the lead with a nicely worked goal. Hartson collected a Dixon flickon from Seaman's punt, wide on the right and again got past his marker to cut into the area. He pulled the ball back into the middle to Wright who in turn laid it off perfectly into Dixon's path as he ran into the area. The wing back's left foot shot from 15 yards was well saved by Sullivan but he could only push it into the path of Winterburn, and he had an easy job of stabbing into the empty net from the edge of the 6-yd box.

Within a minute it seemed Wimbledon had equalised only to have the goal ruled out for offside. Kimble's cross from the left found Holdsworth running in at the far post beyond the defence, but the linesman's flag went up and his header didn't count. And little more than a minute after that the Gunners were two up. Merson bent a free kick from wide on the left in to the near post were Wrighty just failed to get on the end of it and Jones headed clear. The ball went straight to Platt lurking outside the area and he whacked in a shot from over 20 yards which took a wicked deflection on it's way past the keeper.

After that it was really just a question of whether Arsenal would get any more, though Wimbledon did go close once or twice with some late pressure. Dixon came close to adding to his tally of spectacular goals, putting the ball only a yard or two wide of the post when clearing a cross. It was a goal saving clearance mind you.

At the other end Bergkamp lobbed the keeper but also just cleared the bar, but then a few minutes from time did get the goal he deserved with some help from a bit of quick thinking from Wright, and a bit of a howler from the Wimbledon keeper. Wright was hauled down as he tried to break from the halfway line, but got straight to his feet and tapped the free kick quickly to Bergkamp was was running clear into the Wimbledon half. The Dutch master's shot from just outside the area was reasonably well hit but more or less straight at Sullivan, but he somehow let the ball squirm past him and it rolled over the line.

All in all a pretty satisfying day, only marginally spoilt by the Moaners late equaliser at QPR. All the attention at Selhurst Park was naturally on Wright, and he reacted pretty well to it all. He looked a bit rusty early on with a couple of badly placed passes, but he gave his usual lively performance for the whole match and the only thing it really lacked was a goal. Hartson didn't do much wrong either, and the first goal was partly due to his persistence.

Bergkamp continued his recent good form, though he seemed to me to be playing a bit deeper than normal and a lot of the time was playing more as a midfielder than a forward, particularly in the 1st half. Merson also had another excellent game, and if I was forced to name a man of the match I think it would be him. Platt had one of his more notable games for Arsenal with a number of forward runs, though there were times when I thought his passing was pretty poor.

Dixon and Winterburn both had reasonable games going forward, witnessed by the fact that both were in the penalty area for the first goal, though they didn't have a great deal to do in terms of defending against an uncharacteristically meek Wimbledon. The 3 centre backs again played well, and if Rioch sticks with the system when Adams returns then he, Linighan and Keown would look even more solid. The latter was captain again in preference to both Wright and Platt, and was subject to some rather bizarre marking by Gayle at Arsenal corners. Keown was at the near post, and on at least 3 of them the Wimbledon striker marked him by putting his shoulder into Keown's chest and pushing him off the pitch. Even after Boom Boom went over to the ref and pointed this out he didn't get any protection.

report by Derek Brownjohn

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