Arsenal (1) 3 - 1 (0)Highbury, Sunday 20th December 1998. kick-off 4pmFA Carling PremiershipSee below for reports by Rupe, PaulPreview
Arsenal (1) 3 - 1 (0)Highbury, Sunday 20th December 1998. kick-off 4pmFA Carling Premiership
scorers: Bergkamp Hasselbaink 66
Vieira 53
Petit 83
sent off: Grimandi 86
Arsenal:
Manninger
Dixon Bould (c) Keown Vivas
Ljungberg (Grimandi 72) Petit Vieira Overmars
Anelka Bergkamp
A cracking match featuring loads of goal-mouth
action, 4 excellent goals, and Arsenal haning
onto a 2-goal win over an in-form team. It's
amazing the difference a few returning World-Cup
stars can make!
Bergkamp and Overmars were scaring defenders like in the heady days of last season, and like then it was taking some of the burden off of Anelka, and allowing him to shine a bit more too. Bergkamp scored the first, after Anelka headed on a long ball from Petit. Bergkamp looked offside by a mile but from what I saw the replay was in our favour. He took it on, apparently a bit too close to the keeper and just when I thought he'd lost control of the ball he knocked it past Martyn high into the net. The second came 8 minutes after the break, a solo effort by Vieira, cutting across a defender outside the area and firing across Martyn into the bottom right corner. Another World Cup star, who's not shined so bright at Arsenal yet, is Nelson Vivas. Again he was asked to deputise for Winterburn on the left, he's supposed to be happy with this position but looks quite right-sided at times. He looked the weak link in defence at times, giving the ball away too easy and losing position. But I thought he did enough to make up for it in this match, showing great determination in true Winterburn fashion. And his distribution can be quite superb. With 7 minutes to go he won the ball just inside our half and fed Bergkamp perfectly. He quickly fed it through into the path of Paetit's run, and he finished it again putting the ball across Martyn into the left corner - somewhat reminiscent of his goal in the World Cup final this summer. Leeds had pulled one back 20 minutes into the second half, a great shot from the edge of the area by Hasselbaink, after Hopkin(?) had done well to keep Keown from getting at the ball. Apart from that, they had a few close calls throughout the match, but we were alwasy on top apart from a spell before their goal, after our second had galvanised them. Ljungberg had some good moments, but it's hard to say if he's any more effective than Parlour. He's better at running with the ball, but maybe goes a bit too far with it too often, Of our missed chances, the most memorable include a Bergkamp flick onto a Petit run into the box, which he did brilliantly just to hook it vaguely in the direction of goal as it came down over him with the keeper challenging, but it went just high and wide. With 4 minutes to go, Grimandi got sent off. There had been a bit of a series of tackles and to be honest I haven't got a clue what it was about. At first it looked like the ref was calling a Leeds player over. Bergkamp got booked a bit after this and from where I was standing he might have got worse, as he appeared to go in with his studs. Mind you, the ref missed a nasty sliding two-footed job on Anelka, possibly in the penalty area. As it was Anelka got back up in time to receive a nice through ball from Bergkamp, but was called back for offside. Molenaar for Leeds today was possibly the fattest footballer I've seen at Higbury. He lumbered around a bit, and ended up getting hacked down and caried off on a stretcher. Not that I'd wish that on anyone (not many people anyway), but it did spwan a great new version of Chelsea's "one man went to mow". One man went ot cary a Molenarr. It didn't really take off till it got up to 5 men went to carry a Molenaar, but that could be put down with the trouble people were having with such a ludricrous concept as 3 or 4 men managing it. more here soon Is it deja vu I wonder ? The Leeds match last season was the catalyst for our title charge through to that glorious day in May. Is there a chance that history could repeat itself ? Rarely can I have walked out of a match as relieved as I was yesterday, the lads managing to press home their superiority rather than throwing it away as they did last weekend. Wasn't it great to see the Paddy and Manu show back on the road ? If these two can avoid injury and suspension we have a chance of being up there when it matters. Petit's performance yesterday was outstanding considering he's been out for close on a month, making crucial tackles in the 92nd minute as if it was the 1st minute. He was truly inspirational and along with St Patrick showed that they must currently be the best midfield pairing in World football. Not that I was happy with everything though ! As regular readers of my reports will no doubt know, I always find something wrong being the critical b*****d that I am and this week it is the fullbacks who warrant a mention. Let's start with Lee. I have got the greatest respect for our trusty right back who has been a magnificent servant for the club. He has made a massive contribution over the last decade and deserves a full-house testimonial match (when it is eventually rearranged) - BUT - I really think that time is catching up, if not caught up with him. His distribution has been poor over the past two or three years, and his positional sense is now beginning to desert him. 'Boros goal the other week and the sitter missed by Hopkins yesterday at 0-0 were both down to Lee. I would hate to see him getting skinned by the likes of Huckerby and co over the next year or two, although I always look forward to him and Le Saux having a spat ! Would it be sensible to play Parlour in the right back position ? Or is Wenger looking to sign Rob Jones in Lee's place ? Who knows - we shall see..... Now over to left back. Nutty's injury has given Vivas the chance to claim a regular place in the team. After the last couple of games I cannot understand why AW plays Vivas completely out of position ? We know Nutty can't use his right foot to save his life, but now we have a guy playing left back who cannot use his left foot - Kenny Sansom must be cracking up ! I'm surprised that Grodin hasn't been given a chance. I can only assume that Le Boss is nurturing the lad through his first year in England, which is sensible, but I am still a little surprised to see that Grodin is having to wait a little longer. If Boa Morte is good enough, then if what I have seen of Grodin so far is enough to judge from, then he is good enough as well. At times yesterday, Nelson did some fantastic things in defence (starting the move for Manu's goal for example...) but then did something incredibly stupid five minutes later. I just don't think that he is a left sided defender, which is something that Villa discovered last week and Leeds exploited yesterday. I expect Sinclair to have a right go at Vivas on Boxing Day, assuming he's not in jail of course...... However, apart from the points, the most pleasing aspect about the match yesterday was the support. Hearing 'Vieira oh....' again was an absolute joy. I hope that those who were slaughtering the team two or three weeks ago have realised that the eleven on the field need our support and that encouragement is what's required, especially when our next home fixture brings us face to face with the record breaker..... Until next time, wishing you all a Happy Christmas....... Other reports
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