Arsenal (2) 3 - 0 (0)Highbury. Sunday 20th September 1998 kick-off 4pmFA Carling PremiershipPreview
Arsenal (2) 3 - 0 (0)Highbury. Sunday 20th September 1998 kick-off 4pmFA Carling Premiership
scorers:
Adams Anelka Ljungberg
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Keown Adams Winterburn
Parlour Vieira Hughes Overmars
Bergkamp Anelka (Ljungberg 80)
After the preceding run of draws against lesser
opponents, this match came as a breath of fresh air.
And all the more so for those of us who couldn't help
being influenced by the Man Utd media craze of recent
weeks and went into this with a feeling of pessimism.
Perhaps now that we've beaten them 4 times in a row,
and 3-0 for the second time in a row, the media will
remember who really are the best team in the land.
Not that I care hat they say, of course. ;-)
Man Utd have always appeared to thinj they know the refs job better than anyone (ie letting Man Utd win no matter how long it takes). And they stressed the point with their all-black kit, prompting the inevitable "who's the w**kers in the black" songs. Arsenal were unchanged except for Hughes coming in for the inured Petit, and Man Utd lined up with Butt instead of Scholes, and Blomquist on the wing with Giggs playing more up front. Cole and Sheringham weren't even on the bench, so our chants of "we want Teddy" went unheeded by Ferguson this time. Beckham was booed throughout, but by the end it was all to do with his antics in this match rather than anything that happened in the summer. He did hit 3 free kicks on target, but Seaman had them all covered. He had their other good attempt too, when given loads of space in front of goal at 1-0 down his shot beat Seaman, cannoned off the inside of the post but fortunately, across the goal and out. All this was overshadowed by his moaning at (and appearing to manhandle at one point) the ref, as well as his fouling which included an appalling attempt to grind Hughes's groin with his studs (see later for description of a classic foul perpetrated by Beckham and Keane). Anyway, enough of them for now. Let's hear about the mighty Arsenal, for indeed we were mighty today. We had lots of chances in the first half. A Bergkamp shot was blocked on the dge of the area and Dixon drilled the rebound low and fast but straight at Schmeichel. PArlour created room for a shot beautifully, but fired it just past the far post. Then We got a free-kick on the right wing. Hughes curled it into the box where Adams rose and hung there to head it home. Schmeichel came out for it but got nowhere near, so all Adams had to do was deflect it into the net. Bergkamp looked a bit more lively than of late, and Anelka and Overmars also looked better up front. One move saw Overmars and then Anelka battle to keep possession on the edge of their area. Then Anelka flicked a lob into the box where Bergkamp did well to get a shot in as it dropped over his shoulder, but put it just wide. Then with minutes left in the first half Hughes, creator of the first goal, chipped a ball over the defence for Anelka to run onto (but see ps below). His shot was smothered but not held by Schmeichel, and Nicky reacted quickly to put the rebound home. Man Utd looked lively (read "dirty") at the start of the second half, but were soon reduced to 10 men. Anelka broke froward, and slipped the ball to Vieira who looked every bit like taking it forward into the box and (probably) giving it to someone else instead of shooting. Butt scythed him down just outside the area and was sent off. I must say it looked a little harsh to me, since there were other players around. But as someone has pointed out to me, a clear goal-scoring chance was denied so he had to go. Let's just say not all refs would have shown red for it. With 2 red cards in successive matches, Butt seems to be making a challenge to Keane and Beckham for the Cantona role. It didn't change things much, to be frank.But only because we were dominating so much already. We missed a few chances, but some of them were brilliantly created. Overmars did some fantastic stuff near the goal-line like backheeling the ball to himself, tying Neville in knots before crossing the ball but it was intercepted on the way to Anleka who was clear at the far post. Neville incidentally, provided one of the comic moments of the afternoon when he appeared to try to pick a fight with Martin Keown. 10 minutes before the end new signing Fredrik Ljungberg came on for Anelka (who had another good match, providing this time the only thing missing from his last performances ie a goal). Within 5 minutes, and in keeping with the prestige associated with the number on his back, he proceded to emulate our previous number 8 by scoring on his debut. The ball came to Hughes on the edge of the area and he miscontrolled it, sending it looping tamely towards Schmeichel. Hughes might have got away with pretending to have meant it, if he hadn't instantly turned away in disgust at himself! Ljungberg pounced and incredibly managed to flick the ball practically off of Schmeichel's foot and way up and over him, just dropping into the goal. Perhaps a slightly lucky goal but well deserved for the team performance. Obvious good points were Hughes's contribution with his hat-trick of assists, the relentlessness and danger of Arsenal's attacks, Ljungberg's confidence-boosting debut, and the fact that we whupped them good and proper yet again. But I'd just like to mention the fantastic organisation at the back, and the way the whole team rushed around helping each other out defensively. We saw Overmars run back to make a crucial tackle on Beckham, and similar antics from Hughes Vieira and of course Parlour. Winterburn stormed over to the right to make a crunching tackle on the right, but there wasn't time to reshape so Adams drifted left to cover and we defended the next couple of attacks in this formation, ending with an extraordinary tackle on Giggs by Dixon, now in the left back position. Arsenal were really up for this one, if this is a sign of things to come we should be on for another great season. With Hughes and Ljungberg as goal-scoring options from midfield, we might not even need that striker. Final word though, has to be on one of the greatest fouls I've ever seen. Beckham got down on all fours behind Hughes's back, then Keane came charging over and pushed him over Beckham. Basically the traditional playground jape, but with a lot more violence. Rarely does one get a chance to see such an old favourite performed at the very highest level. report by Rupe.
ps. I've now seen a couple of reports saying it was an Overmars
pass that put Hughes through for the second - I was sure it was Hughes
at the time and from the Jumbotron replays (which I couldn't see very
clearly) but I guess I was wrong. So that's only two assists for
Hughesy, and one of _them_ was a fluke. Bloody useless really. Drop him ;->
Result : Arsenal (2) 3 Manchester United (0) 0
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn; Hughes, Vieira,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Anelka
Subs: Ljungberg (Anelka 79), Bould, Garde, Wreh, Manninger
Booked: Hughes, Ljungberg
Man Utd: Schmeichel, G Neville, Irwin, Stam, Berg, Keane, Beckham,
Butt, Giggs, Blomqvist, Yorke
Subs: P Neville, Cruyff, Scholes, Solskjaer, Van Der Gouw
Booked: Keane
Sent off: Butt (51, professional foul)
Att: 38142
Ref: G Barber (Pyrford)
A highly satisfactory afternoon at Highbury yesterday, as Arsenal
continued their recent domination of Manchester United with a 4th
successive win over their main rivals. While Arsenal's victories last
season were comparatively close-fought affairs, the Gunners' virtually
complete domination in this game was confirmed early in the 2nd half
when Nicky Butt was sent off for a professional foul on the majestic
Vieira.
Having watched Arsenal struggle to find any real form in earlier league games this season, many fans were somewhat nervous about their prospects in a game in which defeat would have left Arsenal a lot of catching up to do. However, early in the game it was clear that the improvement seen in Lens was being continued here as Arsenal started very brightly and could have made a breakthrough twice in the opening couple of minutes. First a good move down the right, I think with Vieira sending Parlour away, created a shooting chance for Dixon but his shot from the edge of the box was charged down. Then another good move down the right ended with Stam cutting out a pass into the area but getting into something of a mixup with an exchange of passes with Schmeichel. Overmars half charged down Stam's eventual hurried clearance, and the ball dropped to Bergkamp at the corner of the area. He attempted an ambitious first time volley from an acute angle, but skied it high over the bar. A few minutes later Vieira went on a superb break, again down the right, completely outfoxing Giggs in the process. He cut the ball back for Bergkamp on the edge of the area, the Dutch master's shot was blocked but the rebound fell to Dixon who hit a well struck daisy-cutter from 25 yards but it went straight into Schmeichel's arms. At the other end United threatened briefly a couple of times, first with a Beckham free kick from about 30 yards which Seaman read and saved comfortably. Then a break ended with Beckham bending in a diagonal cross from the right which Keown just managed to get his head to in front of Yorke to deflect for a corner. However, Arsenal were still looking much more dangerous and again came close to scoring, this time with a lovely move down the left. Hughes played a superb pass inside the fullback for Overmars to run onto and clear into the left side of the area. He was lacking red shirts to pull the ball back to at first, though by the time he eventually tried a cheeky shot from a very acute angle which almost went through Schmeichel's legs, Anelka was well placed for the cut back. Soon afterwards though Arsenal did get the goal their early domination deserved. Blomqvist fouled Dixon out on the right hand touchline level with the area, Hughes clipped in an inswinging free kick which dropped perfectly onto the head of Tony Adams as he outjumped Stam on the 6yd line. Schmeichel made a late decision to try and cut out the cross but didn't get there which meant all Adams had to do was get his head to the ball to guide it into the empty net. United were stung for a while into some a laboured attempt to get back into the game, but the closest they came was more due to Arsenal's seeming determination to give Beckham some shooting practice than their own efforts. Arsenal gave away a couple more free kicks 5-10 yards outside the box, but Seaman again easily read the one which Beckham took direct. The other was slightly more cleverly worked as Beckham stepped over it and Giggs swung it in to the far post, but Adams was there to head the ball clear for a corner. However, it was from open play that United (ie Beckham) came closest. He was given far too much room in the middle of the pitch and struck a terrific shot from 25 yards which crashed against the foot of Seaman's right hand post, along the line past the opposite post and out. I think Seaman may have just got a faint touch, but the ref disagreed and gave a goal kick. In between times Arsenal were continuing to make decent opportunities on the break, one arising when a bit of a scrum on the edge of the United area ended with Anelka cleverly scooping the ball up and over a couple of defenders for Bergkamp to hit on the turn, but with a defender all over him his half-volley drifted a couple of feet wide. Soon afterwards Parlour cut in from the left to hit an astonishing shot from 20 yards which seemed to loop bizarrely in flight and flashed inches past Schmeichel's right hand upright. In the final few minutes of the half Arsenal again stepped up the power. Overmars broke down the middle, slipped a pass forward for Anelka who turned cleverly past Berg, and with the help of a slightly lucky rebound was left clear in the area to the left of goal with only Schmeichel to beat. He hit a left foot shot from 15 yards which was heading inside the near post before the keeper produced a magnificent reaction save, thrusting out his right hand to palm the ball aside for a corner. Soon afterwards Vieira went on another surging run past a couple of tackles which took him from the half way line to the edge of the area but Stam actually did well to get back and produced a very good saving tackle. A minute later though Arsenal did go two up. Keown made a superb tackle to dispossess Giggs as he threatened to break through, and Vieira quickly transferred the loose ball up to Overmars on the half way line. The flying Dutchman looked up before chipping a pass over the top for Anelka to run onto, beating the offside trap. The young French striker took the ball well into his stride to race clear and leave himself one on one with Schmeichel. The keeper again reacted well to keep out Anelka's initial attempt to beat him at the near post with his legs, but the rebound fell kindly back into the striker's path and he made no mistake, stroking the rebound firmly into the net past Schmeichel's despairing attempt to recover. The second half started somewhat bad-temperedly. Hughes went into the book after what seemed an innocuous challenge with Beckham. The latter went down as if poleaxed, clutching his face which seemed to convince the ref to pull out the yellow card. As far as I could see there was little if any contact between the two. Soon afterwards Beckham and Keane conspired to take retribution on Hughes, the former fouled the young midfielder and the latter made sure he stayed down by treading on his chest. Both somehow stayed out of the book. Arsenal meanwhile were still trying to play football. Bergkamp went close when he ran onto a neat flickon from Anelka, but put an angled right foot volley into the side netting. Soon afterwards another good Arsenal break was ended by Butt tripping Vieira on the edge of the area after Anelka had played the ball on for his compatriot to run run clear towards goal. The ref decided he'd been denied a clear goal scoring opportunity and produced the red card. After the usual furious protests led by Keane earned the Irishman a yellow card, Arsenal tried something clever with the free kick which didn't work. The sending off killed the game somewhat as United could only summon half-hearted efforts to get back into it, and Arsenal seemed content to stroll about waiting for the next goal to turn up. Indeed there was a period when the Gunners were becoming too casual. Blomqvist cut in from the left and fired in a 25 yard shot which Seaman saved comfortably, and after another effort had been blocked Beckham crashed the rebound into the side netting from an acute angle on the left. However, Arsenal soon regained their grip and should have gone further ahead when Yorke gave the ball away in his own half, and a superb instant pass from Bergkamp released Anelka down the inside right channel for another one on one with Schmeichel. This time he pulled an early shot across the keeper, but scuffed it rather and it drifted a few feet wide of the far post. A couple of other good Arsenal moves ended with the final ball just failing to find a red shirt in the area. Parlour was sent through into the right of the area but his pull back went just behind Bergkamp. Then Overmars broke down the left and into the area and beat Neville about 3 times before finally chipping over a cross which just failed to clear a defender to reach Anelka unmarked at the far post. The final 10 minutes were livened up by the introduction of Fredrik Ljungberg, making his Arsenal debut. 4 minutes after coming on he'd scored, and two minutes after that he was booked. The goal which confirmed Arsenal's superiority came when Hughes played a pass from Parlour on into the area. I think he was actually trying to find Bergkamp to the right of the area, but he mishit it and it dropped perfectly for Ljungberg running in on the blindside. There was a suspicion of offside but the flag stayed down and the Swede cooly lobbed the ball over the outrushing Schmeichel and into the back of the net. Overall a hugely enjoyable game and performance from Arsenal, continuing the sort of form they showed in the 2nd half against Lens. United were never really allowed into the game, and I think they were already well beaten by the time Butt was sent off.
Seaman 7.5 Not really much difficult to do, apart from the shot
from Beckham which I'm inclined to credit him for.
Dixon 7.5 Probably the best I've seen him play this season, and
had a pretty good game going forward.
Adams 8.0 Set the game up with the goal, and again rock steady
at the back, rarely troubled by Yorke & Giggs.
Keown 7.5 Once again reliable and dependable.
Winterburn 7.5 Ditto.
Parlour 7.5 Slightly quieter game perhaps, though as ever did a
lot of good work.
Vieira 9.0 Completely dominated midfield, an absolute colosuss
everywhere on the pitch, working superbly in defence
and making those trademark surging runs.
Hughes 8.0 Did a great job deputising for Petit, and made two of
the goals.
Overmars 8.0 Consistently dangerous, and has hopefully now convinced
Anelka that he does occasionally pass to him.
Anelka 7.5 Another good all round display. He did miss another
couple of good chances though Schmeichel should be
given credit for the save from one of them.
Bergkamp 7.0 Still not quite back to his best, but looking much more
interested and his touch is coming back. Just needs a
goal.
Derek Other reports
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