Arsenal vs Werder_BremenHighbury, Thursday 16th March 2000UEFA Cup Quarter-Final, 1st legPreview
UEFA Cup, 5th round 1st leg
Arsenal vs Werder Bremen (Germany) Thu Mar 16 2000
Result : Arsenal (1) 2 Werder Bremen (0) 0
Scorers: Henry 21, Ljungberg 77
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Silvinho, Adams, Luzhny; Grimandi,
Vieira, Parlour, Ljungberg; Bergkamp, Henry
Subs: Overmars (Parlour 67), Kanu (Bergkamp 67),
Suker (Henry 77), Keown, Malz, Winterburn, Manninger
Bremen: Rost; Tjikuzu, Barten, Baumann, Wiedener;
Dabrowski, Frings, Eilts, Herzog; Ailton, Bode
Subs: Schierenbeck (Ailton 82), Flock, Maximov, Trares,
Bogdanovic, Brasas (g), Skripnik
Booked: Herzog, Bode
Att: 38009
Ref: C Colombo (France)
A strangely low key game at Highbury last night, partly dictated by the
attitude of the visiting team who steadfastly refused to play any sort
of attacking football, but in the end a comfortable victory for Arsenal.
With Adams back in defence, though partnered by Luzhny because Keown
wasn't risked and Grimandi was in midfield in place of Petit, Arsenal
had a more solid look, though in truth the defence was barely tested in
keeping their first clean sheet in 9 games.
Bremen started with a nominal 4-4-2 formation, but in effect Bode played in midfield for 95% of the game, leaving Ailton struggling on his own up front. Predictably it was Arsenal who started the brighter, Bergkamp putting a superbly struck snap shot narrowly wide, and Grimandi also going reasonably close with another 25 yarder. The first real chance though was manufactured by Vieira. He won a tussle for the ball in midfield and then went on a weaving run down the middle, evading a couple of challenges before slipping the ball forward for Henry to take it on into the area. The striker commendably skipped over an attempt to foul him in the area, breaking through to leave himself with only the keeper to beat, albeit from a very tight angle. His shot beat Rost but also skewed wide of the far post, in fact eventually going out for a throw. The first goal arrived about 10 minutes later. Vieira again dug the ball out from a tussle, this time about 25 yards inside his own half, and looked up to spot Henry making a run from the halfway line. Vieira's long lofted pass allowed the young striker to beat the offside trap and run completely free in on goal. He eventually controlled the bouncing ball with a couple of touches and as the keeper came out calmly slotted it past him and into the net. Arsenal continued to dominate with Henry in particular causing problems. He combined well with Parlour on the right, and the latter eventually did well to cut back a cross which almost squeezed through to Bergkamp. Then Henry popped up a couple of times on the left, first getting clear with a sharp turn but spoiling it with a poor cross, and then doing well again to win a corner. Adams spun away to the far post and Bergkamp swung the corner over to pick him out. The ball cleared the last defender's head and Adams brought it down superbly with his chest before firing in a terrific angled volley which brought an even better save from Rost, the keeper somehow keeping it out with one hand. Having not even raised the hint of a threat Werder then did manage to win a couple of corners, the second of which arose because Parlour sliced his attempt to clear the first so badly that it spun behind him and over the goal line. Seaman made a comfortable catch from the second. Arsenal then broke up the other end and a clever move almost brought a second goal. Ljungberg chipped the ball in from the left, Henry angled his header to play Bergkamp in along the edge of his area, and the Dutch master played a lovely little angled ball into the area attempting to set up a chance for Parlour. Pizza was somewhat back on his heels though, probably trying to stay onside, so was stretching when he finally just beat Rost to the ball and could only slice it wide. The second half was more of the same, Werder defending deep and Arsenal struggling to break them down. Early on Henry again did well, his pace enabling him to break through down the right, but his low cross into the middle went just behind Ljungberg and just too far in front of Parlour. Werder did then manage to produce an attack which was vaguely threatening, but the result was only a couple of dangerous looking crosses which were eventually cleared. Meanwhile Arsenal were making heavier weather of engineering another breakthrough at the other end, and midway through the half Wenger tried to freshen things up by replacing Bergkamp and Parlour with Kanu and Overmars. The Nigerian did almost did the trick about 5 minutes later when his pass set up Henry for a shot from the edge of the area on the left, but Rost again made a good save, sticking out a foot to block the shot. It was beginning to look as though Arsenal would have to settle anxiously for a 1-0 win, when the second goal finally arrived with less than 15 minutes left. Grimandi's chip forward was headed down by Henry towards Kanu on the edge of the area. The Nigerian gathered the ball and dummied a shot from 25 yards which he cleverly turned into a through ball for Ljungberg running into the area. Or maybe he just horribly mishit the shot. Anyway, Ljungberg took the shot early which surprised the keeper and though the ball lacked much pace it had enough to beat Rost and nestle in the corner of the net. Thereafter Arsenal seemed to settle for 2-0 and Werder to settle for 0-2. Grimandi did have a tremendous 30 yard shot which whistled inches over the bar, and a Silvinho free kick in injury time appeared to hit a defender on the arm, but apart from that the last 10 minutes were somewhat uneventful. Overall a reasonably satisfactory performance from Arsenal, though generally, Henry apart, there wasn't a great deal of spark about it. A pretty good result mind you, though as others have pointed out the German team have made a habit of overcoming 1st leg deficits this season.
Seaman 7.0 Not a single shot to save, and only a couple of
crosses to deal with. Could almost have stayed in the
dressing room.
Dixon 7.5 Reasonably good game as usual, chugged forward when
he could.
Silvinho 7.5 Also a pretty good game, though he too had little to
do defensively, supported the attack well.
Luzhny 7.5 Looked very solid and composed in the middle.
Adams 8.0 Also didn't really have a lot to do defensively, but
as usual organised and made a couple of drives
forward to try and get Arsenal going in the 2nd half.
Grimandi 7.5 Solid and covered well in midfield again.
Vieira 7.5 Had a particularly good 1st half, though he seemed to
ease off a bit in the second, and seems to me he's
still not quite his old self.
Parlour 6.5 Put in as much effort as usual, but one of those games
where nothing was quite running for him.
Ljungberg 7.0 Relatively quiet game I thought, though he found the
happy knack of popping up with a goal when Arsenal
most needed it.
Bergkamp 7.0 Looked good and determined early on, but never quite
found his touch. Apparently came off with a slight
problem with his calf again, ominously.
Henry 8.5 Comfortably the pick on the night I thought. Looked
lively and ran all night.
Kanu Some of his tricks and turns almost came off, but
never quite did. Fortunately one of them inadvertently
set up the second goal.
Overmars Also never really quite got into the match, and his
touch let him down on the couple of occasions he
looked threatening.
Suker Again didn't get much of a chance to do anything.
Derek
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