Arsenal (0) 0 - 0 (0) Tottenham_HotspurHighbury, Saturday 30th August 1997FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Bould Grimandi Winterburn
Petit (Platt, late) Vieira Parlour (Anelka) Overmars
Wright Bergkamp
A frustrating match which we should have won. At the end the Tottenham
fans were jubilant, having held on with 10 men for the whole of the second
half. After the break they defended in numbers, the only shot on goal coming
from a free-kick outside the area which Seaman collected pretty comfortably.
But it was in the first half, against 11, that Arsenal might have established a big lead. We hit the woodwork 4 times. First Bould got on the end of an excellent diagonal ball from Grimandi. It arrived on the left of the penalty area and, at a stretch, his ball across the penalty area was deflected past Walker onto the foot of the post. Bergkamp took a free-kick from outside the area which came back off the wall and found it's way to Vieira just inside the area. He managed to push the ball back into Overmars path, but the Dutchman's shot slammed off the underside of the bar and out. Bergkamp struck another free-kick from outside the area and although Walker appeared to have it covered he couldn't hold it and the ball went up and off the crossbar. The fourth chance was the best, Wright being put clear on Walker after his own persistence created the chance. He had plenty of time, too much perhaps because his unnecessary second touch made the shot more awkward. It beat Walker easily but once again the ball crashed off the bar, down, and out. We dominated the half completely, their only effort of note being a good shot from Howells, from distance, which forced Seaman into an outstanding fingertip save. Wright and Bergkamp were both guilty of silly fouls which got them booked: Bergkamp having been beaten and on the ground, clipped a Spurs foot from behind with the ball well clear; and Wright following through on Sinton after the two of them had been chasing a ball towards the Tottenahm goal-line. Tthe ball was already off the pitch when Wright slid under Sinton from behind. Sinton, limping, was substituted later, new boy Dominguez coming on. Wright did say later that he slipped. Tottenham had a load more booked though. Edinburgh got his first near the start, trying to keep Overmars under control. Then near the end of the half he got his second, and a red, for a foul on Dixon. It was possibly the best thing that could happen to them (for them, I mean). In the second half their (understandable) defensiveness prevented us from getting chances to rip them apart on the break, as we looked well capable of doing. There were more chances, everyone getting in on the act. Wright missed a couple, and his first touch left him a few times too. It was hard not to feel that he was a bit anxious, but I guess these occasions are like that even when you don't have a goalscoring record on your mind! And maybe the tension was all my own. Wright certainly bubbled at times, and has a superb defensive performance by Sol Campbell as an excuse for still being only the second most prolific scorer in our history. Campbell made two good tackles, preventing a certain Wright goal each time. Gary Mabbutt stopped a goal-bound first-time Wright shot without really knowing anything about it. The one that got away in this half came from a mis-hit Platt shot which bobbled to Wright in the box. He had to stretch for it and just got under it enough for the shot to clear the bar. There was one splendid bit of classic Wright in the second half where he played the ball to Winterburn on the left then ran forward in time to meet the cross with a clean overhead kick. But once again it went straight at Walker. Mostly good performance from our players. Parlour actually impressed me quite a bit down the right, and not just with his battling: he went on some good runs, beating people with the ball like he has to in the wide right position. But his final ball, unfortunately, didn't seem to have improved so much, and when Anelka came on for him late and went into the right wing position he looked a lot more dangerous. He might have come on a bit earlier, given that Parlour's defensive virtues weren't being called on so much. Anelka tricked his way into some excellent positions down on the goal-line. The first would have been a great chance for a couple of our players clear in the box, but instead of pulling it back he went for a near-post shot or possibly a cross to Wrighty close-in on the far side. Either way it went straight at the keeper. Bergkamp was back on planet Earth today. I guess he has to come back down for a breather sometimes. Still extremely good for an earthman, mind you, but not so god-like today. We dealt with Ferdinand pretty well, Grimandi doing a lot better than I was expecting after some reports of his recent away form. Bould had an injury that looked like he would go off for, with Marshall warming up. He stayed on, thank god, and we have to hope that he'll be back fit for the next game. No offence to Grimandi and Marshall, but we can't really do without him Adams _and_ Keown! What was in no doubt today was the relative qualities of the two sides. Like at Leicester the match was completely dominated by the Arsenal. But unlike Leicester it was more woodwork than character that earned the draw for the underdogs. Their hit-it-high and hope tactics were expected in the second half, not just because they were down to 10 but more because of the fact it was all they had in the first half too. Their new mascot Domimguez came on as a sub and was good at falling over. Excellent cover for Ginola then. Arsenal slip to 5th with wins for West Ham and Chelsea takign us down to third placed London team as well. See table. Anyone else a bit disturbed by the form that Chelsea are showing...?
There was an announcment regarding celebrating Wright getting the
record. Apparently there will be some sort of shindig starting
15 minutes before the first home game following the record-breaking
goal. According to inside sources this will consist of them showing
all the goals in chronological order on the big screens, while
a classic selection are recreated on the pitch by members
of the cast of the hit musical by Rupe.
Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur Sat Aug 30 1997
Result : Arsenal (0) 0 Tottenham (0) 0
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Bould, Grimandi, Winterburn, Petit, Vieira,
Parlour, Overmars, Bergkamp, Wright
Subs: Platt (Petit 69), Anelka (Parlour 71),
Garde, Marshall, Lukic
Booked: Bergkamp, Wright, Bould
Spurs: Walker, Carr, Scales, Campbell, Edinburgh, Howells, Sinton,
Clemence, Fox, Ferdinand, Iversen
Subs: Domingues (Sinton 31), Mabbutt (Fox 45),
Nielsen (Iversen 45), Baardsen, Arber
Booked: Campbell, Edinburgh, Carr, Domingues, Howells
Sent Off: Edinburgh (44, two bookable offences)
Att: 38102
Ref: G S Willard (Worthing)
Just a few random comments rather than a match report. It was certainly
the most one-sided North London derby I can remember seeing, and Arsenal
played some lovely stuff, particularly in the first half. It was really
only outrageous bad luck the Gunners didn't go in at half time with a 2
or 3 goal lead - can't have been many games where one side hits the
woodwork four times in a half. I think it was just one of those games
where it simply wasn't going to go in, and in the 2nd half Tottenham did
defend well, though they still needed a bit of luck to keep Arsenal out.
Wrighty doesn't often miss the sort of chance he had towards the end of
the game.
Campbell did have an outstanding game, though I thought he was a little lucky not to have been sent off in the 1st half. He'd already been booked when he pulled Bergkamp back when the Iceman threatened to get clear following a one-two with Wright. It seemed to me that he was through on goal, and that the denial of a goal-scoring chance might have led to a red card in itself.
Seaman 7.5 One tremendous save, and a couple of good takes from
crosses but otherwise unemployed.
Dixon 7.5 Looking closer to full fitness and more or less back to
his old self bombing forward, particularly in the 1st
half.
Winterburn 7.0 Not a bad game again, and gave his usual 100%, but I
still tend to get frustrated by the way passing moves
seem to slow down when the ball goes through him. To me,
he tends to concentrate on controlling the ball and only
then does he look up to see what's on.
Grimandi 7.5 Decent game again, but rarely tested.
Bould 7.5 Same again for Bouldy. Don't know why they didn't try
the old near post flick-on more often from some of those
countless corners though.
Petit 7.0 Played reasonably well again, as the holding midfielder.
Vieira 8.0 Great game again, though a couple of times in the 2nd
half he made himself a good position following a strong
run only to try and find Wrighty rather than going for
goal himself.
Parlour 8.0 Excellent game from Pizza, with some really good runs
and touches.
Overmars 7.5 I thought he played very well in the 1st half, giving
Carr a torrid time and he was constantly being pulled
back by the Tottenham defenders. In the second half
though I was a bit frustrated by his seeming reluctance
to do the same thing. He was tending to stand waiting
for the ball rather than make a run. May have been a bit
tired by then.
Bergkamp 8.0 Another masterful display.
Wright 7.5 I thought he played quite well overall. Just those two
missed chances which made it seem worse, though he did
seem slightly mentally less sharp. A couple of times in
the 2nd half when in a promising position, he had a
reasonably first touch but then didn't seem quite ready
to take advantage.
Platt 7.0 Don't think he played too badly.
Anelka 7.5 Another immensely promising cameo. Did really well
getting past defenders on the right, though spoiled it
once by trying to beat Walker from an acute angle at the
near post when he should have pulled it back to the
unmarked Platt in the middle.
Other reports
copyright belongs to original author where credited. otherwise © Rupert Ward, ArseWeb MMV ArseWeb is NOT the official Arsenal site. The (excellent) official site is here |