Arsenal (1) 1 - 0 (0)Highbury, Wednesday 29th April 1998FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal (1) 1 - 0 (0)Highbury, Wednesday 29th April 1998FA Carling PremiershipArsenal won thanks to a long-range Petit screamer after 34 minutes. Bergkamp had a (dubious) penalty saved well by Poom early in the game, and limped off later in the first half with a hamstring injury that Wenger has said will keep him out of the rest of the league campaign. It's usually at least 3 weeks for a hamstring and the Cup final is now 2 and a half weeks away. Nuff said :-(Full report here soon (I couldn't make it to the match).
Arsenal vs Derby County Wed Apr 29 1998
Result : Arsenal (1) 1 Derby (0) 0
Scorers: Petit 34
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn; Vieira, Petit,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Anelka
Subs: Wreh (Bergkamp 30), Platt (Anelka 82), Bould,
Hughes, Manninger
Booked: Parlour
Derby: Poom, Rowett, Laursen, Dailly, C Powell, Delap, Carsley,
D Powell, Bohinen, Sturridge, Wanchope
Subs: Burton (D Powell 74), Solis (Bohinen 82), Van Der Laan,
Kozluk, Hoult
Booked: Dailly, Wanchope, Sturridge, Delap, Carsley
Att: 38121
Ref: N S Barry (Scunthorpe)
A rather nervy night at Highbury yesterday as Arsenal made hard work of overcoming a Derby side clearly intent on using whatever means necessary (mostly foul) to stop the Gunners' title charge. And for a while it looked like they might succeed as the dream threatened to become nightmare when Bergkamp missed a first half penalty and then went off injured. Fortunately Emmanuel Petit settled the nerves soon afterwards with a netbuster of a goal, and Derby's lack of ideas in attack meant that Arsenal's lead was rarely threatened apart from during an edgy final few minutes. With Parlour restored to the side after suspension Arsenal were arguably at full strength (the old talisman Wright apart), while Derby were without Stimac, Eranio and Baiano. The visitors switched back to 5 at the back with Laursen marking Bergkamp, in an attempt to counter Arsenal's attacking threat. They also flew into the tackle with venom which succeeded in knocking Arsenal off their stride in the opening few minutes, though the home team started to settle after Dixon cut in from the right and curled a left foot attempt from the edge of the box inches over the bar and onto the roof of the net. The ref turned down one early penalty appeal when Laursen appeared to use his arm to block Bergkamp's attempt to thread a pass into the box, but minutes later surprised most of the ground by awarding a penalty when there were few appeals. Anelka gathered a throw-in from Dixon in the corner of the area close to the byline, and then went down under challenge from Dailly and Chris Powell. From the other end it was hard to see why, but the TV pictures clearly show Dailly hauling back on Anelka's shirt with both hands. Hardly the brightest thing to do with the ref standing barely two yards away, so he had little option but to point to the spot. Delight soon turned to disappointment though, as Bergkamp put the spot kick too close to Poom, and the keeper guessed the right way, left, kept it out and a defender cleared for a corner. Arsenal didn't lose heart though there was a period when they seemed in danger of losing their rag as they retaliated to the Rams' attempt to batter their way to a point. The visitors' approach was epitomised by Dailly's attempted decapitation of Anelka as the Frenchman threatened to break clear. There was a scuffle between Adams and Dailly, and then between Wanchope and Petit, and Winterburn and the rest of the Derby team as the match threatened to get out of hand. However, Arsenal gradually calmed down and renewed their footballing attacks with vigour. Anelka produced a lovely little layoff midway in the Derby half to send Overmars through into space, and the flying Dutchman ran on to fire in a cracking shot from 25 yards which flew a foot or so over the bar. Roles were reversed soon afterwards when Overmars sent over a lovely cross from the left which Anelka chose to try and chest down when a direct header on goal looked the better option, and the chance ran away. However, soon after that things didn't look so bright as Bergkamp first appeared to injure a knee as he was subjected to another heavy challenge, and then minutes later trudged disconsolately off having pulled a hamstring as he stretched to get away from another bit of shirt pulling. Fortunately despondency didn't have time to settle in, because less than 5 minutes later Arsenal were in front. A period of sustained pressure on the Derby goal ended with Parlour chipping a pass into the box to Wreh. With his back to goal he tried to lay the ball off to Overmars but left it a bit short, and the winger lost out to Delap in a challenge on the edge of the area. Overmars tackled back though and the ball ran loose to Petit a few yards further back. He took a touch before steadying himself and unleashing a tremendous left foot shot from 22 yards which absolutely rocketed into the net. Arsenal continued to pour forward and came close a couple more times before half time. Vieira crashed in a drive which if anything was hit even harder than Petit's, but it was straight at Poom and though the keeper could only beat it out, there were no red shirts following up and a defender cleared for another corner. Then Overmars was sent away down the left and got past Delap to cut into the area close to the byline. He tried to surprise Poom with a snap shot at his near post, but the keeper reacted well to hold on to the shot. I can only recall one Derby threat at the other end during the first half, and that came in injury time. Wanchope reached a ball in the left side of the area first and hooked it across goal to find Carsley unmarked in the middle. It was an awkward bouncing ball to control though and he scooped a volley over the bar. For much of the second half Arsenal seemed content to sit on their lead, and large parts of it were characterised by controlled possession by the Gunners with occasional attacking bursts. They came closest to a goal about 15 minutes into the half when Anelka was fouled a few yards outside the area and Petit took the free kick. He didn't seem to quite catch it cleanly but Poom couldn't hold on to the daisy cutter, but recovered brilliantly to block Wreh's shot from the rebound. Anelka had a couple of good runs down the right, cutting back across the area onto his left foot, but both times sent his shot high and wide. Overmars also threatened to create something down the left a couple of times, but couldn't quite find the final ball. It was Petit who again came closest to scoring about 10 minutes from time with another free kick. It seemed an ambititious attempt from about 30 yards, but he again struck it beautifully and Poom had to get down quickly to beat the shot aside for a corner. At the other end Derby struggled to create anything so for most of the half Arsenal's lead didn't look in any danger. However, as we approached the final few minutes, the Gunners started getting a bit jittery, Derby threw on Burton and Solis, and started throwing long balls into the Arsenal area. There was a real scare when following an Arsenal corner Poom launched a huge kick, Keown misjudged the flight and the ball bounced high a few yards outside the area. With Winterburn the only other defender in attendance and Seaman a bit late coming out, for a short horrid moment it looked as though Sturridge might get his head to the ball first, but old Nutty saved the day with a desperate lunge to head the ball a few yards wide of his own goal. The final couple of minutes were nail biting as Derby continued to launch balls into the area and the Arsenal defenders were content to clear anywhere. But to huge cheers of relief the ref finally blew his whistle and the 3 points were safe. A pragmatically determined performance rather than the scintillating football we've become accustomed to recently, but hardly surprising given Derby's approach and the importance of getting the 3 points. Bergkamp's injury is a serious blow though, and those who foresaw two easy wins in the final two home games will have been brought down to earth. If Derby, with essentially nothing to play for, can fight as hard as they did last night, imagine what Everton (with already the worst disciplinary record in the division) are going to be like on Sunday.
Seaman 7.0 Derby didn't manage a shot on target and had few crosses
either, so he didn't have a great deal to do apart from
teasing the crowd by dallying over back passes.
Winterburn 7.5 The usual Nutty performance, obdurate and dependable.
Dixon 7.5 Also had a consistent game and unlucky with the 1st half
chip.
Adams 7.5 Solid and dominant at the back again.
Keown 7.5 Ditto.
Vieira 8.0 Another great all round display of midfield play.
Petit 8.5 Superb again, and our most dangerous player.
Parlour 7.0 Worked hard as usual, but relatively quiet otherwise.
Overmars 7.5 Fairly lively again, though Delap pretty well matched
him for pace and he struggled to get round him.
Bergkamp 6.5 Bit of a shock to see him miss a penalty, and was
already showing his frustration at Laursen's attentions
when he went off.
Anelka 8.0 Again I thought he had a very good game, holding the
ball up well with good touch and distribution.
Wreh 7.0 Also did pretty well as sub for the master.
Derek Other reports
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