Premiership news 07/03/98It was another good weekend for Arsenal, without us even playing. Chelsea went down at home to Villa and Man Utd were beaten 2-0 at Hillsbrough. Liverpool have jumped us into second in the table by 2 points, but both they and Man Utd have now played 3 matches more than us. The worst thing abotu this weekedn, as far as the Premiership is concerned, is having to play another extra cup match. Another London match too! Anyone have stats on the most London derbies ever played by one team in one season? Wednesday at Wimbledon will be our 8th in a row, our 10th match in a row in London.Arsenal (1) 1 - 1 (1)Highbury. Sunday 8th March 1998FA Cup Quarter-Final
Scorers: Bergkamp (pen) Pearce
Arsenal:
Manninger
Dixon Adams Keown Winterburn
Parlour Petit Vieira Overmars
Bergkamp Anelka (Wreh)
West Ham coped with the absence of all but one of their
strikers (Abou) by fighting a rear-guard action and
hitting us on the break, and with Bergkamp clearly not
quite back to match-sharpness and Wright still missing,
Arsenal failed to capitalise on our domination of the
game.
Bergkamp was a bit off the pace, but still showed plenty of his class. Very early on Parlour was brought down on the edge of the area and Lama in West Ham's goal had to make a good fingertip save from Dennis. West Ham went ahead when a corner from their right slipped through to Pearce, unmarked on the edge of the area. If Lomas meant to leave it for Pearce it was well-worked. The shot went low past Manninger, quite close to the keeper but it wasn't easy to take and he probably saw it late. They should have had another a bit later. One of our players (didn't see who) gave Dixon a hospital pass on the right wing, well into the Irons' half. Lazarides nicked it off him and set off down the wing. He put a beautiful lofted cross to the far side of the penalty area where Berkovic, 8 yards out, only had to hit it. But he tried to controll the ball and it slipped under his foot as he trod on it. A very lucky escape at that stage in the game. Shortly after we were level. Keown burst through onto the ball and was tripped by Pearce. Bergkamp scored from the spot. West Ham had a few more chances, notably a Berkovic shot that went just wide and, just before the half, a shot similar to their goal which had Manninger completely unsighted but which he managed to fall on in the bottom corner at the last moment. Petit had an excellent shot hitting the ball first time from a Bergkamp lay-back just outside the area. It was straight at the keeper though and while it was too powerful to hold onto, the rebound went safe. In the second half our best chance fell to Keown, who went on a couple of surging runs only to find himself in the penalty area with the ball and the goal beckoning. At the right moment however, it was on his wrong foot. His ears popped and the defence managed to get in to shield the goal. There were a few pops at goal from distance, from Overmars Dixon and Petit in particular. Bergkamp had another free-kick or two but while he forced a save from Lama he never put him in as much trouble as with that one in the first few minutes of the match. Most of the time Anelka looked, to me, to be back to his most lethargic. There was a notable exception when he came back to help Dixon with some defending but the fact that it was so notable is what worries me. By contrast I was pretty pleased with what I saw of Wreh when he came on. He chased a lost cause when Lama took a back-pass. Never likely to actually get the ball, Wreh did enough to unsettle the goalie and force a throw well into their half. He also had a decent shot that went just wide and looked more a team player than Anelka. The second leg (Tuesday week) won't be easy, but the good news is that Harry Redknapp says that of all his absentees, only Hartson will be back. What should make more difference is if players like Bergkamp and Parlour, who were back today, are back to full fitness by then. There is also an outside chance that Wrighty will be back. Boy how we missed him today. Winners of the replay get to play Wolves. My guess is Villa Park. Wolves shouldn't be seen as an easy draw, after all they beat Leeds at Elland Road. But Newcastle and Coventry (should they get through) are probably less easy.
Arsenal vs West Ham United Sun Mar 8 1998
Result : Arsenal (1) 1 West Ham (1) 1
Scorers: Bergkamp 26 (pen) Pearce 12
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn; Vieira, Petit,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Anelka
Subs: Wreh (Anelka 66), Hughes, Garde, Upson, Lukic
Booked:
West Ham: Lama, Potts, Pearce, Ferdinand, Impey, Lomas,
Lampard, Lazaridis, Berkovic, Moncur, Abou
Subs: Hodges (Berkovic 77), Bishop, Coyne, Mean, Sealey
Att: 38077
Ref: M D Reed (Birmingham)
A somewhat more entertaining game than last Monday, with a goal apiece
and an admirable demonstration of Thai boxing at the end, but the
outcome was the same - stalemate. Probably not surprising considering it
is over 5 years since Arsenal last won a home FA cup match, and over 50
since we last beat West Ham in the cup, but disappointing given that the
Hammers had a squad decimated by injury and suspension. The replay next
Tuesday means Arsenal will have played 19 London derbies by the end of
the season.
With Abou their only available recognised striker, West Ham played a sort of 3-6-1 though Berkovic supported Abou in attack when the Hammers came forward. Bergkamp was back for Arsenal which meant the home team were really only missing Seaman and Wright from what would be considered a full strength side, so it was not surprising that it was Arsenal who started the stronger and nearly went a goal up within a minute. Parlour went on a typical strong run down the middle and was brought down by Potts a few yards outside the area. Bergkamp curled the free kick over the wall and it was heading just under the bar until Lama leapt with alacrity and made a brilliant save, tipping the shot over the bar. A few minutes later after Anelka had been brought down wide of the area on the right, Bergkamp chipped over the free kick, Lama stretched to get a hand to the ball but could only help it on to Adams as the Arsenal captain lurked beyond the far post. Unfortunately it came to him at an awkward height, and leaning back he could only direct his volley from an angle over the unguarded goal. Meanwhile West Ham were starting to look slightly the sharper in midfield and took the lead after 12 minutes with their first meaningful attack of the game. A brief moment's hesitation between Adams and Winterburn led to the latter giving away a corner under pressure from Impey, which I thought at the time had come off the latter though study of the video evidence later proved inconclusive. Lampard seemed to mishit the corner, Ferdinand missed an attempt to flick it through his legs, and the ball reached Pearce unmolested just outside the area. He swung his left shin at it, and the ball zipped through Adams' legs into the net past the unsighted Manninger. Arsenal probably should have equalised not long afterwards. Anelka was brought down again midway inside the West Ham half by Potts, which earned the defender a booking. Bergkamp chipped the free kick to the far post to pick out the unmarked Vieira. He tried to bring the ball down but his first touch allowed it to bounce up which just gave Ferdinand time to nip in and clear it from off Vieira's toe. Midway through the half though it was West Ham who wasted the best chance of the game. Parlour misdirected a pass to Dixon on the right hand touchline midway inside the West Ham half, and the fullback's attempts to keep it in play allowed Lazaridis to nick the ball off him and race away down the line. Keown slid in with an ill-judged attempt to stop him on the halfway line, which the wingback easily avoided and he galloped clear into the Arsenal area. As he got to the byline he chipped over a cross which just cleared Adams' head and landed at the feet of the unmarked Berkovic at the far post. He must have seen the open goal gaping and taken his eye off the ball because he allowed it to slip under his feet and Winterburn was able to clear. Moments later the scores were level. Following an Arsenal break Vieira took a quick throw in on the right, the ball spun off Parlour's chest as he was challenged by Pearce and looped over the pair of them into the area. Pearce turned to collect it and took a touch before playing it away unaware that Keown was bearing down on him. Boom-boom took it off him and Pearce stuck out a leg which brought him down as he bombed into the area, albeit in a slightly delayed reaction. No question it was a penalty, and Bergkamp coolly slotted it home, giving Lama no chance. Arsenal enjoyed much the better of possession for the rest of the half but still struggled somewhat to make many clear cut chances. Overmars did beat Impey for pace down the left and his cross picked out Bergkamp in the middle, but the Dutch master hooked a left foot volley from an awkward height over the bar. Overmars also cut in from the left to find some space but fired a 25yd shot high and wide. Arsenal's best chance in the closing minutes came when Bergkamp's beautifully cushioned knock back from a right wing cross picked out Petit on the edge of the box, and the midfielder struck a tremendously powerful shot which was unfortunately straight at Lama. He couldn't hold it but Impey was on hand to clear for a corner. West Ham were perhaps a bit lucky to finish the half with 11 men on the pitch when Lomas, having already been booked, deliberately stuck up his hand to stop the ball when Vieira lobbed a pass over his head. The ref chose to be lenient though, and it was following a Lomas run down the left late in the half that West Ham next called Manninger into action. Parlour was judged to have unfairly baulked him, and the free kick was only half cleared to Moncur on the edge of the area. His shot went through a crowd of players, so Manninger reacted well to get down at his near post and hang on to the ball. The second half saw Arsenal again dominating possession but only rarely threatening to break down the resolute Hammers' defence. West Ham did have two fairly good chances in the first 15 minutes or so, but thereafter barely posed a threat. Early on Abou broke dangerously but as he drew the 2 covering Arsenal defenders to him on the edge of the area, he chose to shoot instead of playing in the unmarked Lomas who was steaming up on his right, and Manninger made a comfortable save. Then Adams badly misjudged a free kick from the left and allowed Pearce an unhindered header back into the middle of the box. Berkovic brought the ball down on the penalty spot, but under pressure from Winterburn stabbed a shot a foot or so wide of the far post. Apart from that it was all Arsenal. Early on a good combination down the left between Overmars and Winterburn led to the latter cutting the ball back to pick out Petit unmarked on the edge of the area. He tried to place a sidefoot shot though, and couldn't get enough power behind it and Lama was able to save reasonably comfortably. Vieira almost profitted from a couple of right wing corners. The first was unexpectedly missed by the defender in front of him and the ball ended up just deflecting off his legs into Lama's arms, and at the second he was similarly unmarked at the far post but the ball was just too high and he could only flick a header well wide. Anelka was replaced by Wreh midway through the half, at the second attempt after Wreh apparently realised he'd left his shirt in the dressing room when the first attempt was about to be made. In between the two Anelka almost the most of the mixup by going on a strong run from inside his own half, but typically failed to release the ball to the unmarked Bergkamp and though he retained possession the chance was gone. When he did get on Wreh almost immediately went close. Parlour produced a lovely vollied flick to play the ball back into his path, but his snap left foot shot from 20 yards went a couple of feet wide of the near post. Soon afterwards Parlour again set him up with an even better chance, swinging over a lovely cross from the right which found Wreh unmarked at the far post. He headed back across Lama, but I think the ball was drifting wide though Ferdinand took no chances and hacked clear anyway. Vieira knocked the clearance back to Petit on the edge of the box. His volley was firmly struck, but hit into the ground and also took a slight deflection which allowed Lama to make another fairly comfortable save. Arsenal might have had another penalty when Keown went on another excursion into the opposition area. It could almost be described as a mazy dribble which took him right to the byline in the 6yd box, before he fell over under challenge from Ferdinand. I must admit at the time my immediate reaction wasn't "penalty!", rather "why didn't he hit it with his left foot?!", but on TV it looked a reasonable case for a penalty. Anyhow, he quickly got back to his feet and recovered the ball before knocking it back to Winterburn, and the latter chipped over to the far post where red shirts were conspicuous by their absence. Keown later had a creditable volley from outside the area which flew only a couple of feet over the bar, and Dixon had a similar effort. Bergkamp also hit a tapped free kick from over 25 yards which was well struck and directed but Lama had again anticipated where it was going and got across quickly to make another good save. And that was it, apart from the extensively reported "brawl" at the end, though as far as I could tell only 3 players were involved, the rest were all peacemakers. Vieira aimed a silly kick at Moncur's shins after being tackled as the final whistle went, Moncur retaliated by charging at Vieira and butting him in the stomach. The red mist descended and Vieira swung an open hand at Moncur and missed. Moncur then started walking away but Lampard charged in and violently shoved Vieira in the chest, and the Frenchman again retaliated by kicking out at him, but again missed. The combatants were then seperated with Impey, Keown and Abou the chief peacekeepers. Overall certainly a disappointing result, and rather a disappointing performance from Arsenal. West Ham were defensively well organised and Arsenal struggled to find the necessary spark to consistently break them down.
Manninger 7.0 One good save in the first half, and possibly unsighted
for the goal, largely unemployed in the 2nd.
Winterburn 6.5 As determined and committed as ever.
Dixon 6.0 Also tried as hard as ever, but his passing was poor in
the 1st half, though he got forward enthusiastically in
the second.
Adams 6.5 As committed as usual, though curiously hesitant in
defence on a couple of occasions.
Keown 7.5 Pretty solid again apart from that one mistake in the
second half, and almost Arsenal's best attacker.
Vieira 6.5 Reasonably competent, though his passing and touch at
times was less sure than usual.
Petit 7.0 Also solid, and on another day might have scored.
Parlour 6.5 Had some good moments, but not quite in the form he was
in before the injury.
Overmars 6.5 Rather disappointing and peripheral for long periods
again, though he did have some good spells.
Bergkamp 7.0 Still not quite regained his sublime touch, though he
still made a difference.
Anelka 6.0 Had a good first 20 minutes or so, but seemed to fade
thereafter.
Wreh 6.5 Didn't think he did too badly, and was running around
quite enthusiastically.
Other reports
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