Reserves - Arsenal v Crystal Palace 04/11/97

Arsenal reserve match

Avon Insurance Combination, 4th November 1997

Arsenal 3 Crystal Palace 0

Scorers: Mendez, Upson, Boa Morte

Just about thawed after a brass monkey afternoon spent on the west upper

Arsenal lined up:

                          Manninger
              Crowe    Keown     Marshall      Upson
              Mcgowan  Vernazza  S. Hughes    Mendez
                    Wreh              Boa Morte

Unfortunately arriving a couple of minutes late (so what's new!!) I missed Alberto Mendez's early goal. Both he and Vernazza impressed early on but sadly Alberto limped off after a tricky run on goal before being upended on the edge of the box. Mcgowan looked to complain too vehemently for a penalty and was booked for dissent (that should guarentee him his first team place!!!). Either that or ref Wendy Toms took a fancy to his short locks and was getting his phone number! Alberto was replaced by Richard Hughes, I hope its nothing serious?

There was little other excitement in the first half but the second was much more interesting. Our second goal came from a Stephen Hughes free kick about ten yards outside the area directly in front of goal. It was a left foot special, driven in hard and low, I think through the gap in the wall created by two of our players and the ball had so much pace on it that the keeper couldn't hold it. Surprisingly enough it was Upson who was best placed and reacted quickest to stab home a fairly easy chance but fair play to him for being alert to the possibility and having the coolness to make the most of it.

It was great to see Stephen Hughes's left foot in action. Crowe made some impressive runs down the right wing but I was disappointed not to see Upson do the same on the left. It was the first time I've seen Christopher Wreh get involved in so much of the play and this was largely due to the cool midfield prompting of Paulo Vernazza, setting him free with neat passes on a few occasions and although Wreh showed some neat control and good strength holding off much bigger defenders, his shooting was far too reminiscent of what we've been used to of late. However his hunger and willingness to chase everything eventually paid off. Beating their keeper to a ball on the bye-line, he managed to scramble it back for Boa Morte to side foot the ball into an empty net.

Both Boa and Wreh seem to be improving with more experience but without doubt my man of the match would have to be Vernazza, who on current form, would be my choice of the youngster most likely to make it on the big stage. Keown appeared to come through the 90 minutes unscathed and I seriously hope that he suffers no reaction (he still has a couple of screws in his shoulder). I am convinced that a return to the first team on Sunday by Martin is vital to the outcome. His hunger and energy are obvious and his return will give the team a fresh dimension that might just be enough to give the lads that vital spark of confidence that they will need after the debacle at Derby. He might give them sufficient belief to at least think they can stop them from scoring,

We dominated the second half, with some controlled passing from the back and lots of hard work (even S. Hughes!). R. Hughes was himself substituted towards the end with Mathew Wickes. The only real scare I can remember came from a corner when we gifted them a free header that left Manninger stranded and counting his blessings as the ball looped towards the goal but rebounded off the corner of the crossbar and post.

Apparently this result leaves us three points clear at the top of the combination and I'm ever so glad I went because I came away feeling far less pessimistic about the future.

report by Bernard Azulay

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