Coventry_City (2) 3 - 2 (0) ArsenalHighfield Rd, Sunday 26th December 1999.FA Carling PremiershipPreview
Coventry_City (2) 3 - 2 (0) ArsenalHighfield Rd, Sunday 26th December 1999.FA Carling Premiership
scorers: McAllister 6 Ljungberg 68
Hadji 41
Keane 72
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Adams Keown Winterburn
Ljungberg Petit Grimandi (Suker 60) Overmars
Kanu Henry
In retrospect I guess this was kind of inevitable.
A Coventry side that hadn't scored for ages, an
Arsenal defence back to full strength at last,
Arsenal not having lost to Coventry for ages.
A fated Arsenal loss if ever there was one.
Coventry played really well, especially in midfield where McAllister and Carlton Palmer dominated (with Petit having one of those matches where it looks like the leg strapping makes a difference) and up front where the Belgian Roussell kept beating Keown and Adams in the air, and Keane and Hadji kept causing problems on the ground. Keown in particular looked well short of full power. Coventry were at us virtually from the start. Within the first few minutes Dixon had had to clear a good McAllister cross for a corner, which Petit then had to put out for another. And then Manu made an error on the edge of the box which let McAllister in, but he couldn't get the ball under sufficient control to get a shot off. We had a couple of chances after around 5 minutes. Henry did really well to keep the ball in on the wing, and played an excellent ball inside to Kanu. He passed through to Overmars who used his pace to get clear on Hedman. But he tried to power it low, through the keeper, and it came out off his legs. The ball came to Grimandi who tried to chip Hedman from the edge of the box, but just lobbed it into his arms. A minute later and we were one down. McAllister hit a well struck shot from 25 yards out, and a deflection off Keown caused Seaman to start moving the wrong way, and he ended up rooted to the spot watching the ball go past him on the wrong side. The game continued in the same vein, with action at both ends, breaks going both ways, and, crucially, Coventry putting the ball away better than us. On 16 minutes Petit hit a shot just wide after a good build-up including a great run by Kanu. 5 minutes later Keane evaded an Adams challenge on the left and squeezed a great cross in from nowhere. It came through to Telfer at the far post who, perhaps surprised that it had made it through to him, wasted the chance. Hadji then intercepted a poor attempt at a ball upfield by Adams. It was a dangerous position with 3 on 3 and Arsenal on the back foot, but the Moroccan tried a shot from distance which deflected tamely through to Seaman. The Keane shot wide from an angle. It was a decent chance but credit goes to Keown and Winterburn for closing him down and making it hard. On half an hour Roussell got up beat Keown (again) to the ball, straight from a Hedman clearance. He headed it on towards Keane but Seaman came out sharply to get to it first. The Adams, apparently frustrated at the fact that Roussell was getting the better of him and Keown, rather stupidly pushed the Belgian right under the eyes of the ref and lino, giving away a free-kick. There had been a dangerous looking situation, but Arsenal had just cleared the ball when the foul was committed. On 40 minutes Henry put Kanu in and he could have tried a shot. The cross that he tried looked under-confident, but still Ljungberg could probably have done better if he'd slid in with more conviction. As it was he didn't reach the ball and it fizzed safelyt across the face of goal. The Kanu went on another brilliant run, taking the ball into the box past 3 or 4 defenders. But Froggatt got in a great last-ditch tackle, practically taking the ball off Kanu's boot as he shaped to shoot. And then just as Arsenal's attacks were getting more frequent and it was looking encouraging for the second half, if not the rest of the first, Coventry strung together a sequence of passes finishing with Hadji on the edge of the area. And he made it 2-0 with a great right footed shot which looped into the corner leaving Seaman no chance. We nearly clawed one back at the end of the half thanks to a nice interchange between Henry and Kanu. Receiving from Kanu, Henry passed it straight back to him on the edge of the box. The Nigerian took it into the box, down the left, before slipping it back to Henry who'd advanced to where Kanu had received from him, on the edge of the box. Henry's shot curled between 2 defender's attempted blocks and was heading for the cornere of the net till Hedman got across to pull off a superb save and tip it wide for a corner. The second half started with another Hadji shot from outside the area. This one, along the ground, went just wide (but Seaman may have had it covered). 10 minutes in and a great ball into the box from Kanu put Ljungberg in. He tried to beat Hedman at the near post but could only hit the side netting from a very promising position. Robbie Keane then did well to create some space for himself, but was leaning back as he hit the shot and fired it high. We had a free-kick outside the box which was deflected and fell for Adams by the penalty spot. With back to goal he tried to swivel and shoot but hit it straight at Hedman. Suker came on, and was soon involved in the build-up for our goal. It was a nice build-up too, also involving Henry but ending with a cross chipped in from the right by Petit. Kanu flicked it on for Overmars just left of the penalty spot, and his cushioned header back to the left fell nicely for Ljungberg. From that point it got a bit scrappy as he probably should have scored first time, but Freddie got a couple more bites at it and put it away with his 3rd try. It looked like we might be able to get something out of this after all, but 4 minutes later it was clear that the most we could hope for was a point. Roussel got in for the crucial header into the box and Robbie Keane made it 3-1 with a great strike. 6 yards out, to the sidof the goal and running away from it, he reached up and with the outside of his right boot flicked it across the face of the goal and inside the far post. Henry committed a clear foul and was then booked for kicking the ball away in frustration. Ten minutes to go, and Petit forced another fine save out of Hedman with a free-kick from 25 yards out. Adams had another awkward chance, the ball being headed into the box by Keown but having to reach for it Tone could only turn it over the bar. Up the other end Whelan was on, and he went on a great run finishing with a a cross/shot which flashed across the face of goal. 4 minutes to go and Suker marginally beat the offside trap to get onto a lovely long pass from Petit. He was wide of goal to the left but cut inside first one defender and then another to create the opening, and then curled it beautifully past Hedman. 3-2 and anything was possible. Unfortunately the way Coventry were playing on the break that included another goal for them. Hadji tried one from distance, curling a shot round Keown towards the far post which Seaman could only push out for a corner. At the other end Dixon tried a long-range shot which Hedman couldn't hold. It could have fallen for a red shirt but instead it spun towards a defender who was able to clear for a corner, and that was scrambled away. The game ended with a Henry shot which again Hedman couldn't hold. Suker followed up but was called up for offside. He hit it straight at the keeper anyway. A bad result for Arsenal, and one which puts more pressure on Tuesday's massive game at home to Leeds. We're 8 points behind them now and a loss would doubtless see many people writing our championship hopes off (although ironically, many of those people won't be saying it's Leeds that will beat us). But if we can win it it could really turn things around. Leeds beat Leicester 2-1, but from the highlights they looked pretty irresistable going forward, especially Bowyer and Kewell. On the plus side, they practically begged Leicester to open the scoring with some farcical playing about near their own goal early on. Other reports
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