Bradford_City (1) 2 - 1 (1) ArsenalValley Parade, Saturday 5th February 2000. kick-off 3pmFA Carling PremiershipSee below for reports by Derek, RupePreview
Result : Bradford City (1) 2 Arsenal (1) 1
Scorers: Windass 10, Saunders 57 Henry 13
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Grimandi; Petit,
Ljungberg, Malz, Parlour; Suker, Henry
Subs: Bergkamp (Malz 67), Cole, Hughes, Luzhny,
Manninger
Booked: Henry
Bradford: Davison, Halle, Wetherall, O'Brien, Jacobs, Lawrence,
McCall, Whalley, Beagrie, Saunders, Windass
Subs: Dreyer (Windass 90), Southall, Wright, Blake, Sharpe
Booked: Davison
Att: 18276
Ref: Andy D'Urso (Billericay)
Another Arsenal performance all-too typical of the team's away form this
season, which can basically be characterised as a failure to find
sufficient motivation against sides from lower down the league. That is
perhaps being a bit harsh, and there was a certain amount of bad luck
involved on Saturday - Arsenal did hit the bar, have one cleared off the
line, another disallowed, there was another astonishing point blank save
by the opposition keeper, and there was an element of controversy about
both Bradford's goals. However, even accounting for all that and
Bradford's spirited chasing and harrying, this was still a match Arsenal
should have won comfortably.
An ominous sign before kick-off was the absence of Vieira, a minor knee injury ruling him out, though on the plus side Dennis Bergkamp at last returned to action with a place on the bench. As expected Bradford threw themselves energetically into the game, but the first real chance fell to Arsenal when Suker half-blocked a clearance and from the loose ball I think Parlour fed Henry. The striker was left with only the keeper to beat from an angle on the right, but Davison was equal to the shot and pushed it out. Suker nearly fastened onto the rebound, but a defender just got ahead of him to clear. A couple of minutes later it looked a costly miss as Bradford went ahead. The ref gave a free kick against Grimandi about 25 yards out, and as Seaman was still on his near post sorting out the defensive wall, Windass took the free kick quickly and put the ball just inside the opposite post. He apparently asked for permission to take it quickly, though the ref never whistled to signal the fact, and the Arsenal defence was caught completely unawares. Remarkably there was little complaining afterwards, perhaps in recognition that Arsenal had been very slow and lackadaisical in getting things organized for the free kick. However, only a couple of minutes after that Arsenal had equalized with a goal similarly almost out of nothing. Ljungberg knocked the ball down towards Henry about 30 yards from goal, and the Frenchman hit a tremendous right foot shot which bent just inside Davison's left hand post. Expected service resumed, or so it seemed, particularly when soon afterwards a lob forward by Suker sent Henry clear again. As Davison rushed out of his area to challenge, the striker seemed to have done the right thing by lifting the ball over the keeper, but agonizingly it dropped onto the top of the crossbar and over. Arsenal continued to have the better of much of the rest of the half, but the nearest they came to scoring again was a 25 yard shot from Petit which beat Davison but whistled just the wrong side of the post. Meanwhile at the other end, towards the end of the half Bradford started to bother the Arsenal defence, with some high balls and a couple of crosses into the area, Beagrie's tricks in particular causing problems. At half time there seemed no reason why Arsenal shouldn't go on to win, although Winterburn had been struggling with a knock picked up when Lawrence and Windass deliberately trampled on him. Cole was told by Pat Rice to warm up at half time, but Nutty unsurprisingly soldiered on. Indeed Arsenal very nearly took the lead a few minutes into the second half. In one of the few cohesive moves of the game Malz was played in down the left by Henry, I think, and put over a superb cross which Ljungberg rushing in at the far post met with a firm header back across the keeper. Davison though somehow got a hand to the ball and a defender completed the clearance. Soon afterwards came the sucker punch. Whalley knocked a ball through for Saunders to beat the offside trap (or the linesman's perception of it - he looked offside, though I guess Winterburn may have been playing him on) and run clear. He whipped a shot goalwards from the edge of the area which typically went through the Seaman's legs as the keeper came out and attempted to spread himself. Arsenal laboured away at trying to get the equaliser, and nearly managed it when Henry's corner from the left was flicked on at the near post and met by Suker at the far post. Davison was beaten but the Croatian's header was headed off the line by the defender (Jacobs?) guarding the post. Bergkamp came on to replace Malz with about 20 minutes left, but desperately though Arsenal pressed in the closing minutes, they couldn't find a way through the resolute Bradford defence. Dixon did get the ball in the net, after I think a flick by Bergkamp had put him in, but the offside flag was up. Bradford might have got a 3rd goal themselves as Arsenal left gaps at the back, but Saunders put an angled volley straight at Seaman with the goal at his mercy. Keown spent the last few minutes up front as well, but despite several corners in the final assault the breakthrough just wouldn't come. Pretty much the final nail in the league coffin for this season. The failure to get adequate results against teams from lower down the league away from home has cost us dear. We missed Vieira on Saturday - without him there doesn't seem enough bite and fight in midfield against teams like Bradford which use physical intimidation and effort to compensate for lack of ability, hard though Freddie and Parlour try.
Seaman 6.0 I can only recall him making one save, but he must
take some blame for lack of concentration for the
first goal and seemed rooted to his line a couple
of times in the first half.
Dixon 7.0 Didn't have a bad game overall, though Beagrie did do
him at least once in the first half.
Winterburn 7.5 Typically determined and brave again, despite a
painful knock in the first half.
Grimandi 7.5 Again had a good game, still looking reasonably calm
and controlled, even in the face of Windass' over
aggressive approach.
Keown 7.5 Also had a reasonably good game again.
Petit 6.0 One of his least effective games.
Ljungberg 7.0 Ran and tried as hard as ever, but not the answer as
cover for Vieira.
Parlour 6.5 Also as willing as ever, but one of those games where
his touch wasn't quite there.
Malz 6.0 Put over a couple of decent crosses but otherwise
isn't yet up to Premiership speed.
Henry 7.0 Did plenty of willing running, though was rather
static in the final few minutes. Picked up a silly
booking for kicking the ball away after the whistle,
which means he misses the Southampton game.
Suker 6.0 Never really came to terms with Bradford's physical
approach.
Bergkamp Never really got into the match.
scorers: Windass 10 Henry 13
Saunders 57
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Keown Grimandi Winterburn (c)
Parlour Petit Ljungberg Malz (Bergkamp 71)
Henry Suker
subs not used: Manninger Hughes Luzhny Cole
Ljungberg had a chance early on when, with back to goal near the
penalty spot, he got his head to a cross lofted in from the left
by Winterburn. But Freddie lost his bearings a bit as the ball came down
behind him, and didn't know where it was landing which gave a defender
time to get to it before him.
Then City had a couple of danegrous moments as first Saunders looked to be wrongly given offside as he raced onto a ball down Bradford's right wing, and then Dixon had to react sharply to get in front of a fierce goal-bound volley from outside the box on the other side of the pitch. Henry was a bit lucky not to be carded for what looked like a deliberate handball, as he controlled a loose pass forward with his elbow in the centre circle. Shortly after this we had a good break with Parlour down the right. He passed centrally to Henry and the keeper Davison did well to parry his low shot from the right hand corner of the box. Suker was following in but a defender got to the rebound first. Ljungberg tried to hook the ball in first-time from the edge of the box but it went well over, a very optimistic effort. Then on about 9 minutes a free-kick from deep in their half (I think it was the keeper that took it) came up to Windass just outside our penalty area on our left. Grimandi challenged him from behind as the ball came to them and a free-kick was given. As Seaman was lining his wall up by his left-hand post, Windass simply chipped the ball into the net on the other side of the goal, and it was 1-0. In my brief newsreel item immediately after the game, I asked if this was legal. Of course, we're all aware that free-kicks can be taken quickly. But we're also all used to seeing defensive walls being set up, and the ref making people take kicks again because they didn't wait for the ref to blow his whistle. So what's going on? And why don't we see more free-kicks taken quickly, without the ref having blown his whistle, like Windass's? It seems to me that quite often, taking a kick while the keeper is setting up his wall would be advantageous... Nick P. writes: "Free kicks are called free kicks because the kicking team should be able to take them FREE from interference by the defending team. Essentially the defending team has no rights. The kicking team does not have to wait for the opponents to set up a wall and be able to defend against the kick. So if the goalkeeper and his teammates aren't ready for the kick - that's their problem. The Laws of the Game do not contain specific rules or restrictions relating to "walls" per se. Law 13 simply specifies that opponents must be at least 10 yards away from the ball (with the exception of indirect free kicks for the attacking team near the opponents' goal)." "So when the referee signals for a free kick, the fouling team does not have to be allowed time to recover and set up a wall before the attacking team can put the ball back into play. Furthermore, the attacking team can take the kick before the other team retreats the required distance if they feel they can gain an advantage." "HOWEVER (and this is a big however)... "When asked by the attacking team (and sometimes on his own), the referee may stop play and take steps to ensure that the defence are a proper distance from the ball. If the attacking team ask the referee to stop play in order to enforce the 10-yard rule they then must then wait for his signal before taking the kick. Once the referee becomes involved in this way it becomes what is known as a "ceremonial" free kick. Most free kicks close to the edge of the defending team's penalty area end up being ceremonial because the attacking team usually feel that it is in their interests to have play stopped and have the 10-yard rule rigorously enforced."So, it seems that what happened on Saturday was that the Arsenal players believed themselves to be in a "ceremonial free-kick" situation. Windass considered otherwise, and obviously the referee agreed. So it was legal, and it seems that my original description of the incident as "cheeky" was accurate. I'm still amazed that I've never seen it happen before. It'll be interesting to see if people start trying it more often. Many thanks to Nick for his explanation. Derek (above) commenst on how the Arsenal players didn't complain much, which is a good point. As is that made by a correspondent (Syd), who wonders what would happen if a goal like that were scored against Man United! Can you imagine Keane, Beckham, et al not accosting the ref....?! A few minutes later we were level thanks to another impudent piece of skill from Thierry Henry. Picking up the ball about 35 to 40 yards out he hit an unstoppable curling shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. Davison dived for it but to no avail. Brilliant stuff. A couple of minutes later Suker had the ball on the right and Parlour made a good run inside him. But when Davor slipped the ball sideways it came a bit behind Ray. He tried to drag it forward with his trailing foot but lost it. Petit chipped forward for Henry and Davison came out for it, just barely reaching the ball first. A few minutes later there was a similar situation after great play from Parlour. Bringing the ball out of defence he appeared to have got himself into trouble as a City player closed him down outside our box. But Ray pulled off a nice change of dircetion with his pass which fooled his man and set Suker off. He chipped forward from the centre-circle and this time Henry reached the ball first. The arsenal fans rose as one to acclaim the goal as it appeared set to loop into the open goal behind Davison, but it landed on top of the bloody bar. Dixon made a crucial interception on the edge of our box as Saunders tried to slip the ball square into space which Beagrie was coming into unchallenged. Then Henry appeared to get away with another silly-looking handball. A City mix-up on their right wing saw the ball passed between 2 ofn their players into space where Winterburn was quickest to get onto it. He took it forward and passed up the wing for Henry. It was a danegorus position just otsude the coirner of the box but as he tried to get onto the pass Thierry lost his footing. On half and hour Parlour went on a storming run through the middle of the field, but ended up whacking his shot high and wide. Then Grimandi clearde from our penalty area only to see it ricochet off the face of Jamie Lawrence just outside the box. Fortunately it looped through safely to Seaman. Seaman's clearance came to Suker whose cushioned header with back to goal came back nicely for Henry. He tried to chip forward first-time for Ljungberg who was making a good run into the box, but it just failed to clear the defender's head in between. 5 minutes to go in the half and a City corner from their left was headed marginally wide by Wetherall, with Seaman completely stranded. Then Petit hit a daisy-cutter from outside the left corner of their box, which grazed the outside of the far post. Winterburn looked likely to come off at one point, after coming off worst in a full-blooded clash. He limped about for a while and Ashley Cole spent most of the rest of the half warming up on the touchline. After a bit of a melee in the right corner (in City's half), we were awarded a free-kick apparently for someone pushing down on Dixon's head as he tried to get up after being tackled. There was a bit of confusion for a while as I think the players had assumed the decision had been given against us. Dixon was slow to come forward again for the kick - it looked like he though the ref was calling him over to give him a card. When it was all sorted out, Petit whipped the free-kick into the box and although Davison couldn't hold the ball he fell onto it to claim at the second attempt. A nice break about 10 minutes into the second half involving Ljungberg, Suker, Winterburn, and Henry down the left wing ended with Malz still on the left. Malz's cross found Ljungberg at the far post but his header was too close to the keepr and again there was no-one there to pounce on the rebound as he parried it in the box. Arsenal were very much on top, had been since the City goal really. But a couple of minutes later we were down again when Saunders beat the offside trap and slipped the ball under Seaman from the edge of the box. Saunders was playing pretty much alone up front now, and although Arsenal continued to dominate Saunders was causing unexpected problems for Keown and Grimandi, so the possibility of another goal on the break was far from remote. A dangerous in-swinging cross by Parlour from the right was headed out for a corner, which was flicked on I think by Ljungberg for Suker. It may have been the other way round, but either way it had the keeper beat but was cleared off the line by a defender. Then the ball was played past Keown and windass for Saunders to run onto down their left. He drove it head-height form the corner of the box and, fortunately, at the near post where Seaman had positioned himself. Malz was having a slightly better game I thought, although still drifting in fromn his wing more than I'd have liked. He wnt on a great run, holding off chalenges, and his shot from the D picked up a deflection but the keeper managed to fall on it. Then Dixon made a good run inside to latch onto a throw-in, and drove it low across goal from a fairly narrow angle, just missing the far post. He was involved again a couple of minutes later, as we broke down the right. Lee's ball wide to Parlour who had stormed over from nowhere to create an overlap was a bit loose and behind Ray, slowing the break down somewhat. But Parlour passed inside for Petit who drove it in from a few yards outside the box. It was dfelected in the D and came through to a red shirt (Suker?) near the penalty spot who poked it into the net. But the offside flag had gone up when Petit hit it forward. 20 minutes to go and Bergkamp came on for Malz. Hughes had been warming up too but clearly Wenger felt that a point atleast was too important for our championship hopes, so it was better to leave 3 strikers on the pitch. Dennis looked a little slow at times, but still better to have onmt he potch than either Malz or Hughes (on recent showings anyway, I wouldn't bet against either of them coming good). But soon City nearly put the game beyond reach after a brilliant passing move which saw the ball go from one wing to the other and then a pass on their right which took Winterburn out and put Windass clear on goal. But his shot was dragged tamely wide of the far post. Henry won a corner with a good turn and shot. Petit's corner was flicked on by Grimandi at the near post but he got too much on itand it flew over the bar. Saunders looked to have been put clear on goal again with 4 minutes to go but Dixon charged over to get in a massive shoulder-charge and deny a probable 3rd goal. An amusing monet (except for Davsion) saw the City keeper booked for time-wasting. The ball had gone out for a goal-kick near the corner flag so Ljungberg tried to speed things up by retrieving it and putting it down on the 6 yard line for the kick. Davison made a point of picking it up and taking it over to the other side of his goal. Of course these days it's the keeper's choice where he takes it from so he might feel aggrieved to have been booked. But to be fair the ref did wait a while and it was only when it was clear that the keeper was in no hurry that he decided the piss was being taken and pulled out the yellow card. What was really funny was a couple of minutes later when Suker did the exact same thing, if anything making even more of a show of putting the ball down than Freddie had done. This time Davison picked the ball up again and then remebered what had happened the last time so quickly put it down again and took the kick from where Suker had indicated. Other reports
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