Arsenal (0) 1 - 0 (0) (aet)Highbury, Tuesday 18th November 1997Coca-Cola Cup. 4th RoundPreview
scorer: Bergkamp
Arsenal:
Manninger
Dixon Bould Keown Upson
Parlour Platt Mendez (Marshall 104) Hughes
Bergkamp Anelka (Wreh 67)
no Arsenal bookings! (4 for Coventry)
Full report soon.
Bergkamp got the goal 10 minutes into extra time. Hughes sent a beautiful long pass from a few yards into our half, which Bergkamp ran onto. He took a couple of touches, with a couple fo defenders in pursuit and Ogrizovic looming. At the last moment his third touch softly chipped the keeper and in off the far post. We'd had a bit less luck with the woodwork earlier. Anelka hit it in the first half after a great long ball from Keown sent Dixon down the right wing to the goal-line. He cut it back perfectly to Anelka in the box and his shot crashed out off the underside of the bar. A little earlier an almost identical move saw Dixon set up Bergkamp in the same position but he took a touch which pushed it a little far in front of him and he had to poke the shot and mishit it wide. Mendez also hit the post in the second half, his shot deflecting off a defender or two had the keepr beat but it bounced off the foot of the post. Wreh hit the bar with a powerful shot in the second period of extra time. We had lots of chances and possibly should have won by a larger margin. Coventry had some openings too but Haworth (?) up front squandered a few and was replaced by Huckerby who looked considerably more dangerous. Coventry did create enough to force Manninger to show what he can do, and he didn't disappoint. He made several outstanding saves, and came out for the ball well. The only down side was his use of the ball, which was mostly resticted to great hoofs downfield - although some of them weren't so great. He seemed to mishit a couple badly, sending them skidding along the ground at unexpected angles. But both times the ball went straight to the feet of an Arsenal player so I'll reserve judgement on those incidents! The over-use of high balls forward seemd particularly unfair on little Chris Wreh when he came on. Some of the crowd were very impatient with him but I thought he did well, creating a few chances, having a shot hit the bar, and holding the ball up very well at times. He still tries to do a bit too much a bit too often. Platt had a good game. One of best moves came in the first half when he headed the ball sideays to Bergkamp, halfway into Covntry's half. Bergkamp flicked it high first-time, and into the box where Platt was running onto it. He connected well on the volley but it went too close to Ogrizovic. A lovely move to watch. It was nice to see Hughes do so well too. He didn;t just create the goal with that fanstastic long pass, but made Ogrizovic make a couple of good diving saves with shots from outside the box. All round, not bad performances anywhere. We just had some trouble with the finishing. I thought Bergkamp at his best might have had 4. Finally - great to see Keown back, and playing some really nice passes too. It'll be interesting to see who we draw, and to see whether Wenger continues his policy of picking a team that's only just good enough to beat them. Other results tonight:
Liverpool 3 - 0 Grimsby (Owen hat-trick)
Leeds 2 - 2 Reading (a hilarious Reading opener after 2 Leeds
defenders knocked each other over just outside the box)
Derby 0 - 1 Newcastle
Oxford 1 - 2 Ipswich
Boro 2 - 1 Bolton
Ipswich please. (not granted: see draw).
Cola Cup fourth round
Arsenal vs Coventry City Tue Nov 19 1997
Result : Arsenal (0) 1 Coventry City (0) 0
after extra time
Scorers: Bergkamp 99
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Upson, Keown, Bould; Platt, Parlour,
Mendez, Hughes; Anelka, Bergkamp
Subs: Wreh (Anelka 67), Marshall (Mendez 105), Lukic
Coventry: Ogrizovic, Shaw, Nilsson, Burrows, Breen, Williams,
McAllister, Telfer, Hall, Haworth, Dublin
Subs Not: Huckerby (Haworth 75), Soltvedt, Boland
Booked: Haworth, Burrows, Shaw, Williams
Att: 30199
Ref: G R Ashby (Worcester)
Well, I quite enjoyed the game on Tuesday night. Maybe too much beer in
the pub beforehand has something to do with it, but the people who
profess to having been bored to distraction by it seem to have been
watching a different game. Alright perhaps it wasn't full of beautiful
flowing football, but there was a lot of goalmouth incident - for
instance both keepers made several great saves, the frame of the goal
was struck no less than six times (admittedly twice after the whistle
had gone) though maybe that does just point to poor finishing, and there
was a disallowed goal. Oh yes, and there was a delightful goal from the
Dutch master as well.
In an attempt to prove my thesis I'll abandon my usual turgid reporting style and just list the incidents as I recall them. Which probably won't be very accurate due to alcohol-fogged memory. Anyway in approximate chronological order: First half In the first couple of minutes Anelka goes on a strong run from the half way line before feeding Bergkamp on the edge of the box. Bergkamp controls a difficult ball well and hits a shot from the edge of the area. He doesn't quite catch it cleanly but it is nonetheless heading just inside the post until Ogrizovic makes a full stretch fingertip save (save #C1). McAllister picks up a loose ball in midfield and advances to fire in a vicious 25 yard shot which Manninger acrobatically flings himself to beat away (save #A1). Dublin picks up the rebound but from an acute angle scuffs his left foot shot somewhat. Manninger gets hands to it again (save #A2) and Keown completes the clearance. Coventry have obviously marked out our blonde chap as the danger man, and two of their men are booked for hacking down Dixon. The full back proves they were right to mark him out for special attention by laying on the two best chances of the half: First a run down the right, into the area and a pullback, lays on a chance for Bergkamp. His first touch isn't quite perfect though and he has to stretch and his toepoke from 12 yards goes wide. Then late in the half Keown chips a lovely ball forward to pick out another Dixon run down the right. He takes it well on his chest and again gets to the byline before pulling the ball back. This time it is into Anelka's path but his cracking left foot shot from 15 yards crashes against the crossbar and out again (woodwork #1). Bergkamp gets another reasonable half-chance in the box (set up I think by Anelka), but gets the ball caught under his feet and his eventual shot is tame and straight at the keeper. Platt heads forward to Bergkamp and continues his run into the area down the left. A magical first time flick from Bergkamp sets Platt up with a vollied chance. He has to hit it first time as the ball drops, and catches it reasonably well from an angle, but Ogrizovic makes another good save (save #C2). Second half. Telfer bends in a left foot cross from the right, Dublin glances a header goalwards from about 15 yards. The ball bounces awkwardly just in front of Manninger as he plunges down in front of his right hand post, but the young keeper does well to palm it aside for a corner (save #A3). Anelka goes on another strong run down the left, gets in front of Shaw and cuts across him as he enters the left corner of the area. Shaw barges him over, but as the North Bank screams for a penalty the ref waves play on. A lovely chip from Bergkamp sets Mendez free for a run down the middle and into the area. With Platt in space to his left he elects instead to shoot from just inside the area, the ball is deflected and bounces back off the right hand post with Ogrizovic beaten (W#2). At the other end, Haworth (I think) is given a lot of space on the left but fires a shot from 18 yards just wide of the opposite post. Then the same player harries Bould into a mistake on the left hand touchline and runs clear in on goal. With Dublin in the middle waiting for a cutback the young striker elects to shoot from an acute angle, and Manninger makes another good block (save #A4). Parlour tries a shot from 30 yards which was going comfortably wide until Platt, in the line of fire, gets a head to the ball and glances it only a yard or so wide. Bergkamp tries a curler from just outside the area which goes a couple of yards wide of the far upright. Mendez breaks down the middle and feeds Bergkamp, in space on his right. The Dutchman runs clear into the area and finishes crisply across Oggie and into the far corner of the net. Highbury erupts briefly but the offside flag is up. A left wing Hughes corner is flicked on (by Bould?) and Wreh (on for Anelka) gets in a twisting header which glances off the top of the crossbar (W#3). Extra time, first half. In the first minute Huckerby (on for Haworth) breaks down the left, is given too much room by Bould and cuts inside to fire in a right foot shot from 15 yards which smacks against the near post and rebounds to safety (W#4). Hughes floats a majestic long pass down the left to pick out Bergkamp's run, and the Dutchman runs clear of Shaw with the offside flag down for once. One on one with Ogrizovic, the Dutch master executes a classy finish, dinking the ball over the keeper and into the net off the far post. Hughes goes on a mazy run down the middle which finishes with a rasping shot from the edge of the area which Ogrizovic pushes round the post at full stretch (save #C4). A Coventry free kick about 30 yards out on the Arsenal right is chipped into the box, Breen gets a flicked header to an earlier deflection, but Manninger makes a quite brilliant reflex save pushing the ball aside (save #A5). Extra time, second half. Hughes goes on another good run down the middle, has another good shot from 20 yards, and Ogrizovic makes another good save (#C5). Dublin gets his head to a right wing Coventry corner, and his header bounces off the top of the crossbar (W#5). The whistle has already gone for pushing though. A pass from Bergkamp (I think?) finds Wreh in space on the left side of the area. The Liberian hits a first time half-volley which beats Ogrizovic and crashes against the crossbar, but the offside flag is up again (W#6). Bergkamp tries a snap shot from just outside the area, but Ogrizovic is again equal to it, beating the shot away (save #C6). Slack marking allows Williams to play a simple pass forward for Huckerby to run onto down the left and clear of the Gunners' defence. He advances one on one with Manninger and tries to slot it inside the far post with his right foot. The young Austrian keeper though makes a match winning save (#A6). So, 12 what I'd call good saves, 4 times the woodwork was legitimately hit, and I believe somebody's stats said there were 37 shots at goal in total. Overall I think it was a reasonable game and not a bad performance from the Gunners, particularly bearing in mind that there were only 4 of the first choice 11 playing, and Manninger, Upson, Mendez, Hughes and Keown had between them previously only amassed 8 full first teams games this season. Coventry are also a hard team to beat - they've only lost 3 games this season and had a full strength side out.
Manninger 8.0 As I've already said, some great saves and a performance
which should give him confidence.
Upson 7.0 Still got something to learn defensively I think, though
it's maybe a bit harsh to judge him as a left back when
his preferred position is centre half. I was quite
impressed by his ability in the air though, he even
beat Dublin a couple of times.
Dixon 7.5 Had a pretty good game going forward, particularly in
the first half, though this did perhaps leave gaps
behind him.
Keown 7.5 Barely looked like he'd been away. I can only recall a
couple of errors which showed up a bit of rustiness.
Bould 6.5 A few dodgy moments almost gifted Coventry a couple of
goals.
Parlour 7.0 Fairly quiet but steady game.
Platt 7.5 Also a steady game and did a good job of keeping control
in the middle.
Hughes 6.5 Rather disappointing for most of normal time, but perked
up during extra time, and did make the winning goal.
Mendez 7.0 Slightly less impressive than against Birmingham but
still showed a lot of promise with several good runs.
Anelka 7.0 Still looks good on the ball, but I think on occasion
needs to do more off it.
Bergkamp 7.5 He did look a bit rusty early on, but got stronger as
the match wore on, and had his usual rough treatment
with little protection from the ref.
Wreh 6.5 Well, I quite like him and think he's got a reasonable
touch, particularly with his back to goal.
Report by Derek
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