Arsenal vs Chelsea 16th Dec 95

Arsenal (0) 1 - 1 (1) Chelsea

Highbury, Saturday 16th December 1995

Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould, Winterburn, Jensen, Keown, 
         Platt, Merson, Hartson, Wright
         Subs: Helder (Jensen h-t), Dickov, Linighan 

Chelsea:  Kharine, Petrescu, Duberry, Lee, Phelan, Myers, Newton, 
          Burley, Wise, Spencer (Furlong 88), Hughes
          Subs:  Clarke (Phelan 45), Furlong (Spencer 88), Hitchcock

Result  : Arsenal               (0) 1    Chelsea               (1) 1
Scorers:  Dixon 88                       Spencer 25

Bookings: Adams, Bould                   Hughes, Petrescu
Sent off: Bould          
                                     
Att     : 38295
Referee : G R Ashby (Worcester)

A fourth successive draw and another disappointing display against a Chelsea side whose tactics of flooding the midfield worked rather too well. Arsenal certainly missed the inspiration of Dennis Bergkamp, particularly in a distinctly poor first half during which Keown and Jensen were supposedly marking Wise and Spencer, a tactic which Rioch later admitted was too cautious. Arsenal did liven up a bit after the interval though, and I thought they deserved the equaliser in the end.

The Gunners started off with a lively move which ended with a nice pass from Keown which put in Hartson for a cross which had to be hurriedly cleared by the Chelsea defence. Thereafter for the rest of the half though, it was largely downhill and Chelsea certainly looked the better team, passing the ball about quite nicely in midfield at times.

There wasn't much in the way of end result at either end though. Platt did play one superb long ball following a break out of defence, which almost put in Wright. He was forced out wide though, and after doing well to check back and then turn to get in a cross, there was nobody in the middle to take advantage.

Meanwhile Chelsea did eventually pose a real threat at the other end, and took the lead midway throught the half. Following a nice bout of passing, Burley lofted a high speculative cross from the right to the far post where Dixon allowed Phelan to get on the end of it to knock it back into the middle. Spencer was running in unmarked and lashed home a near post shot from about 12 yards.

Chelsea then dominated the next few minutes and almost went two up when Hughes controlled a long clearance on his chest and then turned to volley an audacious effort from 35-40 yards which dipped onto the roof of the net. He also got Adams and Bould booked for tackles from behind. Adams' in particular was down to Hughes' reaction - it wasn't really even a tackle. Adams pulled out of it and ended up just gently barging Hughes in the back, but he still collapsed like a sack of spuds.

Gradually Arsenal began to huff and puff with a bit more effort. Platt had a free header from a corner which he completely misdirected, Merson put a free kick over the bar. Towards the end of the half Hartson brought down a clearance well and played a nice one-two with Merson to give himself an opening, but his 20 yard shot trundled harmlessly a yard or so wide.

Rioch at least tried to put things right at half time, putting on Helder in place of Jensen and reverting to a more normal 4-4-2, and Arsenal almost equalised within a minute of the restart. Merson played a nice ball through for Dixon to run on to, and he won a corner. Merson took it, Hartson had a swing at it, missed and it bounced back towards him off a defender. He then had a shot blocked, but collected the rebound and from an acute angle pulled it back along the goal line. Kharine was beaten but Wise cleared it off the line, and both Adams and Bould just failed to connect with the clearance and the danger passed.

Arsenal should have equalised about 20 minutes into the half. Adams played a ball in to Hartson on the edge of the box. He controlled it well and turned to play a good pass to put in Wright. With only Kharin to beat he tried to sidefoot home from 10 yards, but the keeper spread himself well and made a good save with his legs.

Arsenal continued to press forward without much wit or imagination, looking most likely to score from set plays. Platt put another free header from a corner wide, Wright had glimmer of another chance but but his shot from an angle over the bar, and Hartson almost broke through with a good run from just inside his own half.

Chelsea meanwhile were content to sit on their lead, and only occasionally broke forward to look dangerous on the break. Burley put a good chance over the bar but Seaman was never really tested. Chelsea's policy still looked like being successful though, especially when Bouldy was sent off for a second bookable offence about 15 minutes from time. Hughes showed him the ball, which I think Bould was genuinely going for, but missed it and took Hughes' legs instead. I don't thing the ref had much option but to give him a 2nd yellow card.

>From the free kick, Seaman was forced into his only save of the half, an easy catch from a Duberry header. Soon afterwards Chelsea should have made certain of the win. Petrescu made a good break down the right, easily beat Winterburn and cut in to the area. He went for glory and lashed a shot well wide of the far post when a cross might have been the better option.

Meanwhile the 10 men continued to press forward and almost got their reward 3 minutes from time. Merson collected a Hartson flick and set off on a superb run, beating two defenders before striking a shot from just inside the area which crashed against the crossbar and out. It bounced out to Helder who waited for it to drop and connected with a left foot volley which, wonder of wonders, was on target. Kharin had regained his ground though and flung himself across to parry the ball out for a corner.

It seemed the final confirmation that this was not to be Arsenal's day, but with Merson suffering cramp, Helder took the corner. I think he actually mishit it and it went low to the edge of the area where Platt bustled in front of a defender and touched it back to Dixon. The fullback unleashed a stunning drive from 25 yards which was still rising as it hit the back of the net. Kharin didn't even move.

Arsenal might even have nicked it at the death. Merson played Wrighty through down the right wing, and his deep cross found Hartson and Helder running in beyond the far post. The former's attempt to control it though unluckily bounced off him for a goal kick and the ref blew time soon after.

It was nice to get a late equaliser with only ten men, but overall, it was rather disheartening the way Arsenal struggled to create much without Bergkamp in the side. Rioch admitted to using the wrong tactics in the first half which was particularly bad, and the 2nd half was an improvement. With Chelsea playing 5 at the back and 4 in midfield it was always going to be difficult to create in attack, but Wright had another fairly peripheral game. Mick Winnett pointed out the lack of interplay between Wright and Hartson, which reinforces my theory that Wright doesn't trust Hartson. He rarely gives him the ball and doesn't make the sort of runs he would with Bergkamp in the side. The one time they did link up well Hartson created the best opportunity of the match for Wright.

I have to admit to being "bemused" by the amount of praise Chelsea received on TV and in the papers. They certainly knocked the ball about nicely in the middle of the park at times, but apart from the goal I don't recall Seaman having a serious save to make. The ArseTV stats reckoned that they only had 10 shots at goal to Arsenal's 24, only 3 of which were on target. If I were a Chelsea fan I'd be rather disturbed at the lack of an end product.

Steve Bould deserves a smack on his hairless head to try and knock some sense into him. After seeing Adams get booked for a fairly innocuous challenge, the fouls which got him sent off were reckless to say the least. He'll now miss the Wimbledon game as well as the previous two. With Winterburn continuing his slide into ineffectiveness, both in attack and defence, on the face of it our visit to Anfield next week looks scary. The papers today appear to think Marshall and Linighan will deputise, presumably with Keown staying in midfield to do a marking job on someone. Still, it's in such situations that Arsenal frequently upset the odds.

report by Derek Brownjohn

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