(0) 0 - 2 (1) ArsenalOakwell. Saturday April 25th 1998FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Adams Keown Winterburn
Platt Petit Vieira Overmars
Bergkamp Anelka (Wreh)
subs not used: Lukic Bould Grimandi Hughes
Arsenal were not playing at the same level as the last few
matches, but it's a sign of the current team's class that they
still never looked like losing, and could have had a few more,
against a home side that's not been playing badly of late, and
are desparate for points.
Never looked like losing once the first goal went in, at least. Barnsley started the game brightly. Danny Wilson judged that Ashley Ward's more aerial style night not work against our defence, and started with the tricky Clint Marcel alongside Fjortoft up front. But Arsenal came through the first 10 minutes well, and after Overmars won a corner Bergkamp almost curled in straight in, the keeper Watson had hit wits about him though. on 13 minutes Petit got a dodgy booking for a foul, and a minute later got away with climbing on Redfern when the Frenchman couldn't get through to the ball. On 22 minutes Petit stabbed the ball through to Bergkamp who got his firts half-sight of goal. He went through a tackle to the edge of the area, switched to his right foot, and sent one of those effortless bending shots of his into the net for 1-0. Then Seaman had to make a good save, the ball coming through a sea of legs. Overmars missed a golden chance for the second when on the break we found ourselves 3 against 1. Anelka to Vieira, Vieira to Overmars, who found himself clean through on the keeper but dragged it wide. Then Platt, taking the place of the suspended Parlour (accumulated yellow cards), hit a vicious swerver just over the bar. Seaman made another fine save this time form a swerving dipping Barnard shot. Dave just reached it to tip the ball one-handed round the post. Then Petit had a good drive saved to finish the half. Ashley Ward came on, and chasing a ball over the top he pushed Adams into Seaman then handled the ball. Ward was booked for one or both of these offences. Seaman was in another clash a bit later, this time with Fjortoft, and shortly after was seen waving frantically for assistance. Gary Lewin came on and treated his foot, it looked like a bruise or suchlike to the instep which was worrying, but he completed the rest of the match and didn't look like he was trying to avoid kicking the ball. Incidentally, anyone know why Lukic has been on the bench instead of Manninger for the last couple of matches? (A few people have written in answer to this. Most have heard that Alex has flu (the same bug that kept Stephen Hughes out of the U21 match on Tuesday) from radio comms, but one heard that he'd aggravated an injury. Thanks to Yvonne Barbara Syd and John). 20 minutes into the second half Anelka nearly made the most of a chance after a good run and a one-two with Overmars. At the second attempt Nicky tried a kind of backwards header which clipped the top of the bar. A couple of minutes later Watson hit a clearance straight to Bergkamp who chipped it straight back but just over the bar. Full marks to the home fans for their subsequent chant of "Watson for England". Vieira had one amazing run. He started from the Arsenal D and set off down the pitch. Playing a one-two with Bergkamp near the half-way line, he powered towards goal but got a bit of a bobble at the end and hit the shot over the bar. He'd probably wanted to feed Anelka, but saw that Nicky was in an offside position. The same thing had happened to Overmars a bit before. Wreh then came on for Anelka, and a minute later Ovemars, who had had a quiet game for him, got the crucial second goal. He took a pass on his chest and past the last defender, then stroked it past the keeper. Dixon had a rare moment with 5 remaining, when he transferred the ball to his left foot and hit a curler just inches wide. There was much merriment on the Arsenal bench, left feet being pointed at etc. In the closing minutes Redfern hit a rocket of a shot just high, and Overmars hit low and wide after a ball over the top. And in the last minute Bergkamp lost the ball which led to Hendrie getting between Adams and Keown, but he stabbed the shot wide. Consequences of today's results:
Barnsley vs Arsenal Sat Apr 25 1998
Result : Barnsley (0) 0 Arsenal (1) 2
Scorers: Bergkamp 23, Overmars 76
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn; Vieira, Petit,
Platt, Overmars; Bergkamp, Anelka
Subs: Wreh (Anelka 75), Bould, Grimandi, Hughes, Lukic
Booked: Petit, Winterburn
Barnsley: Watson, Eaden, Moses, De Zeeuw, Redfearn, Marcelle, Bullock,
Jones, Tinkler, Barnard, Fjortoft
Subs: Ward (Marcelle 51), Bosancic (Tinkler 65),
Hendrie (Fjortoft 75), Liddell, Leese
Booked: Ward
Att: 18691
Ref: M Riley (Leeds)
An unexpectedly warm and sunny Saturday in Yorkshire, and Arsenal eventually made hay in the sunshine to continue their seemingly inexorable march towards the title. Once Arsenal had weathered Barnsley's opening storm Dennis Bergkamp scored another special, and thereafter the result was never seriously in question. Not surprisingly for a team battling for Premiership survival, Barnsley started the game more urgently, and for the first 15-20 minutes had the Gunners back-pedalling, and Petit and Winterburn were both booked within a couple of minutes of each other. The former rather harshly in my view, as he appeared to win the ball, and a few minutes later what looked an identical challenge by a Barnsley player went unpenalised. One or two crosses and corners caused concern in the Arsenal defence, and it was from one of the latter that the home team came closest to scoring early on. The corner was half cleared to Bergkamp on the edge of the area and he tried to play his way out of trouble but was caught in possession by Tinkler. The ref rather harshly penalised Bergkamp for bringing down Tinkler after he'd stolen possession, and Refearn took the free kick from just beyond the corner of the area. He curled it over the wall but straight into Seaman's arms. At the other end Arsenal were struggling to put anything really threatening together, though one corner early on from Bergkamp caused a bit of a scramble in the area. I think it may even have hit the near post before it was eventually hacked clear. However, Arsenal were gradually beginning to gain a grip on the game, and midway through the first half after a period of controlled possession they took the lead with a goal virtually out of nothing, with a typical piece of Bergkamp magic. Adams passed out to Overmars on the left wing and he played a first time pass inside to Petit. The Frenchmen was tackled but regained control to stab a short pass forward to Bergkamp. There didn't seem much on for the Dutch master but he held off one challenge and advanced a few yards towards the area before curling a beautiful shot round a defender and the keeper, and just inside the far post. Very similar to his first goal against Barnsley at Highbury. After that Vieira and Petit held midfield in an iron grip and Arsenal should really have added to their lead before half time, most notably when Overmars missed a virtually open goal. Vieira won a tackle on the edge of his own area. He passed it out to Platt and the ball moved with a speed which bewildered the Barnsley defence via Bergkamp to Anelka. With a couple of the home defenders vainly trying to play offside while another of them was about 20 yards deeper, Anelka broke quickly towards the area with only the lone defender in front of him, and Vieira and Overmars both in support. The young Frenchman did the right thing and took the defender out of the equation by playing the ball to his left for Vieira who in turn passed it on for Overmars who had only the keeper to beat. He had time to pick his spot before carefully placing a right foot shot a foot or so wide of the near post. Soon afterwards Anelka again did well when Platt's pass found him making a run down the inside right channel. He turned well just outside the area to make space to get to the byline. As a defender lunged in front to cover Anelka dummied a cross and turned back onto his left foot and cut back away from goal before firing in a left foot shot which was well struck and looked on target before it was blocked on the edge of the 6yd box. The rebound fell to Platt, running in on the edge of the area and he struck a first time half-volley with his left foot which fizzed barely a foot over the bar. Barnsley nearly got back into the game just before half time when Platt seem to misjudge an attempt to intercept a pass in midfield and Barnard took advantage to run on between him and Dixon to the edge of the area before striking a well placed shot which Seaman was at full stretch to get a hand to and push round the post. The second half continued the way much of the latter part of the first half gone, with Arsenal fairly comfortably in control and regularly creating chances on the break, though as the catalogue of misses mounted it started to get a little worrying that Barnsley only needed one goal do draw level. The home crowd were encouraged when Ward replaced Marcelle after about 5 minutes of the 2nd half, and the Tykes had a spell soon afterwards which caused one or two moments of concern in the Arsenal defence. Adams sliced a clearance back towards his own goal, but Seaman held the catch despite a Fjortoft body charge. Ward was booked for trying to punch the ball into the net after losing out in a race to Seaman and Adams to reach a diagonal ball across the area. Later on Seaman had to come out of his goal quickly to kick clear after a pass bobbled through down the middle and a couple of Barnsley players threatened to get on the end of it, and damaged his foot in the process which required a couple of minutes treatment. In between times though Arsenal were methodically taking Barnsley apart on the break, and only their finish was lacking. Overmars played a pass in from the left for Anelka to break clear through on the keeper. On the bobbly pitch he seemed to get the ball slightly caught under his feet as he went into the area, and as he was about to shoot Moses got back to get in a superbly timed tackle. Anelka recovered to regain possession though and turned to lay the ball back for Platt who again shot inches over the bar from the edge of the area. Anelka and Overmars then combined well again, playing a lovely one-two on the edge of the area which sent the young Frenchman through on the keeper. Watson came out quickly though, and made a great save as Anelka tried to shoot past him. The ball spun up off the keeper and Anelka was alert enough to try a back header which unluckily bounced off the top of the crossbar. Watson did less well soon afterwards, miskicking a clearance to Bergkamp about 40 yards out. He tried an instant return lob which was just too high. Vieira then again broke up an attack on the edge of his area, exchanged passes with Bergkamp and side-stepped a tackle on the half way line to leave himself with a clear run on goal. With 2 or 3 defenders snapping at his heels he surged into the area before firing a shot inches over the bar from 15 yards. It was Overmars' turn next to break clear down the left. He had a choice between shooting from an angle or passing square to the unmarked Anelka in the middle. He chose the latter but his pass wasn't firm enough and a defender was able to intercept. Soon afterwards Anelka was replaced by Wreh, and a minute or two later Arsenal did eventually get that second goal. Platt exchanged passes with the substitute before sending a pass down the middle which Overmars cleverly chested through the square defence to leave himself one on one with the keeper. He atoned for his earlier miss by hitting a low right foot shot across Watson which the keeper got a hand to, but couldn't stop from rolling into the net. To their credit Barnsley kept plugging away, and had their best two chances of the second half in the final 15 minutes. A scramble on the edge of the area eventually led to Redfearn being set up for a shot, but he fired a 20 yarder just over the bar. Then, late on Bergkamp was dispossessed in midfield and a pass was rolled forward for Hendrie's run through the middle, but his shot with the outside of his right foot curled a couple of feet wide of Seaman's left hand post. Dixon almost put the icing on Arsenal's cake with a left foot shot from 25 yards which curled inches wide of the far post, but soon afterwards the ref blew for time, and Arsenal's 8th successive league win was in the bag. Overall, a pretty comfortable and competent performance from the Gunners. If they can keep up this sort of form and confidence for just two more games, then even I might start getting confident. It was also nice to see the Barnsley crowd keeping up a consistent volume of support which was predominantly for their team, instead of against the opposition.
Seaman 7.5 One great save, and some competent catches but otherwise
little to do.
Winterburn 7.5 Another consistent game.
Dixon 7.5 Also consistent.
Adams 7.5 One or two slightly panicky moments in the 2nd half, but
otherwise dominant as usual.
Keown 7.5 Solid and dependable as usual.
Vieira 8.5 After a relatively quiet first 20 minutes superb in
midfield again, both defensively and in attack.
Petit 7.5 Another good game.
Platt 7.5 Did reasonably well, though I think we're stronger with
Parlour on the right side of midfield.
Overmars 7.5 Rather a mixed game. Was very lively and frequently used
his pace well but a couple of poor misses and final balls.
Bergkamp 7.5 Another brilliant goal, but for him a relatively quiet
game otherwise.
Anelka 8.0 Had a pretty good game overall and unlucky not to have
scored, though there were a couple of times when his
straying offside limited attacking options.
Derek Other reports
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