Arsenal (1) 3 - 0 (0) Nantes_AtlantiqueHighbury, Thursday 25th November 1999, kick-off 8pmUEFA Cup 3rd round, first legPreview
Arsenal (1) 3 - 0 (0) Nantes_AtlantiqueHighbury, Thursday 25th November 1999, kick-off 8pmUEFA Cup 3rd round, first leg
Scorers: Overmars 14
Winterburn 82
Bergkamp 90
Arsenal:
Seaman
Vivas Grimandi Adams Winterburn
Ljungberg (Henry 70) Vieira Petit (Parlour 38) Overmars
Bergkamp Kanu (Suker 70)
A nice result to take to the second leg in Nantes in a fortnight,
but for most of the match it didn't look like coming. The French side
came to defend and while they didn't look capable of scoring there's
no guarantee they won't look more incisive at home. we were
probably lucky that their 2 good chances fell to the hapless
Ahamada.
Things looked hopeful after quarter of an hour when Kanu won a penalty for our first goal. The move started when Adams appeared to have given the ball away in the middle of the park, playing the ball strangely into space in front of a (yuk) yellow and green shirt. But Vieira was quickest to react and he came back from in front of the centre circle to retrieve the ball. He turned and played it forward to Petit who touched it on to Kanu with his back to goal just outside the box. The Nigerian laid it back to Petit again and Manu chipped it over the top for Kanu to run onto. He got a touch in just before the defender reached him so the ball was clear when he was tripped for a clear penalty. Overmars stepped up to take the penalty and just like against Boro on Saturday the keeper guessed right (left) and tipped it onto the post. But this time it went in. Despite his good work in the run-up to the penalty, Petit was already looking to be in some trouble, he was slow to move and was getting caught on the ball and giving it away rather more often than you'd expect. Apparently Wenger had been concerned about his knee before the game but Manu had convinced him that he'd be alright. Vivas was filling in for Dixon on the right, and took some time to get going. Early on Vieira won a tackle and then rode a couple more to bring the ball out of defence, then slipped it sideways for Vivas only to find that the full-back had failed to make the (obvious) run. But as the game went on, and it became more and more obvious that the opposition were allowing us to press forward, we saw him getting forward much more. One lovely long ball for Kanu just after the penalty looked to have put him clear in the box but the ball got stuck under his foot as he trapped it. On 22 minutes Vieira showed some superb skill to set up another chance. He chased a long lob into the box on the right, and got there just in time to lift the ball over the keeper towards the goal line, a defender came across to challenge and Paddy lifted it over him too. Coming towards the goal now, but at a narrow angle, Vieira showed great presence of mind to slip the ball back to the edge of the penalty area. Overmars controlled it and fired a shot in through the now crowded box, but it was cleared by a defender on the line. We had another good chance 5 minutes later when Dennis was fouled on the right wing. The free-kick was floated to the far post where it came down between Adams and Kanu. It appeared to ricoichet off one or both of them and fall between them where a defender was able to get in to clear. Nantes took the ball up the other end and had their first shot, a very hopeful 35 yarder. Seaman got down to stop it but it was probably going wide anyway. A great cross from Overmars towards Bergkamp at the far post appeared to be taken away from him by the defender's hand, and it came out to Vieira just outside the box. He controlled it brilliantly but blasted the volley high. Petit, who a few minutes earlier had fallen in a heap on the ground, was finally replaced by Parlour. I have to say that it seemed a rare error of judgement on Wenger's part, even if he was right to trust Petit's assessment of his chances of not aggravating the injury, not to replace him earlier in the match. A great run through the middle by Bergkamp, surrounded by 4 or 5 defenders but with 3 of them foolishly backing off in front of him, finished with one of his classic curling shots from the edge of the box which just failed to bend inside the right hand post. With 5 minutes to go there was a strange incident which turned out to be decisive. A Nantes player went down injured on (our) left hand touchline and rolled off the pitch. From my vantage point (not the best, I have to admit) it looked like there had been contact of some sort (Overmars or Winterburn), maybe his heel had been clipped accidentally or something like that. But it didn't look like a foul and none was given. With the player off the pitch there was clearly no need to stop play, but Vieira had the ball and after dithering for a moment or two he played it off the pitch. One of the Nantes players appeared to indicate "thanks" and that they'd play it back to us. Winterburn was clearly disgusted and seemed to throw the ball towards the injured player, who was still rolling about off the pitch, although the fact that the ball had been played off near that spot means he could possibly just have been throwing the ball to where the throw-in was to be taken (I think not!). Anyway, for some reason as a Nantes player was preparing to take the throw, the ref ran over rather melodramatically to show him a yellow card. I have no idea why (but I'll be watching my tape of the game later to try to work it out). Incidentally, the injuredplayer was injured and didn't return to the pitch, a sub coming on almost immediately. It's worth pointing out that a player can be injured by a fair tackle. The fact that there was no foul does NOT mean that he is play acting. There was still time for another close call at each end. Bergkamp ran onto a ball into the right hand side of the box. he looked second favourite at first but did brilliantly to take the ball no and shield it from the attending defender. At the last moment the defeender gtohis foot past Dennis and toe-poked it to the keeper who (we thought) stupidly caught it. Dennis appealed that it was a pass-back (as it was) but the ref waved "no". I guess hin his defence the ref may not have been able to see the contact (from behind it could have looked much less deliberate) and it's a hard call to make if you're not sure. A good break by Nantes up the other end, the ball chipped over the defence put Ahamada clear on Seaman and, with Monterubio storming into acres of space on the far side of the box he decided to go for glory himself and wastefully dragged his low shot wide of the far post. If he'd just played the easy ball a couple yards further back, the chance would have been virtually unmissable. Grimandi was booked for dissent at the end of the half, something which could cost him 2 weeks wages. According to the Mirror's report (see links below) Arsenal have responded to media bleatings about our disciplinary record by instituting a new code laying down fixed financial penalties for such offences. The second half started with another bad miss by Ahamada. He headed a high cross into the box back to a team mate who passed it straight back to him. With back to goal he spun and shot in one movement but looked to have lost his sense of where the goal was in the process, dragging it well wide of the far post. Overmars got booked rather strangely. He'd lost the ball and was chasing to try to get it back when he appeared to slip without making contact and without the Nantes player who running away from appearing to have been brought down. Another incident I'll have to look at later! Tony Adams made a crunching but fair tackle which finished the game for another Nantes pkayer who looked to be in some pain and was stretchered off. I have to say I was embarassed to hear my fellow ClockEnders booing as the stricken player was stretchered past us. The guy had just been clobbered by Tony Adams and could hardly be blamed for feeling a bit under the weather as a result. Surely what we're always encouraging the likes of Adams and Keown to do is go in with hard but fair tackles which hurt and scare the opposition without conceding free-kicks. It seems like double standards to me, to then criticise the opponent for falling victim to this. It's like booing the opposition goalkeeper for letting a goal in! Anyway, inevitably the Nantes fans reacted to this and booed Adams whenever he got the ball after this incident. We responded by cheering him considerably louder, and so maybe the booing was worth it. Anything to get the crowd going - it had been a curiously quiet Highbury all night. A lovely flick from Bergkamp put Kanu clear on thje right of the box, but in the end he had to stretch to get to it and the cut-back, bound for Overmars, was intercepted by a flying header. On the hour Chanelet, the player who had been booked in the throw-in incident in the first half, earned his second booking in rather clearer circumstances. Overmars nutmegged him and went to burst past when the Nantes player clearly shoved him over. From this point Nantes went out of the game almost completely and it was Arsenal pressure form then on. An Overmars cross to the far post just missed Bergkamp and his presence obscured the chance for Ljungberg who was diving in behind him. Then a nice move involving Parlour and Kanu down the right put Bergkamp through on the keepeer who did well to block (although strangely a goal-kick was given). With 20 minutes to go Wenger decided it was time for a change. Ljungberg, who hadn't had his best game ever, was replaced by Henry, and Suker came on for Kanu. Bergkamp played Suker in on the left with a beautiful chip. The Croatian hit it with the outside of his left boot from the right hand side of the box as the keeper came to challenge. He did well to get it on target but it didn;t have enough pace to stop a defender getting back to hoof it off the line. They won it from the corner and looked to be breaking with some threat. But as the player was charging goalwards with no tackle immediately imminent got to the edge of the box, he inexplicably chose to back-heel it into the space he'd just run through. A apsce which was now surrounded by red shorts with no Nantes player in sight. A bit of keepy-uppy in their box finished with a great Bergkamp turn which took into space on the left, he tried to play it goal-wards, or cut it back, but from a very narrow angle it went straight into the keepers hands. Since the sending-off and especially since the double substitution we were looking more and more likely to break through. But Nantes determination to defend had also been reinforced, and it was looking like our craft wasn't going to be enough. Enter Nigel Winterburn who, along with Tony Adams had been the chief driving force in our game. Vivas played the ball from the right wing to Vieira in the centre who slipped it out left to Nige. He took a couple of touches and blasted it inside the far post from 20 yards. A screamer to match his famour winner at Chelsea 2 years back. We had a good few more chances in the following minutes. Bergkamp nutmegged a defender on the deg of the box to create a chance, but a last-ditch tackle (together possible with a rare bad bounce off the Highbury turf) denied him. Then a great run from Henry took him past 2 defenders, but his shot from the edge of the box went wide of the far post. Then Bergkamp put him in again and his attempt to chip the goalie went hopelessly high. Bergkamp set Henry up again with a lay-back this time under challenge the miss was understandable. And Henry had yet another chance, latching onto a lob into the Nantes half. He looked offside (by a mile) but it wasn't given. Unfortunately however, he used his arm in bringing the ball down and that was spotted. In the dying seconds of normal time, a loose clearance went straight to Overmars who passed into space in front of Dennis. Presumably the defender wasn't aware of Bergkamp's presence on the deg of the box (always a mistake!) and he was allowed to run onto it unchallenged and with the keeper advancing he clipped it delightfully inside the far post. The sense of relief in the stadium was very much in evidence when moments layer Bergkamp blasted a shot ridiculously high and wide from a pulled-back corner and the Clock End (with encouragement from David Seaman) sang "what the f**king hell was that?"
Result : Arsenal (1) 3 Nantes (0) 0
Scorers: Overmars 13 pen,
Winterburn 81, Bergkamp 90
Arsenal: Seaman, Vivas, Winterburn, Grimadi, Adams; Petit, Vieira,
Ljungberg, Overmars; Bergkamp, Kanu
Subs: Parlour (Petit 37), Henry (Ljungberg 70),
Suker (Kanu 70), Luzhny, Malz, Upson, Manninger
Booked: Grimandi, Overmars
Nantes: Landreau, Gillet, Carriere, Sibierski, Piocelle, Leroy,
Savinaud, Monterrubio, Chanelet, Deroff, Ahamada
Subs: Olembe (Deroff 41), Toure (Ahamada 53),
Gope-Fenepej (Monterrubio 70), Grondin, Devineau,
Mace, Aristouy
Booked: Chanelet
Sent Off: Chanelet (60, 2nd bookable offence)
Att: 36118
Ref: Dani Koren (Israel)
In the end a victory which should be emphatic enough to see Arsenal
through to the 4th round of the UEFA cup, but in a curiously low-key
match the Gunners struggled to overcome a team who were reduced to 10
men with half an hour to go. It took 2 goals in the final 10 minutes to
add gloss to the scoreline in a match which Arsenal dominated but seemed
to find difficult to really motivate themselves for.
Nantes started off brightly and kept possession well for the first 2 or 3 minutes, but Arsenal gradually settled and gained control. Goalmouth incident was at a premium early on though. Kanu made some space for himself on the right with a typically clever bit of control, but dragged a left foot shot well wide. The first real excitement resulted in the opening goal. Petit chipped a lovely ball forward for Kanu to run onto, though he was heading wide in the right hand side of the area, so Leroy's challenge was somewhat needless and reckless as he caught the Nigerian on the ankle for an indisputable penalty. Overmars stepped up and hit the spot kick reasonably well to Landreau's left. The keeper guessed correctly but despite getting a hand to the shot couldn't keep it out. We all settled back in expectation of more, but Arsenal never really got going during the rest of the half. There were some good moments, most notably a quite brilliant move which resulted in Overmars having a shot cleared off the line. Bergkamp's superb chip forward picked out Vieira's forward run down the right. The keeper came charging out to meet him, Vieira brilliantly flicked the ball over him, then equally brilliantly flicked it over another defender who came across to challenge. From tight on the byline he then cut the ball back to Overmars on the edge of the area, but his shot was kicked off the line by Savinaud. Arsenal also went close when a Petit free kick found Kanu and Adams unmarked at the far post. The former seemed to have a free header but inexplicably appeared to duck under the ball. Perhaps he had a call from Adams, but the latter also missed the ball. Overmars then had a good run down the left and crossed to the far post. Adams headed back into the middle but the ball went just behind Bergkamp and Ljungberg I think. The clearance eventually fell to Vieira, but after flicking the ball up he blazed a 25 yard volley high and wide. Petit had received treatment on the touchline while the penalty was being taken and was clearly struggling afterwards, so it was no surprise to see Parlour replace him a few minutes before half time. Shortly afterwards Bergkamp almost added to Arsenal's lead with what would have been a typically brilliant goal. He turned cleverly onto Parlour's pass and ran at the Nantes defence before curling in a shot from the edge of the area which went a whisker wide of the right hand post. Meanwhile Nantes had barely ventured into the Arsenal half, Seaman's good save from Sibiersky's shot being their only threat, but just before half time they should have got the equaliser. Adams was sucked across to cover Winterburn and Chanelet's chip forward allowed Ahamada to run clear of both down the left. He was clean through on Seaman but fortunately dragged his angled shot wide of the far post when a ball across the area would have found the unmarked Monterrubio. Just after half time Ahamada had another good opportunity when the Arsenal defence failed to deal with a lofted ball in from the left and the ball dropped to the winger in space about 15 yards out. He turned on it but snatched at his shot and dragged it wide again. The scare jolted Arsenal into re-exerting sustained pressure at the other end. They came close when another lovely Bergkamp chip forward found Kanu running into the area on the right, but his touch uncharacteristically took him too wide and he could only cut the ball back into the middle where it was cleared. Bergkamp though intercepted the clearance but his 25 yarder sailed wide. Arsenal's cause was helped soon afterwards when Nantes were reduced to 10 men, Channelet going for a 2nd yellow card after holding back Overmars as the flying Dutchman got past him on the left wing. He'd been booked in the first half in a bizarre incident when another Nantes player went down injured near the touchline but rolled off the pitch so that he could receive treatment. Vieira kicked the ball into touch, which seemed to me to be taking fair play a little too far, and the ref then booked Channelet for time wasting as he dithered over taking the throw in. One of the more harsh red cards I've seen. The Gunners now started finding more space, particularly down the left where Channelet had been. Overmars sent over a lovely ball to the far post but Bergkamp seemed to put Ljungberg off as he came charging in behind him, and the Swede failed to connect with the ball. Then Bergkamp and Kanu again linked up well, the latter again cutting the ball back from the byline to find the Dutch master running in at the near post. The keeper made a good blocking save though, deflecting the ball behind. The ref typically gave a goal kick. It took a double substitution 20 minutes from time to really galvanise Arsenal though, Henry and Suker replacing Ljungberg and Kanu. Suker very nearly put Arsenal two up a few minutes later when yet another superb Bergkamp through ball sent him clear in the right side of the area. As the keeper rushed out to meet him, he knocked the ball past him with the outside of his right foot, but there wasn't quite enough pace on it and Gillet got back to hack it over the bar. The breakthrough finally came with a little less than 10 minutes left. Vivas drove forward down the right and played the ball inside for Vieira who in turn helped it on to find Winterburn in space on the left just outside the area, and the fullback drove in a tremendous angled shot which gave the keeper no chance and arrowed just inside the far post. A similar goal to his last, the one at Chelsea 2 years ago. Arsenal were now opening up the demoralised Nantes defence almost at will, and Henry alone could have grabbed a hattrick. First he did brilliantly on his own to burst through into the area on the right, but his angled shot flashed wide of the far post. Then another through pass, I think again from Bergkamp sent him through on the keeper but he put too much on his attempt to chip the ball over Landreau, and the ball cleared the bar as well. Finally, a lofted long ball down the middle I think by Winterburn found him running clear of the defence, but for some reason instead of running onto it he tried to bring it down on his chest and ended up using an arm to help him. By that time Arsenal had added the 3rd goal. The tired visitors' defence left Bergkamp free on the left and Overmars' neat pass found him onside with only the keeper to beat from an acute angle, which the Dutch master did superbly, opening up his body to clip a right foot shot past the keeper and just inside the far post. Overall a good result but not the best of performances from Arsenal. Couldn't really say anyone played badly, but there seemed a general lack of urgency and incisiveness which only Bergkamp rose above consistently.
Seaman 7.5 One good save, but otherwise barely tested.
Vivas 6.5 Not the best of games, and still looks suspect
defensively.
Winterburn 8.0 Thank goodness for Nutty, a great goal which really
got Arsenal going.
Adams 7.0 Seemed strangely uncertain and agitated on occasion
but otherwise did his best to get Arsenal going.
Grimandi 7.5 Another pretty solid game apart from a couple of dire
passes.
Petit 7.0 Struggled worringly with his knee much of the time he
was on.
Parlour 7.5 I thought he had a reasonably good game again in the
middle.
Vieira 7.5 Had a pretty good first half, but perhaps because he
had to play on the left side seemed quieter in the 2nd
Ljungberg 7.0 Busy as usual but couldn't quite make things happen.
Overmars 7.0 Not a bad game, but only seemed consistently
threatening when the sending off gave him extra space
down the left.
Bergkamp 8.5 Another good game maintaining his good form.
Kanu 7.0 A couple of the usual lovely tricks, but generally
struggled to impose himself otherwise.
Suker Did his bit as usual to liven things up.
Henry Also looked quite lively, but his finishing hasn't
improved.
Derek
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