Arsenal (0) 1 - 0 (0)Highbury. Saturday 21st February 1998FA Carling PremiershipPreview
Arsenal (0) 1 - 0 (0)Highbury. Saturday 21st February 1998FA Carling Premiership
scorers: Grimandi!
Arsenal:
Manninger
Dixon Keown Grimandi Upson
Platt Hughes Vieira Vernazza (McGowan)
Boa Morte Anelka
Arsenal reserves (at most 3 first-choice players) beat Palace
(many reserves too, to be fair) in a match that looked a bit
like a reserve team match, thanks to a moment of sheer
brilliance from the man of the moment Gilles Grimandi.
A Vernazza free-kick from the left was headed clear,
looping up over the box towards the left edge. Grimandi,
with back to goal, met it as it fell and hit it on the
turn, first time, into the far top corner. I think he
was as surprised as anyone. In the course of the last
month he's gone from "Not fit to wear the red &
white" to potential player of the month.
This win, and losses by Blackburn and Chelsea,
takes Arsenal into second, still with a game in hand over
the teams below us and 2 in hand over Man United. They're 9 points
clear and still to play us.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Sat Feb 21 1998
Result : Arsenal (0) 1 Crystal Palace (0) 0
Scorers: Grimandi 49
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Grimandi, Keown, Upson; Vieira, Hughes,
Vernazza, Boa Morte, Platt; Anelka
Subs: McGowan (Vernazza 80), Crowe, Day, Rankin, Lukic
Booked: Platt, Anelka, Dixon
Palace: Miller, Smith, Ismael, Hreidarsson, Edworthy, Gordon, Roberts,
Rodger, Fullarton, Dyer, Brolin
Subs: Bent (Smith 67), Tuttle (Dyer 77), Linighan, Nash, Emblen
Booked: Dyer, Fullarton, Hreidarsson, Roberts
Att: 38094
Ref: J T Winter (Stockton-on-Tees)
Arsenal overcame an unprecedented injury list to dig out this vital win
against a Palace side not without injury problems itself. While the
visitor's missing players were mainly forwards, Arsenal were without
first teamers all over the pitch. Arguably nine of their first choice XI
were out, there were no less than six changes from the starting lineup
that lost to Chelsea on Wednesday, and seven of the team where 21 or
under.
As a spectacle the game wasn't up to much, particularly the first half when Platt was playing furthest forward in support of Anelka. And after a fairly uneventful first 20 minutes it was Platt who created the first real opportunity of the game, playing a lovely pass forward down the inside right channel to release Anelka for a clear run into the area. His shot was hard and low, and heading just inside the near post until Miller made a great reaction save, sticking out a foot to divert it for a corner. From the corner Platt had virtually a free header, but seemed to mistime his leap slightly and put it over the bar. At the other end Palace at last began to show some attacking intent, and a cross from the right found Gordon unmarked at the edge of the area on the left. He completely mishit a first time shot though, and it went out for a throw in. Soon after that the visitors wasted the best chance of the half. Brolin lifted a clever diagonal pass over the Arsenal defence from the left, to pick out Smith running in from deep on the right. He centred low and hard across the 6yd area to find Dyer at the far post. He seemed to misjudge the pace of the cross though and stabbed his shot wide from about 5 yards. It was Arsenal who came closest to a goal in the first half though, only being denied by the woodwork. Vernazza's corner from the left was met by a header from Upson at the far post which looped back across goal only to bounce against the opposite post and out again. Platt did a sort of modified overhead kick (TM) to hook the ball back into the middle, but Anelka couldn't get any force behind his header and the ball was headed clear from in front of the goal line by a defender. The second half was a significant improvement. Platt seemed to move back into midfield to leave Boa Morte as the main support for Anelka, but it was Vieira who got Arsenal going soon after halftime with a surging run from inside his own half to the edge of the area before his final pass just eluded runners at the far post. Soon afterwards Arsenal did take the lead. Another Vernazza corner from the left was headed unconvincingly away by Hreidarsson, and the ball only reached Grimandi as he lurked just inside the area on the left. He somehow hooked a waist high volley over his shoulder towards goal and the ball sailed over the stranded keeper and into the far corner of the net for a brilliant goal. Huge delight round Highbury and Arsenal proceeded to attack with more verve and were unlucky not to have scored again. Anelka produced a lovely turn on the edge of the box and fired in a vicious left foot shot which whistled only a foot or two over the bar, and Platt had another decent chance from a corner but again couldn't get his header on target. Boa Morte was having a game which was a mixture of good, bad and comical. He showed some nice skill in the area to get to the byline on the right, but his pull back went to no-one in particular, and then later he missed what looked the easiest chance of the game. Anelka was put through into the right side of the area by a pass (from Dixon? or Vernazza?) following a good move down the right. He got to the byline and pulled the ball back into the middle to pick out Boa Morte unmarked about 8 yards out. It was perhaps slightly behind him, and I suspect the young Portugese winger was reluctant to use his right foot, but the end result was that he tripped over a combination of the ball and his own feet and the ball spun harmlessly away to be cleared. At the other end Palace were pressing forward a bit more urgently in search of an equaliser and they almost got it when Rodger cut in from the left and hit a superb left foot shot from 20 yards which was arrowing just beneath the crossbar until Manninger arched acrobatically to pull of a brilliant fingertip save. Meanwhile, Arsenal might have had a second. Anelka surged into the area and appeared to be tripped by a defender, but the ref was a fair way behind play and waved play on. Then Vieira was put clear and raced into the area on the right. He looked to have a good opportunity for a shot but instead chose to try and find Boa Morte in the middle, though it's possible he was attempting an audacious chip into the far top corner. The end result anyway was that the keeper made a comfortable catch. The final few minutes were a bit nervous as the young Arsenal team settled for the 1-0 win, but they hung on for a deserved and encouraging victory. A pretty heartening result overall, considering the circumstances and on the whole I thought the youngsters did pretty well.
Manninger 7.5 One great save but otherwise largely unemployed.
Upson 7.0 Another promising performance, though once or twice
looked a little naive and unsure.
Dixon 7.0 Looked a bit more like the Dixon of old.
Grimandi 8.0 A great goal, and a composed and creditable game,
particularly considering he was carrying an injury.
Keown 7.0 A little rusty but otherwise not bad considering it
was his first game in 5 weeks.
Vieira 8.0 A little quiet and subdued in the 1st half, but he was
outstanding in the second.
Hughes 7.0 Reasonably steady though unspectacular.
Vernazza 7.0 Promising again, though slightly less so than in the
CC cup game, perhaps because he was out of position wide
on the right. Some good accurate corners though.
Platt 6.5 Uncharacteristically missed some good headed chances,
and generally looked slightly off form.
Boa Morte 6.0 Did have a couple of good moments, but balanced by some
equally bad ones.
Anelka 7.0 In the first half I didn't think he was much better than
on Weds, but improved markedly in the second. His
booking for a contretemps with Roberts shows he does
have some sort of passion.
McGowan Only on for 10 minutes but put in some good running and
tackling on the right.
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