(0) 1 - 1 (0) ArsenalAfter extra time. 0 - 0 at full time. Arsenal win 4-3 on penaltiesVale Park. Wednesday 14th January 1998FA Cup 3rd round REPLAY. (first match finished 0-0)Preview
(0) 1 - 1 (0) ArsenalAfter extra time. 0 - 0 at full time. Arsenal win 4-3 on penaltiesVale Park. Wednesday 14th January 1998FA Cup 3rd round REPLAY. (first match finished 0-0)Arsenal scraped through thanks to Dave Seaman, again, and a bit of help from a Vale defender called Tankard. It was nil-nil after 90 minutes again, then Bergkamp struck a typical classic goal from outside the area, casually belting it to dip over the goalie into the right hand side of the net.But with 8 minutes left Vale got an equaliser taking it to penalties. We didn't get off to a good start, Lee Dixon seeing his attempt saved. But the rest of our penalty takers scored, Seaman saved one, and when Allen Tankard stepped up for the last one for Vale, needing to score to keep them in it, he blasted it high over the bar. Bad news: Wrighty's pulled a hamstring - could be out for some weeks. Graeme Souness is said to be thinking of taking Brian Deane to Benfica. A poor substitute for Wright, I'd have thought!. Next round: Middlesbrough, and Merson, away.
Port Vale vs Arsenal Wed Jan 14 1998
Result : Port Vale (0) 1 Arsenal (0) 1
After extra time (0-0 after 90 mins), Arsenal win 4-3 on penalties
Scorers: Corden 118 Bergkamp 100
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Bould; Vieira, Hughes,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Wright
Subs: Grimandi (Vieira 75), Anelka (Wright 84),
Boa Morte (Overmars 90), Upson, Manninger
Booked:
Port Vale: Musselwhite, Hill, Tankard, Bogie, Aspin, Snijders,
Ainsworth, Porter, Talbot, Naylor, Corden
Subs: Mills (Naylor 87), Foyle (Talbot 101),
Van Heusden, Glover, Stokes
Booked: Tankard
Att: 14964
Ref: N S Barry (Scunthorpe)
Arsenal finally made their way into the 4th round last night as the
nerve-wracking finale of a penalty shoot-out ended in the most dramatic
fashion with the last of the scheduled kicks, which the Port Vale
fullback Allen Tankard blazed over the bar. The Gunners really ought to
have won the game in normal time, having dominated possession and missed
several good chances, particularly in the 2nd half. A characteristically
brilliant Bergkamp goal in extra time looked to have won the game until
the home team took advantage of some tired defending to score a good
equaliser which took the tie to the lottery of penalties.
Credit for the fact that Arsenal made such hard work of winning the tie must go to Port Vale who battled valiantly and indeed in the 1st half missed two of the best chances of the game. Predictably it was the Premiership team who enjoyed the greater share of possession, and the early pressure on the 1st division team's goal resulted in a corner which Hughes planted on Parlour's head. His header beat Musselwhite but was headed off the line by a defender. Soon afterwards Bergkamp was fouled about 25 yards out and curled the free kick over the wall. From the other end it looked as though it was in but Musselwhite got down well to save in front of his post. The keeper made another good save from a 20 yard drive from Parlour following a strong run through the middle, though he allowed the ball to squirm out of his grasp and just past the post for a corner. Overmars also worried the keeper, drifting in from the left to drive a shot into the side netting from the edge of the box. However, the best chance of the half fell to the home team. Ainsworth and Hill combined well down the right and the latter swerved past Bould a few yards outside the area before his pass picked out Naylor running into the box. The striker took it into his stride to get clear of Dixon but from about 10 yards with only Seaman to beat he stabbed at the ball with the outside of his right foot and somehow put it wide of the left hand post. Soon afterwards it was Arsenal who were rueing their luck. Bergkamp brought down a clearance from Port Vale's only corner of the half just outside his own box, and then picked out Overmars run with a superb pass. From inside his own half the winger sprinted clear of his marker and reached the edge of the Port Vale area. Faced by a covering defender he carefully slotted the ball past him and out of the goalkeeper's reach only to see it bounce against the inside of the far post and then bounce agonisingly along the goal line. Somehow it missed the opposite post and rolled out for a goalkick. Shortly before half time the Valiants missed another golden opportunity to take the lead. Corden was given too much space on the left and bent in a tantalising diagonal cross which eluded Naylor and all the Arsenal defenders in the middle to reach Ainsworth at the far post. Fortunately he somehow managed to shin the ball over the bar from 6 yards. At the other end the final action of the half saw Overmars race clear down the left before passing inside to Bergkamp whose instant volley whistled inches over the bar. Arsenal were even more dominant in the second half, but just couldn't find the finish to settle the tie. Early on Overmars again raced clear down the left but his early cross fizzed along the 6yd line and was just too far in front of Wright at the far post. There were a couple of other near things with scrambles in the area. Hughes and Parlour had shots blocked on the edge of the area, and another drive from Hughes was again fumbled round the post by Musselwhite. At the other end Port Vale's rare attacks occasionally threatened. Ainsworth vollied a long cross from the left wide of the far post, and there was another good chance when Naylor (?) ran onto a loose ball just inside the area but snatched at the shot and dragged it wide of the near post. Wrighty did get the ball in the net when he got on the end of an Overmars (?) shot which had been partially blocked, and flicked a header past Musselwhite, but the flag was up for offside (apparently wrongly according to TV evidence). He then missed a chance you'd normally expect him to bury. Overmars flicked a beautiful pass forward for Wright to beat the offside trap and run clear down the inside left channel. He elected to blast a left foot shot from just inside the area and blazed it just past the angle of post and upright. In the final 10 minutes Arsenal were again twice denied by great saves by Musselwhite following corners. Twice Bergkamp's kicks picked out Bould in the middle. The first he headed goalwards and Wright, unmarked a few yards in front of goal turned on the ball to try and get in a shot. He only just made contact but the ball nonetheless seemed goalbound until Musselwhite somehow got fingertips to the ball to deflect it just past the post. A quite brilliant save, and he matched it seconds later when again Bergkamp's corner picked out Bould. This time he headed directly for goal and seemed to have beaten Musselwhite before the keeper brilliantly flung out an arm to stop the ball on the line. Wright then went off injured to be replaced by Anelka, and with Vieira also off injured and Overmars being replaced by Boa Morte at the end of the 90 minutes it looked as though Arsenal might struggle even more to find a goal in extra time. However, about 5 minutes into extra time they almost got it when Boa Morte sprung the offside trap, running clear onto Keown's pass down the left. Musselwhite rashly dashed out of his goal to meet him, and Boa Morte took advantage with an early low cross to pick out Bergkamp just inside the area. The Dutch master had to rather awkwardly dig the ball out from under his feet, but his first time left foot chip was still heading for the near top corner until Tankard bravely got back to head clear before colliding with the post. Five minutes later the Port Vale defence could do nothing to counter the genius of Bergkamp as he scored a brilliant goal reminiscent of the one at Sunderland in the cup last year. Anelka touched a ball back to Grimandi who in turn knocked a pass forward to pick out Bergkamp. He turned on the ball about 25 yards out and with a defender in front of him almost casually curled a right foot chip into the far top corner of the net, leaving the keeper with no chance. We thought that might be that, and indeed Arsenal probably should have got a second early in the 2nd period of extra time. Boa Morte again broke clear down the left, but went for glory trying to beat Musselwhite at his near post from an angle. It almost came off as his shot clipped the outside of the post, but a ball across the face of goal would surely have picked out Parlour unmarked at the far post. And midway through the final period Vale were level. Ainsworth did well on the left and dug out a cross which cleared the Arsenal defence to pick out Corden running in unmarked at the far post, and he swept the ball into the net from about 8 yards. There was then one final scare for the watching Gooners when a dangerous break down the left resulted in a cross which required Boa Morte, tracking back, to clear from in front of a Port Vale player. And so to the penalties. Things didn't look good when Musselwhite went the right way and saved Dixon's effort. Porter put Vale ahead, before Parlour kept Arsenal in it with a superb spot kick into the corner. Ainsworth restored the home team's lead though Seaman got a hand to his shot, and Bergkamp replied with another perfect penalty. Then Seaman gave Arsenal hope, saving Bogie's attempt, and Musselwhite went the wrong way for the first time for Boa Morte's penalty to put Arsenal ahead for the first time. Snijders' superb penalty gave Seaman no chance, and left the score level with the final two scheduled kicks to come. Hughes held his nerve and stroked another superb penalty into the corner which left Tankard having to score his. Great relief at the other end of the ground as he blazed it over the bar. A hardworking, if not terribly inspired performance from the Gunners, though the pitch did cut up rather badly and didn't help the likes of Bergkamp and Overmars to show their best. Arsenal shouldn't really have made such hard work of beating a side struggling at the bottom of the 1st division, though I think they did clearly play above themselves in both games. The confidence should improve with the continued unbeaten run though, and I just hope last night didn't take too much out of the team. Overmars is expected to be fit for Saturday, but Wright isn't and Vieira is doubtful.
Seaman 7.5 Didn't do anything wrong and made some confidence
inspiring claims from crosses. Didn't really have a
difficult save to make until the penalties.
Winterburn 7.0 Some good defensive tackles.
Dixon 6.0 Still looks a bit off the pace and off form.
Keown 7.5 Again pretty solid.
Bould 7.0 Also fairly solid though caught slow a couple of time on
the ground.
Hughes 7.0 Played reasonably well I thought, and deserves a lot of
credit for his penalty.
Vieira 7.0 Not his best game, but still a reasonable job in midfield.
Parlour 8.5 Another great performance I thought, full of running and
no little skill.
Overmars 7.5 Again looked dangerous.
Wright 6.5 Perhaps not fully fit, though I didn't think he played
too badly. Though he did miss two good chances.
Bergkamp 7.0 For most of the game he looked as though he still hasn't
regained his touch and not much was going right. But
then he scored that brilliant goal.
Anelka 7.0 I thought he did pretty well, with some good running and
and chasing.
Grimandi 6.0 Not the ideal replacement for Vieira though it was his
pass that set up Bergkamp's goal.
Boa Morte 7.0 Did well and looked quite dangerous, though Port Vale
were pretty tired by the time he came on.
Other reports
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