Arsenal (1) 3 - 1 (1)Highbury, Saturday 11th September 1999FA Carling PremiershipPreview
Arsenal (1) 3 - 1 (1)Highbury, Saturday 11th September 1999FA Carling Premiership
Scorers: Suker 45,49 Joachim 44
Kanu 83
Arsenal:
Manninger
Dixon Keown Adams Winterburn
Parlour Vieira Grimandi Overmars (Henry)
Bergkamp (Kanu) Suker (Silvinho)
Villa played with 5 in midfield, hoping to stifle
Arsenal in that area in the way that Liverpool did
2 weeks ago. And with Grimandi in place of Ljungberg
some Arsenal fans may have been thinking it was
likely to go that way again. But Villa are not Liverpool,
and this Arsenal midfield was a different one too.
Overmars started the game and showed he was properly back with a 30 yard rocket which whizzed just over the bar. Then he was tripped at the end of an excellent run up the left, the defender being shown the yellow card but jus managing to get the foul in before Marc got into the box. Dennis's free-kick was blocked and flew straight up, high over the 6 yard line. David James int he Villa goal flapped at it and lost it when it came down, and Suker's close-range shot was blocked on the line. A wayward pass from Parlour looked like it had ended a promising move as Calderwood intercepted on the right wing, but Ray chased him down and won it back. He moved it forward to Suker who shot from the edge of the box. He didn't quite catch it right, but the daisy cutter went close by the defender and James might have been unsighted but it went straight at him. Another Arsenal attack appeared to have broken down but Bergkamp got in a excellent sliding tackle and with back to goal 5 yards outside their penalty area. He turned as he bounced up with the ball at his feet, and slipped it sideways to Grimandi. Gilles chipped it towards the far post where it found Keown who forced a good save from James. Then, against the run of play, Villa went ahead thanks to superb skill from our old mate Paul Merson. With defenders in close attention he juggled the ball several times outside the box and then clipped it forward with the outside of his foot for Joachim to run onto and drill past Manninger. It seemed too late for Aresnal to come back before the interval but the man whose arrival led to Merson's departure from Highbury created the equaliser with a sublime moment of his own. Dixon brought the ball over the half-way line and hit a low pass forward to Bergkamp. With back to goal he flicked it through his own legs towards Suker on the edge of the box. The Croatian celebrated his full debut by powering forwardm holding off the challenge of Southgate, and driving it high into the top corner of the net. David James had sustained a knee injury towards the end of the first half as he kicked the moving ball clear, and came out for the second half with his leg strapped up. He was obviously uncomfortable with his kicking, and before long that fact brought about our second goal. He had the ball in his hands, bounced it a couple of times, and looked around for someone to throw it too. The defenders were slow to realise the problem and failed to make themselves available. James realised too late the predicament he was in and threw the ball out, but ref David Elleray had already decided to award the free-kick. After the match, Villa's coach said he thought it was a harsh decision since James was injured and not deliberately time-wasting. Why is it that these people are so often unable to grasp the simplest of rules? The rule now is that keepers can't keep the ball for more than 6 seconds - intent is no longer an issue in these situations. And why should being injured be an excuse (any more than it is when an injured player is penalised for a late tackle)? As usual, our manager summed it up well in his post-match interview when he said that it was the right decision, but that it's a stupid rule. As with so many rules, the fact that the discretionary powers of the refs have been taken away leads to unfortunate incidents. Unfortunate for Villa anyway. Arsenal worked the free-kick perfectly. With the ball placed a yard in front of the penalty spot, Bergkamp rolled it to the side and Suker blasted it high into the net. A debut hat-trick wasn't to be though, as Silvinho came on for Suker. He forced a fine save from the substitute keeper with a swerving, dipping (defelcted) shot from outside the box. Then Kanu came on for Bergkamp (being rested for the long drive ahead - Wenger confirmed later that Dennis would travel to Florence for Tuesday). And before long he started and finished the move that put the points beyond doubt. Kanu received the ball in the centre-circle and was clattered into from behind. Elleray, seeing that Kanu was stronger than his assailant, played advantage, and the Nigerian strolled away and slipped it to the right wing and Parlour. He passed it forward to Overmars (playing more of a roving striking role now that Silvinho was on the pitch on the left wing). Marc beat the offside trap narrowly and had acres of space to run into, he spotted Kanu in the clear in the box and passed it square for a virtual tap-in. Henry came on for Overmars. Grimandi and Parlour did well to win the ball on the right hand side of the half-way line, and found Vieira free int he centre. He slotted a perfect pass into the path of Henry on the left, and Thierry brought it forward into the box. His shot was blocked at close range and came back to him on the goal-line but when he clipped it across goal a defender had got back first. A great way to bounce back from recent defeats, and hopefully the team will now be able to go into Tuesday's Champions League opener with some confidence. Arsenal join the pack chasing Man Utd, 6 points behind. (see table) Man Utd have now set a new Premiership record, with their stretch of unbroken jam going back further than any previous. Today the Liverpool team that beat us so well 2 weeks ago contrived to lose at Anfield 3-2, scoring 4 goals in the process.
Result : Arsenal (1) 3 Aston Villa (1) 1
Scorers: Suker 45,49, Kanu 82 Joachim 44
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Adams; Vieira, Grimandi,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Suker
Subs: Silvinho (Suker 69), Kanu (Bergkamp 76),
Henry (Overmars 82), Vivas, Lukic
Booked: Winterburn, Grimandi
Villa: James, Delaney, Ehiogu, Southgate, Calderwood, Wright, Hendrie,
Taylor, Merson, Dublin, Joachim
Subs: Enckelman (James 51), Thompson (Hendrie 62),
Vassell (Dublin 71), Boateng, Samuel
Booked: Delaney, Merson, Taylor, Ehiogu
Att: 38093
Ref: David Elleray (Harrow-on-the-Hill)
In the end a comfortable win on Saturday over a curiously unambitious
and poor Villa side. In unseasonably warm weather Arsenal dominated
possession in the first half but struggled to make many clear cut
chances. However, once Bergkamp and Suker had brilliantly combined to
fashion an instant riposte to the shock of Villa going ahead just before
half time, Arsenal were close to their mesmeric best.
The first surprise of the afternoon was to see Grimandi starting alongside Vieira in midfield. With Parlour suspended for Tuesday, it was perhaps an indication that Grimandi will also start then with Henry taking Parlour's wide right position, because I otherwise suspect Parlour would have played in the middle on Saturday. Anyway, Arsenal started quite brightly and Grimandi might have scored early on when Winterburn's deep cross was headed back into the middle by Dixon to give Grimandi a clear sight of goal, but he mistimed his volley rather badly. For the rest of the half Arsenal had a near monopoly of possession but only rarely made further clear chances. Overmars had a superb 25 yarder which whizzed inches over the bar, and then went on a brilliant run from the half way line which was stopped when Delany cynically tripped him just outside the area. Bergkamp took the free kick and his shot looked goal bound until Dublin managed to head clear from a couple of yards in front of the goal line. The ball looped up and dropped down around the opposite corner of the 6yd box, James dropped it under pressure from Grimandi and Suker flicked it goalwards. There were about 3 Villa players on the line though and Ehiogu chested it clear. Suker was also denied by Ehiogu after Bergkamp's pass had sent him away down the right. He checked back to put the ball on his left foot but the defender just managed to get a block in as the Croatian got a clear sight of goal. Soon afterwards he had another chance after Parlour had done well to retrieve possession and fed him in the area. This time he got in a smartly struck shot but it was straight at James. Arsenal's best chance thus far came towards the end of the half. Bergkamp superbly dispossessed Calderwood I think, after an Arsenal corner had been cleared, and slipped a pass to Grimandi just outside the area to the right of goal. The Frenchman spotted Keown and Suker running into space beyond the far post and chipped the ball over the defence towards them. It was Keown who displayed remarkable touch with his left foot, bringing the ball down and then hooking a shot goalwards from an acute angle. James though made a good save, beating the ball out. At the other end Villa had barely been in evidence, though they did make one good chance when a quick break found Merson just outside the area and he cleverly played the ball wide to find Delaney running into the area unmarked on the right. The wingback's first touch was slightly heavy though, and allowed Winterburn to recover his ground and get in a superb block. It was totally against the run of play that Villa took the lead. Merson brilliantly took a deflected pass down out of the air and then juggled it a few times on his right foot before turning to play a short pass through into the area to find Joachim beating the offside trap, and the little striker cooly slotted the ball past Manninger into the far corner. However, the Highbury faithful had little time bemoan the injustice because as the match moved into 1st half injury time barely a minute later, Arsenal equalised. Dixon played the ball forward from the halfway line towards Bergkamp, and the Dutch master produced a quite brilliant flick through his legs to play the ball into Suker's path on the edge of the area. The striker held off Southgate before striking a rising shot from 15 yards which whistled into the roof of the net. Arsenal almost went ahead in the opening couple of minutes of the 2nd half. Following a quick break Bergkamp passed square to Vieira as he charged into the area down the middle. The pass went just behind the Frenchman, but deflected up off his attempt to control the ball and set it up nicely for Overmars who was making a supporting run to his left. With only the keeper to beat from about 12 yards the flying Dutchman blasted a volley over the bar. Arsenal did take the lead a couple of minutes later, thanks to a combination of David James, David Elleray and Davor Suker. James had injured a leg towards the end of the first half and had to have defenders taking goal kicks for him. The substitute keeper warmed up extensively during half time so it was a surprise to see James reappearing after the break, and a further surprise to see him taking a goal kick just afterwards, clearly aggravating the injury doing so. After catching a near post flick on from Suker after a corner, he was then reluctant to kick the ball out, and with none of his teammates bothering to get into postition for a throw he ended up holding onto the ball for close to twice as long as the allowed 5-6 seconds. The ref duly blew up, spotted the ball a couple of yards inside the penalty spot, got the Villa wall back on the goal line and we all settled back to watch the shot get blasted into the the outrushing Villa defenders. Suker however had other ideas, and after Bergkamp nudged the ball sideways he hit a terrific rising shot which almost ripped the net out. Villa tried bolting the stable door after the horse was long gone and replaced James with Enckelman, and the reserve keeper proceeded to play a blinder as Arsenal were now rampant. Suker should have had his hattrick soon afterwards when a cross from the right, by Grimandi I think, found him unmarked about 10 yards out, but he mistimed his attempt to flick it goalwards with his left foot. The Croatian went off to a standing ovation midway through the half to be replaced by Silvihno with Overmars moving into the middle to support Berkgamp. The Brazilian brought a fantastic save from the young Finnish keeper with a superb volley from the edge of the box, which took a slight deflection and made Enckelman's tip over even better. Parlour was then put through on the right but pulled his shot just wide of the far post. He did somewhat better soon afterwards when the ball fell to him a couple of yards outside the 6yd box and he hit a terrific volley which seemed a certain goal. Enckelman though pulled off an unbelievable save, somehow getting a hand to it and keeping it out. With 15 minutes left Kanu replaced Bergkamp, and with a little help from Overmars he made the game safe with Arsenal's 3rd goal a few minutes from time. Parlour's pass found Overmars beating the offside trap down the right and he raced clear before squaring the ball to leave Kanu with a simple finish which he duly slotted home with typical aplomb. Wenger immediately took off Overmars to give Henry a run out and the French striker could have added to Arsenal's lead soon afterwards. Silvinho's pass sent him clear into the area on the left, but he chose to transfer the ball to his right foot which gave Enckelman time to close him down and make a block. He still did well to recover and stop the ball going out and stabbed it back into the middle, but a defender got back and cleared. Arsenal's final chance came when Silvinho's free kick found Keown unmarked at the far post, but he put a free header wide. Overall it was a pretty satisfactory performance from Arsenal, though I have to say Villa were very poor, so I wouldn't go overboard about Arsenal's display. The height of Villa's ambition seemed to be a draw and Arsenal struggled somewhat to break them down, but once we got in front attacking moves started to flow as of old.
Manninger 7.0 No real chance with the goal, but otherwise a virtual
spectator.
Winterburn 7.5 The usual Nutty performance.
Dixon 7.5 One of his better games in recent times. Even got in
a couple of decent crosses in the 1st half.
Adams 8.0 If he looked a bit rusty against Liverpool, he's
fully oiled (so to speak) and running smoothly now.
Keown 7.5 Hardly tested at the back and did well on a couple
of occasions going forward.
Vieira 7.0 Had a fairly quiet game for him, though in the 2nd half
he made a couple superb forward runs.
Grimandi 7.5 Did a pretty good job of holding the midfield, making
tackles and covering.
Parlour 7.5 Looked close last season's form again, particularly in
the 2nd half.
Overmars 8.0 Apart from his finishing looked very sharp and eager.
Bergkamp 7.5 Don't think he's back to his best yet, but it was his
sublime touch that brought the equaliser.
Suker 8.0 Two superb finishes, and provided that presence in the
box we sometimes lack.
Silvinho Again came on and did very well on the left of midfield
Kanu Typically delightful cameo performance. At one point he
completely took the piss out of about 3 defenders in
the Villa area.
Henry Got into some good positions again, just needs that
goal...
Derek
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