Middlesbrough (0) 2 - 1 (0) ArsenalRiverside Stadium, Sunday 12th March 2000. kick-off 3pmFA Carling PremiershipPreview
Middlesbrough (0) 2 - 1 (0) ArsenalRiverside Stadium, Sunday 12th March 2000. kick-off 3pmFA Carling Premiership
scorers: Ince 48 Bergkamp 70
Ricard 63
Arsenal:
Seaman (Manninger h-t)
Luzhny Grimandi Petit Silvinho
Parlour Vieira Winterburn Ljungberg (Bergkamp 50)
Henry Kanu
Another poor performance from Arsenal against a team that seemed to want it
a bit more. Arsenal started playing with 20 minutes to go, the awakening
kick-started by a great goal from Bergkamp. But we were already 2 down.
In the first half Deane went close with a couple of headers, one which was well saved by Seaman and the other, from a great run and cross by Hamilton Ricard, went wide. For Arsenal, Parlour hit the post on 15 minutes after a fantastic run. He feinted to play a 1-2 when he got to the edge of the box but carried on in and was unlucky to see the shot hit the woodwork. Parlour also shot over after nice approach work involving most of the Arsenal team. Henry had a free-kick saved. He put a nice bend on the ball but it didn't have the pace to beat Schwarzer in the Boro goal. Seaman didn't come out for the second half, and after 3 minutes a looping header from Ince got the better of his deputy Manninger. Arsenal had a few tries up th eother end, including one dangerous looking drive across the box by Parlour which was inches away from providing Kanu with an easy goal but which ended up deflected out for a corner. But Boro were looking more determined and purposeful, and Arsenal starting to look pretty shaky at the back. Silvinho's pass back to Manninger put the keeper in a difficult situation as Campbell chased him down, and the keeper fell on the ball conceding an indirect free-kick. Perhaps remembering Bradford, Winterburn went and stood in front of the ball to force a "ceremonial free-kick" situation. Manninger opted to stand in the wall (which wasn't nearly 10 yards back) and was the player to rush out (which makes sense, since he can use him hands). They set it up for a shot which sailed over the bar. Within a minute, Grimandi nearly put Manninger in a similar position with another dodgy back-pass. Sadly the next error did not go unpunished. A moment of sheer sloppiness from Vieira let Hamilton Ricard in. He got past Petit on the edge of the box and fired past Manninger. Shortly after, Manninger made a good save from Ricard after the striker had beaten the offside trap (and probably should have done a lot better with the goal chance). Then Bergkamp, who came on for Ljungberg betwene the Boro goals, scored a world-class goal with a 1-2 with Henry on the edge of the box followed by a crafty lob over Schwarzer. From this point on Arsenal had the bit between their teeth, and almost immediately we had the ball in the net again through Henry, but it was ruled out for offside (Henry was letting himself get caught time and time again today, which is of course particularly frustrating when he's playign against defenders who he could beat for pace even if giving them a 2 or 3 yard start). There was time for some heroics from Manninger though, when Boro came out on the break with Ricard. As an indication of how much Arsenal were caught as we pressed forward, it was Bergkamp that had to chase him back. Manninger blocked Ricard's shot and the second shot went wide.
Result : Middlesborough (0) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Scorers: Ince 48, Ricard 63 Bergkamp 70
Arsenal: Seaman, Luzhny, Silvinho, Grimandi, Petit; Winteburn,
Vieira, Parlour, Ljungberg; Henry, Kanu
Subs: Manninger (Seaman -h-t), Bergkamp (Ljungberg 60)
Suker (Parlour 78), Dixon, Malz
Booked: Winterburn
Middlesborough: Schwarzer, Fleming, Vickers, Cooper, Ziege;
Summerbell, Ince, Maddison, Campbell; Deane, Ricard
Subs: Mustoe (Maddison 79), Juninho (Campbell 85),
Gordon, Kilgannon, Beresford
Att: 34244
Ref: Rob Harris (Oxford)
Yet another disappointing result away from Highbury, though apart from a
20 minute spell in the 2nd half, the performance wasn't as poor as the
result might suggest. With a makeshift defence, it wasn't too surprising
that Arsenal conceded a couple of goals, but the failure to take chances
in attack was as much to blame for this defeat.
With Grimandi the only fit recognised central defender from four, Arsenal's defence had a distinctly unfamiliar look to it, with Petit playing alongside Grimandi and Luzhny at right back in place of Dixon (presumably rested for Thursday). Early on in the game 'Boro's height advantage threatened to cause problems for the Gunners' nervous rearguard, but gradually they and the rest of the team settled down and Arsenal went on to dominate most of the half. Henry had the first serious effort on goal with a rasping shot from 20 yards which was straight at the keeper but bounced awkwardly a few yards in front of Schwarzer and he allowed the ball to bounce off his chest. There were no yellow shirts following in to take advantage of his mistake though. Soon afterwards Schwarzer made another mistake, miskicking a clearance straight to Parlour about 35 yards out, but his hurried attempt went a couple of feet past the angle of crossbar and upright. Arsenal were now starting to find their way through the Boro defence. Silvinho was put away down the left a couple of times, Henry was inches away from connecting with one of his crosses as the ball flashed across the 6yd box. Henry made himself an even better chance when Kanu's pass sent him down the inside left channel into the area. He brilliantly turned a defender to leave himself with only Schwarzer to beat from an angle, but the keeper spread himself well and made a good block. At the other end the only real threat during the opening 20 minutes or so was when Deane climbed (literally as far as I could see) above Silvinho to head Ziege's cross downwards towards goal, but Seaman made a good save, stopping the ball from crossing the line at the 2nd attempt. Parlour then came even closer to a goal when Winterburn and Luzhny combined well to send him away down the right. He cut in and slalomed past a couple of defenders on the edge of the area to leave himself with only Schwarzer to beat. This he did, but his shot unluckily cannoned back off the far post and almost along the goal line before being whacked to safety by a defender beyond the opposite post. Soon afterwards Parlour again did well, cutting in from close to the byline on the right, before blazing a shot from an acute angle narrowly over the crossbar. Meanwhile at the other end Boro had their best chance of the half when a ball over the top found Ricard beating the offside trip wide on the left. Grimandi and Luzhny both stood and watched as the Colombian retrieved the ball close to the byline before the latter eventually decided he ought to go across and try and cover. By that time though Ricard had set himself for the cross and swung it over to the far post where Deane was thundering in. Fortunately he put his header just wide. Arsenal had the final good chance of the half when Parlour and Luzhny combined well down the right and the fullback put over a great cross which picked out Kanu in the 6yd box. A couple of defenders jumping just in front of him appeared to put him off though and he completely miskicked his attempt to turn the ball home. Just before half time Henry hit a curling free kick from near the left hand corner of the area, but Schwarzer had anticpated where it was going and in the end plucked it from just beneath the angle of crossbar and far post with relative ease. Manninger had spent the last few minutes of the 1st half warming up on the touchline so it was clear Seaman had some problem and consequently no surprise to see Manninger replace him at half time. His first job was to pick the ball out of the net as Boro went ahead 3 minutes into the 2nd half. The goal came from a corner which, judging by the reaction of Silvinho and the home fans nearby, should have been a goal kick. It appeared that the ball ricocheted back off Silvinho as he blocked Deane's attempt to cross, and deflected off the Boro player over the goal line. The ref however gave a corner, and though Parlour headed Ziege's cross clear, Fleming headed it back into the area, the Arsenal defence was slow coming out and Ince sent a looping backheader over Manninger and into the far corner. The home side then had a chance to go 2 up when Manninger was forced to handle what was judged a back pass by Silvinho. Couldn't really complain about the decision though - Silvinho had done well to get in a great sliding tackle touch the ball away from Armstrong as he broke clear, and send it back towards Manninger who was forced to fall on the ball as Deane closed in. Ziege hammered the indirect free kick into the wall and then Ince blasted the rebound over the bar. Arsenal then brought on Bergkamp to replace Ljungberg and he almost immediately helped fashion a chance for an equaliser. Parlour was sent through down the inside right channel by Bergkamp's pass, but he got the ball caught somewhat under his feet at the crucial moment, and though he still managed to stab a shot goalwards it was deflected wide of the far post by a defender who'd managed to get back. However, moments later Middlesborough were two up. Vieira played a sloppy pass inside towards Petit, about 20 yards inside his own half. The ball went straight to Ricard and he took it on, beating Petit to leave himself with only Manninger to beat, which he did with aplomb, sliding the ball past the keeper and into the net from the edge of the area. Arsenal now pressed forward with even more urgency which left gaps at the back. As one corner was cleared Ricard broke from the half way line, with the furthest man back being Bergkamp who chased him and got in a decent challenge which touched the ball away from Ricard and held him up long enough for Manninger to make the first block, though Ricard then retrieved the loose ball and the Austrian keeper made an even better save was Ricard tried to tuck the ball past him a second time. Shortly afterwards Arsenal did pull a goal back. Bergkamp played a lovely one-two with Henry which left him clear in the area with only Schwarzer to beat, which he did beautifully, lifting the ball on the volley over the keeper and just inside the far post. A couple of minutes later we thought Arsenal had got the equaliser. This time it was Kanu's flick which put Henry through in a similar position to Bergkamp earlier and he stroked the ball past Schwarzer and into the net. Unfortunately the flag was up, a rather dubious decision as it looked as though Henry had come through from an onside position. The Gunners then really applied the pressure with a sequence of 4 successive corners, a couple of which caused real panic in the Boro defence, one to the extent that the ball hit a defender on the arm in the scramble, but the ref and linesman either didn't see it or decided it was unintentional. Perhaps true but as the ball was bouncing around in the 6yd box at the time Arsenal were a bit unlucky not to have got a penalty. Suker replaced Parlour with just over 10 minutes left and Henry moved over to the right wing, but though Arsenal pressed desperately they never managed to break down the determined home defence in the final few minutes, and in fact Middlesborough could have made the game safe a couple of minutes from time when Ricard got away down the right and put over a cross which just eluded Deane at the far post. Another fruitless away trip, and again the old problems of not forcing home the advantage when we had it, and of conceding sloppy goals. In the first half Middlesborough were there to be beaten and a bit more urgency then might have paid dividends. I'd be less inclined to blame a lack of spirit or desire on this occasion though, and there were mitigating factors such as a decimated central defence and tiredness after Thursday's trip to Spain. The decision to stick with Petit in defence and Winterburn in midfield did seem a little strange, though I guess Wenger thought it worked reasonably well in La Coruna, and if he deemed Dixon in need of a rest then Luzhny had to play at right back. There was also again an element of bad luck - what looked a perfectly good goal disallowed, a decent penalty shout turned down, another shot hitting the inside of the post.
Seaman 7.0 Only one difficult save to make which he did
reasonably well.
Manninger 7.5 Made a couple of terrific saves.
Luzhny 7.5 Had a pretty good game overall I thought. Reasonably
solid in defence and did pretty well going forward.
Silvinho 7.0 Had quite a good 1st half but was quieter in the 2nd.
Grimandi 7.5 Also had a reasonably good game.
Petit 6.5 Early on particularly looked a bit all at sea in
defence but gradually seemed to work out what he was
doing to some extent, and otherwise his attitude
was better.
Winterburn 6.5 Tried as hard as you'd expect, but was shown to be
not a real central midfielder.
Vieira 6.0 One of the poorest games I've seen him have.
Parlour 8.0 Looked much more like the player we've come to expect
over the last couple of years.
Ljungberg 7.0 Had a couple of good moments in the first half, but
otherwise fairly quiet.
Kanu 6.5 Looked quite good early on, but thereafter tended to
try and do too much and hang on to the ball too long.
Bergkamp 7.5 We looked likely to get something out of the game for
a period after he came on.
Henry 7.0 Worked hard and made a lot of runs, and produced a
lovely touch to set up Bergkamp's goal.
Suker His main contribution was to play a couple of nice
first time layoffs in the wrong direction.
Derek
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