Arsenal (2) 2 - 1 (1) TottenhamHighbury, Sunday 19th March 2000. kick-off 3pmFA Carling PremiershipPreview
Result : Arsenal (2) 2 Tottenham (1) 1
Scorers: Armstrong og,19, Armstrong 31
Henry pen 45
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Silvinho, Adams, Luzhny; Grimandi,
Vieira, Parlour, Overmars; Kanu, Henry
Subs: Ljungberg (Overmars 56), Winterburn (Henry 76),
Bergkamp, Suker, Lukic
Booked: Kanu, Grimandi, Parlour, Adams
Sent off: Grimandi (85, 2nd bookable offence)
Tottenham: Walker, Carr, Campbell, Perry, Taricco, Anderton, Freund,
Leonhardsen, Ginola, Iversen, Armstrong
Subs: Ferdinand (Iversen 60), Young (Campbell 73),
Korsten (Ginola 85), Baardsen, Clemence
Booked: Carr, Anderton, Ferdinand
Att: 38131
Ref: Paul Durkin (Portland)
A much needed victory against the old enemy at Highbury yesterday,
revenge for the defeat in the earlier game and a much needed 3 points in
the chase for a Champions' League place. It was a slightly unusual North
London derby in that Tottenham were allowed a greater share of
possession, but Arsenal nonetheless deserved the win, as for all their
possession and pressure towards the end Spurs could only muster two
shots on target. The Gunners in contrast consistently looked the more
dangerous and troubled Walker more.
It was Tottenham though who started the brighter and had the better of the opening 15 minutes or so. Ginola and Leonhardsen had decent half chances from long range, but both shot wide albeit narrowly in the latter's case. Arsenal meanwhile took time to get going, though early on Silvinho did well with a long run down the left which ended when the ref judged Carr to have shoulder-charged him off the ball as he tried to fasten onto Henry's return flick. Looked like blatant obstruction to me. Gradually though Arsenal did start firing. Henry missed by a whisker getting a head to Silvinho's free kick from the right and the ball went straight into Walker's arms when any touch at all would have diverted it past him. Kanu ran on to Luzhny's pass and casually glided round Campbell to leave himself with space for a shot from the edge of the box. His left footer was reasonably well struck but Walker reacted quickly to fall to his left and hold onto the ball. Soon afterwards, in a lovely quick break, Kanu released Overmars down the left and the winger took the ball on into the area before playing it across the 6yd box. No-one else had kept up with the break though, and Taricco was able to knock it out for a corner at the far post with Parlour not quite near enough to threaten. From the corner though Arsenal were in front. Silvinho swung it in to the near post where Henry went up with a knot of Spurs defenders and the ball apparently flashed in off Armstrong's head though Henry was initially creditted with the goal. Arsenal proceeded to have much the better of the rest of the half. Kanu worked himself a bit of space in the area but put his shot over the bar, Henry got away down the left and Parlour just failed to get a foot to the ball as he lunged in at the far post. Henry then hit a free kick through the wall which forced Walker into another good save down at his near post. At the other end Tottenham also went close when Iversen met Anderton's corner unmarked near the penalty spot, but his downward header was kicked off the line by Silvinho as he guarded the far post. However it was somewhat against the run of play that Tottenham equalised. Following a quick free kick awarded for an imaginary foul, Ginola turned Silvinho on the right and bent a diagonal cross into the area where Armstrong had stolen a couple of feet on Adams, and his flicked header flew past the static Manninger and into the net. Arsenal almost hit back when Overmars was again sent away down the left and cut in before trying a clever chip with his left foot which surprised Walker at his near post but hit the wrong side of the netting. The Gunners did regain the lead just before half time though. Dixon's pass down the middle picked out Kanu in a bit of space 15 yards outside the area. As he was closed down he slipped a lovely little pass forward to pick out Parlour's run into the area, and Taricco's grossly mistimed tackle chopped him down as he closed in on goal. Even Durkin couldn't fail to award that one, and Henry stepped up to calmly convert the penalty. The second half was less eventful in terms of goalmouth incident. Arsenal had slightly the better of the opening 20-25 minutes, but the only real threat on either goal I can recall came when Vieira tried an audacious volley from a few yards beyond the left hand corner of the area. It swerved and dipped enough to seriously alarm Walker, but not quite enough and landed on the roof of the net. Gradually though, anxiety about preserving 3 points or tiredness from Thursday's UEFA cup game, or a combination of both led Arsenal to sit back more and more and let Tottenham come at them. Spurs didn't manage a serious threat though, the most worrying moment coming from another dubiously awarded free kick a few yards outside the area, but fortunately Anderton lashed that wide. Arsenal conversely came close a couple of times on the break. Parlour combined well with Ljungberg on the right and cut back a cross which was cut out by Perry just ahead of Kanu. Then Henry got away down the left again and his cross into the middle was just headed clear ahead of Parlour as he charged in at the far post. With Ljungberg already on for the tired looking Overmars, in the final 15 minutes the slightly bizarre substitution of Henry for Winterburn seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game. Arsenal now really seemed to sit back and invite Tottenham on. Nerves were frayed even more when Grimandi was sent off 5 minutes from time for a 2nd yellow card. Fortunately Tottenham failed to take advantage and Arsenal saw out the remaining time relatively comfortably. Certainly a satisfactory result, and for the most part a reasonably good, and a spirited performance. It was however somewhat nerve jangling and disturbing the way Arsenal chose to hang on during the last 15-20 minutes, though admittedly there was probably a certain amount of tiredness from the Bremen game on Thursday.
Manninger 7.0 At the time I wondered why he didn't even move for
the goal, but on second viewing perhaps he had no
chance anyway. Otherwise had no shots to save and
made a couple of relieving catches towards the end.
Dixon 7.5 Another solid game.
Silvinho 8.0 I thought he was Arsenal's best player in the opening
20 mins and had another good game overall. Admittedly
he let Ginola get away for the goal, but I don't
remember too many other times.
Luzhny 8.0 Once again looked very solid and imperturbable, and
I think has been very impressive in the last 3 games.
Adams 8.0 Comforting to see him at the back, and again helped
to get Arsenal going in the first half.
Grimandi 6.0 Not such a good game this time, and a reckless
challenge to get himself sent off, though from my
angle his first booking was undeserved as he didn't
appear to make any contact with Campbell.
Vieira 8.0 Grew more influential as the game went on.
Parlour 7.5 Thought he had a more effective game than of late,
though he still seems to lack a bit of confidence.
Overmars 6.5 Had a couple of good runs, but otherwise fairly quiet
and didn't look completely fit to me.
Henry 8.5 Another great game, ran the Spurs defence ragged at
times.
Kanu 8.0 Looked to be getting back to his old self, though
some of his tricks still aren't quite coming off.
Had a good game holding up the ball and occupying the
Spurs centre halves though.
Ljungberg 7.5 Looked pretty lively and did well both in midfield
and up front.
Winterburn It did seem a slightly strange decision to send him
on at left midfield and I thought he had a slightly
mixed 15 minutes. A couple of the usual great tackles
but also a couple of missed ones and caught out of
position once or twice.
Derek
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