(0) 0 - 0 (0) ArsenalStadium of Light, Saturday 14th August 1999FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Silvinho, Keown, Upson; Vieira, Petit,
Parlour, Henry; Bergkamp, Kanu
Subs: Ljungberg (Petit 41), Boa Morte (Bergkamp h-t)),
Luzhny, Grimandi, Lukic
Booked: Keown, Vieira, Dixon
Sunderland: Sorensen, Makin, Bould, Butler, Gray, Ball, Summerbee, Rae,
Schwarz, Oster, Phillips
Subs: McCann (Oster h-t), Helmer (Bould 54), Quinn (Phillips 78),
Marriott, Holloway
Booked: Ball, Schwarz, Makin
Att: 41680
Ref: Uriah Rennie (Sheffield)
A tough and physically attritional game at the Stadium of Light on
Saturday, as Sunderland successfully frustrated Arsenal with their
tactic of playing for the draw. Playing only one striker and 5 across
midfield, it was 87 minutes before the home team drew a save from
Manninger while at the other end Sorensen was forced into a string of
good saves to keep Arsenal out on the few occasions they did manage to
break through the defensive blanket.
Sunderland's tactics were pretty obvious from the start, as they put 10 men behind the ball, and Ball went into the ref's book 2 minutes into the game after a scything foul on Petit. The game was played mostly in Sunderland's half though Arsenal struggled to come to terms with the home side's chasing and harrying and only rarely threatened to get behind the defence. Arsenal's best early chance was created with a typically brilliant Bergkamp pass which he slipped through the defence to pick out Silvinho's overlapping run into the area. From an acute angle the Brazilian's shot was blocked by a combination of Sorensen and Bould, though he reacted quickly to retrieve the rebound and wait before cutting it back to Bergkamp on the edge of the area. The Dutch master rather embarrassingly hit an air shot with his left foot and the ball was eventually cleared. Petit went close next with a daisycutter from 25 yards which zipped inches wide, and then a lovely move down the right ended with a superb Parlour cross which Sorensen just managed to punch off the head of Vieira when the midfielder looked likely to score. Henry then broke through down the left but put his shot wide of the near post. Sunderland only occasionally threatened at the other end, but a couple of dangerous looking crosses were all they could manage, and with only Phillips anywhere near goal even they weren't as threatening as they looked. The home team's main contribution in the first half was a series of "robust" challenges which eventually put Petit and Bergkamp out of the game by half time, though luckily the two worst looking ones by Schwarz on Parlour and Makin on Keown left the Arsenal men unhurt. Petit twisted knee ligaments after a lunging tackle by I think Rae, and went straight off to be replaced by Ljungberg. A trademark Bould clatter from behind on Bergkamp went unpunished early on as the ref played advantage, but ironically it was a more accidental collision later which put Bergkamp out of the game. Parlour moved into the middle to replace Petit and Ljungberg took his place on the right, and barely a minute after coming on had what was probably Arsenal's best chance of the half, when a mixup midway inside the Sunderland half allowed the Swede to nip in and run through on goal. He shot rather hurriedly though, and I think his shot was probably going just wide though Sorensen again did well to make get a touch and make sure. Bergkamp had struggled on after treatment but was replaced at half time by Boa Morte and Henry moved from the left wing into the middle to partner Kanu. The pair combined to create Arsenal's best early 2nd half chance when Boa Morte won possession near the half way line and fed Henry and then raced into the area to receive the return pass. He got in a shot from an acute angle which Sorensen saved brilliantly, and then did well to get a foot to the rebound and knock it into the middle. The ball was half cleared to Parlour and he rode one challenge before firing in a superb 25 yard shot which clipped the top of the crossbar. As the half wore on and Arsenal struggled to find a way through Vieira started making more forward runs, and a couple of times seemed to break through but suffered from his usual habit of neglecting to have a shot. The first time it was on his left foot as a pass from Kanu sent him into the area on the left, and he checked back and chipped a cross to the far post where Gray cleared from just in front of Henry. Then a lovely run from Vieira took him past a couple of challenges to the edge of the area, and he seemed to have space for a shot but again chose to offload to Ljungberg wide on his right, and the Swede was closed down before he could get a shot in. Ljungberg had what from the other end looked Arsenal's best chance of the half when Henry delightfully flicked the ball over his head to send Ljungberg clear from the half way line, but he again chose to shoot early and Sorensen made a good save. With about 10 minutes to go Niall Quinn came on to a huge roar to replace Phillips and the ex-Arsenal striker almost nicked it for Sunderland 3 minutes from time. Ljungberg gave the ball away in a dangerous position on the right and with the Arsenal defence out of position, McGann floated a cross to the far post to pick out the lofty Irishman. Upson's jump in front of him seemed to put him off though and he mistimed the header slightly and Manninger made a good scrambling save. Meanwhile at the other end Kanu could have twice won it for Arsenal with headers in the final few minutes. First a diving header from a Silvinho corner from the right was well saved by Sorensen, and then another Silvinho cross gave him what looked a better chance but this time his header glanced wide of the far post. Overall, it was a rather frustrating game, and a partially disappointing performance from Arsenal in that they didn't quite get going in attack. However, bearing in mind that in the 2nd half we were without Seaman, Adams, Winterburn, Petit, Overmars and Bergkamp it was nonetheless encouraging that we dominated the game to such an extent, albeit against a team of limited ambition. Don't think I've ever heard a home crowd give such a big cheer at the end of a 0-0 draw, a somewhat sad indictment of the way the Premiership is split between the haves and the have-nots. The most gratifying aspect of the game for me was the performances of Upson and Silvinho.
Manninger 7.5 A virtual spectator though he did make a couple of good
catches from crosses, and that one good save.
Silvinho 8.0 A superb game overall I thought, good going forward and
solid defensively. Summerbee only got past him once and
that was rather fortuitously.
Dixon 7.5 A pretty good game overall, with a couple of calm chest
backs to Manninger notable.
Upson 8.0 Admittedly rarely tested, but an impressively composed
performance.
Keown 7.5 Solid as ever.
Vieira 7.5 Generally in command of the midfield again, and drove
Arsenal forward well particularly in the 2nd half.
Petit 7.5 Played pretty well too, in the time he was on.
Parlour 7.5 As solid and energetic as ever, adaptable too.
Henry 7.0 Some nice touches, though it seems to me he tended to
get to the point where he seemed to be past his man
only to check back inside for some reason.
Bergkamp 7.0 Frustrated for the most part by Bould's close attention
Kanu 7.0 Not quite firing smoothly, as he seemed to want just a
bit more time than Sunderland were willing to give him.
Still some nice touches though.
Ljungberg 6.0 Possibly as poorly as I've seen him play.
Boa Morte 6.5 As enthusiastic as ever, but not the answer yet.
Derek
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