Chelsea (1) 2 - 2 (0) Arsenal
Stamford Bridge, Wednesday 6th September 2000
FA Carling Premiership
See below for reports by Rupe and Derek, plus a special report from FanZone commentator
Peter Krige.
Preview
- Arsenal team news
Vieira starts his 5 match suspension.
Tony Adams may miss the match, following an injury ("cut ankle"?)
picked up playing for England against France on Saturday.
It is possible
that new signing Igors Stepanovs will play. Another possibility is
Grimandi moving back to partner Keown. This would be a safer option than
giving Igors his debut in such a game, but it's also possible that Wenger would prefer to play Grimandi in midfield. He may be thinking of Grimandi as a
long-term replacement for Petit in that slot, and with Vieira missing he'd
have to find 2 replacement central midfielders if Gilles comes into defence.
According to TeamTalk Gilles is also struggling with an ankle injury,
but I'd rather not think about that just now.
It now seems that Kanu may not be going to the Olympics,
in which case he's a candidate up front. But it may be that Bergkmap will
get the nod, since he won't be travelling to the 1st Champions League game
next week.
And of course the other big question is whether or not our other new signing
Sylvain Wiltord gets to play.
update Wednesday. reports suggest that Stepanovs will get his debut on
Saturday against Bradford, and that either Grimandi or Luzhny will play
in Adams' place tonight. We'd have thought that Grimandi would be better used
in midfield seeing as Vieira is out. Adams will be missing for a couple of
weeks at least. Parlour is back though, which should ease the
midfield worries a bit.
- Chelsea team news
Chelsea will be missing Ed de Goey and Mario Stanic, both of
whom were injured in weekend internationals. Dennis Wise is also
doubtful after limping out of the England match with a knee injury.
New signing Winston Bogarde (whose arrival, together with that of
Stepanovs at Highbury, looks to have screwed things up for Gareth Southgate) could get his debut.
We think that Babayaro will have left for the Olympics already,
but you never know with the NFA.
update Wednesday. Dennis Wise is in the squad, but De Goey and
Stanic are both out. Bogarde is not included as he is recovering from a
slight injury. Le Saux and Ferrer are both included for the first time
this season. Melchiot is in the squad after injury, but is likely to
have to settle for a place on their bench.
- UK TV/Radio coverage
Live on Sky Sports 1
- non-UK TV coverage
- USA: live on Fox Sports World, starting at 3pm EST/12 noon PST
(thanks to Lawrence for the info)
- Australia: live on Fox Sports. Coverage starts 5am,
kick-pff 6am (EST), Thursday 7th September. (thanks to Jamie for
the info)
- For details, and countries not listed above, see the
non-UK TV FAQ
- See also
FanZone special
Thanks to Peter Krige for writing to tell us about his night as a
TV commentator. Peter was lucky enough to be selected to do the Sky Digital
"FanZone" commentary for this match, which meant he got to jeer a
smug Chelsea fan at close quarters when Silvinho's equaliser went in,
and there was nothing they could do about it.
Although you may have caught Peter's South American-style
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" when Silvinho
scored, partly because it was loud enough to be heard without the
aid of a dish, and partly because Sky have used it to trail subsequent
matches, we all know how few people have Sky Digital and can guess at
how few tune in to the FanZone feature. So Peter has sent in some
choice lines which he managed to squeeze in.
- "Le Saux's looking a bit ring-rusty". [sorry Pete, don't get this one, ed]
- "Ed De Goey has taken over from Peter Beardsley as the ugliest man in
British football."
- "Zola is being sounded outfor the role of Galen in the remake of
Planet of the Apes."
- "Torre Andre Flo reminds me of Ian Ormondroyd once of Villa now of
Hartlepool or somewhere like that."
John Motson will be quaking in his sheepskin.
If any other FanZone commentators feel like sharing their experience with a
wider audience than will actually have heard it, please don't hesitate to
get in touch!
Chelsea (1) 2 - 2 (0) Arsenal
Stamford Bridge, Wednesday 6th September 2000
FA Carling Premiership
scorers: Hasslebaink Henry
Zola Silvinho
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon (Bergkamp 70) Keown Luzhny Silvinho
Lauren Parlour (Wiltord 70) Grimandi Pires (Ljungberg 77)
Kanu Henry
Arsenal started with Kanu favoured to Bergkamp upfront,
perhaps in recognition both of his role in last year's
extraordinary win and his dedication to the club shown
with regard to the Olympic games. As predicted, Luzhny
deputised for Adams, allowing Grimandi to stay in central
midfield. He was joined there by Parlour, with Lauren and
Pires on the flanks. It was a line-up with many multi-talented
players, shown later by their ability to adapt.
Henry had an excellent game, giving his international
team-mates Le Boeuf and Desailly all sorts of problems.
In the first few minutes a Le Boeuf miskick went straight to
Henry who tried an early long shot which was reasonably
well-struck but gave the stand-in keeper plenty of time to get down.
A good ball forward from Panucci put Di Matteo clear, and Seaman
did well to come out and clear on the edge of his box. He was helped
somewhat by a clever (but not entirely legal) obstruction that
prevented another blue shirt from making a parallel run forward
which would have made Seaman's decision harder. Moments later Di Matteo
almost got onto a weak Keown back-pass but Seaman again got there
first.
Kanu just failed to make contact with a Pires corner from the left,
right under the crossbar, if he'd got hsi head to it it was a certain goal,
as the keeper came for it behind him (and missed it too).
Grimandi's head did make contact with another Pires corner but it
flew wide of the far post.
On 17 minutes Wise hit a diagonal cross in from our left which Hasselbaink
got a clean head to. He wheeled away to celebrate but Seaman
flung himself down to the left to fist it out for a corner.
Le Boeuf got his head on the corner at the near post but it went high
and safe to the far side of the box.
Silvinho got booked for a sliding late tackle on the impressive Panucci,
over by our corner flag. Le Boeuf's head got to it again - this time a
good chance to score which he got too much on and it went wide of the far
post.
5 minutes later, with half an hour gone, Hasselbaink latched onto a loose
ball caused by Luzhny and Silvinho getting tangled up a few yards outside
our box, and placed a precise low shot inside Seaman's left post.
Having been playing catch-up for most of the half, Arsenal had the better
of it between the goal and half-time.
Kanu lobbed a ball into the box and Lauren went down trying to get
through to it. As the ref went to his pocket it looked like Lauren
was getting booked for diving (which would hardly have been fair
as he made no claim for a penalty and although he wasn't fouled,
there was contact). But it turned out that Mike Riley was booking
Panucci for an earlier infringement.
A nice pass forward from Lauren put Henry on the edge of the box
facing Desailly by the left corner of the box. He turned Desailly
one way then the other, and made an opening for an angled shot
which he dragged wide of the far post, perhaps partly due to
Le Boeuf having managed to get across to help.
Then le Boeuf under-hit a back-pass which which the keeper
just beat Kanu to. Now if it had been Henry...
Henry got a glancing header onto a superb whipped-in cross from
Parlour. You couldn't ask for much more, but it went straight down
the keeper's throat.
Arsenal started the second half better. A high cross to the far post
by Silvinho had to be cleared for a corner by Babayaro as Lauren
waited on the goal-line. Grimandi had another clear header from
the corner which went high.
Lauren chested the ball down on the edge of the D then made a run
wide to the left. Kanu played it out for him and when Lauren played it
square to the penalty spot Kanu turned well and fired towards the
gaping net only to see the rising shot come back off the bar.
10 minutes into the half, Le Saux was booked for a bad challenge on
Dixon, which saw the right back stretchered off the pitch (and
probably led to his substitution). Shortly after, Parlour went in
hard but fair on Le Saux. He managed to keep his feet on the ground
which must have saved him from a yellow card.
On 58 minutes, Grimandi fould Zola a couple of yards inside our half on
our left. Le Boeuf hit the free-kick towards the box where it popped
up for Zola. With Keown bearing down he did brilliantly to hit it
high and early, giving Seaman no chance as it went inside his
left hand post.
10 minutes later, Wenger substitutions as expected, although
perhaps not the specific changes anyone would have predicted.
Never mind choosing which 2 of 4 strikers to play, let's send
them all on! Since we were losing the battle in midfield,
forget the midfield. On came Bergkamp and Wiltord for Dixon and
Parlour. Lauren dropped into the right-back role (where he
did well - a sign of things to come perhaps?) and Kanu dropped
into a deeper role too.
It paid off big time. 15 minutes to go and we were back in
with a chance. Kanu carried the ball across the pitch from
right to left, and passed to Silvinho on the wing. He came
infield playing a 1-2 with Pires before sliding it forward
for Henry to run onto on the left. He waited for the keeper
to commit and slotted the ball low past him inside the far
post. Soon after, Ljungberg came on for Pires.
Hasslebaink was unlucky not to restore their 2-goal lead
with a long shot which came out off the far post, and moments later,
with 4 minutes of the 90 to go, we were at the othjer end. Le Boeuf
got a good tackle in
on Kanu just outside their box only to see the ball roll back
towards Silvinho. He wound himself up as he ran onto it and
hit an incredible swerving shot inside the top left corner.
It could hardly fail to evoke memories of a certain
Winterburn goal here at Stamford Bridge.
A well-earned point from an exciting and hard-fought match,
which failed to live up to its hype. There were a few moments
which could have led to nonsense, but the closest we got to
anything too silly was Parlour's challenge on Le Saux.
Other results saw us slip to 4th in the table, but Chelsea
will probably be beating most teams at Stamford Bridge so
it can't really be seen as anything but a point gained.
report by Rupe.
Result : Chelsea (1) 2 Arsenal (0) 2
Scorers: Hasselbaink 31, Zola 58 Henry 76, Silvinho 86
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Silvinho, luzhny, Keown; Grimandi,
Parlour, Lauren, Pires; Kanu, Henry
Subs: Bergkamp (Dixon 70), Wiltord (Parlour 70),
Ljungberg (Pires 77), Vernazza, Lukic
Booked: Silvinho
Chelsea: Cudicini, Panucci, Babayaro, Leboeuf, Desailly,
Poyet, Wise, Le Saux, Di Matteo, Hasselbaink, Zola
Subs: Melchiot (Poyet 71), Flo (Zola 77),
Morris (Le Saux 80), Hitchcock, Gudjohnsen
Booked: Panucci, Le Saux, Leboeuf
Att: 34923
Ref: Mike Riley (Leeds)
A familiar story at Stamford Bridge, 2-0 down with 15 minutes left,
clawing 2 goals back in the next ten, but alas no last minute winner
this time, though we came close. It was a somewhat better performance
this time too, and I thought we deserved the draw.
The first half was perhaps predictably rather low-key, given the
pre-match build-up, with the media emphasis on violence. Chelsea just
about deserved to edge it, with their forward movement, Zola in
particular, causing the rather sluggish Arsenal defence a few problems.
A Hasselbaink layoff set up Poyet for a 25 yards shot which fizzed just
wide with Seaman struggling to get to it, Seaman was rather quicker
later, coming off his line to smother Di Matteo's shot as he ran clear
onto Poyet's pass, and then Hasselbaink got between Keown & Luzhny to
get his head to Wise's cross. His downward header seemed goalbound till
Seaman pulled off an uncharacteristally sharp save, somehow getting down
to palm it wide. Lebouef then had a free header from a free kick which
he glanced just wide, Desailly behind him would have had an easier
header had Leboeuf left it.
The goal when it came had a certain amount of luck about it though. I
thought it was a foul from Hasselbaink which caused Luzhny to fall into
Silvinho and thus left the Dutchman clear with the ball about 20 yards
out, though admittedly refs rarely give that sort of decision. Anyhow,
it was a superb finish.
Arsenal were rather timid going forward, though they upped the tempo
after the goal. In fact it could be argued we had as many good chances.
Early on Leboeuf miscued a pass straight to Henry who sent in a hasty
effort from 30 yards which Cudicini saved comforatbly, and we had a
couple of equally good chances from corners. First Kanu got in front of the
keeper but failed to get his head to a near post corner from Pires, and
then Grimandi glanced another Pires corner just wide of the far post.
After the goal, Henry raced onto a Lauren pass and twisted and turned
Desailly before dragging an angled shot wide of the far post, and then
Parlour dinked in a lovely little cross which Henry glanced goalwards,
which would surely have beaten the keeper had it gone anywhere other
than straight at him.
The Gunners started the second half with much more purpose. Another
Pires corner picked out Grimandi early on, but he sent the free header
over the bar from just outside the 6yd box. We came closer yet to an
equaliser when Lauren combined well with Kanu, and his return cross, low
into the area found the Nigerian again. A typically brilliant turn made
space for a shot on the turn which agonisingly crashed against the angle
of post and upright.
However, the momentum Arsenal had built up was lost soon afterwards when
Le Saux went in on Dixon with an ugly challenge. Looked like an
automatic red card, but he was fortunate to get away with a yellow. With
Gary Lewin and the stretcher bearers gingerly lifting Dixon onto the
stretcher with the help of a leg splint, it looked like a broken leg,
but after extensive treatment Dixon did return. Chelsea however took
advantage of the break in Arsenal's concentration, and Poyet neatly
chested down Leboeuf's free kick to give Zola a chance from the edge of
the area which he too finished brilliantly.
For a while Arsenal struggled to get back into their stride, Keown
misheaded a long ball forward to gift it to Hasselbaink who failed to
take advantage, and then a lovely curling cross from Zola on the right
caused panic in the Arsenal area, but it narrowly evaded Poyet, Keown
and Luzhny in the middle.
However, with 20 minutes left Wenger gambled and brought on Bergkamp and
Wiltord for Dixon and Parlour, and the match swung Arsenal's way again.
A somewhat unorthodox formation, a sort of 4-2-2-2, Lauren going to
right back, Kanu joining Grimandi in midfield, Bergkamp and Pires roving
between them and Henry & Wiltord up front.
Fortunately it worked, and 5 minutes later Arsenal pulled one back with
a beautifully worked goal. Kanu carried the ball across midfield,
Grimandi helped it on to Silvinho on the left, he flicked it over a
defender to Bergkamp a few yards outside the area and carried on to
collect the Dutchman's chested return, slipping a first time pass
through into Henry's path to leave him clear. The striker cooly slotted
a right foot shot past the keeper and just inside the far post.
If Kanu hitting the woodwork had earlier seemed to be a turning point in
Chelsea's favour, so Hasselbaink hitting the post at the other end was
the turning point with just over 5 minutes left. Hasselbaink picked up
the ball in space just outside the area and had time to pick his spot
and curl the ball round Seaman. Fortunately it cannoned off the outside
of the post, and a minute later Arsenal had equalised. Kanu attempted to
dribble along the edge of the area, the ball ran loose off Leboeuf's
challenge to Silvinho as he charged in. The ball swerved outrageously as
his left foot shot whistled into the near top corner. The keeper had no
chance even though he was well positioned at the near post.
Arsenal could have nicked it at the end too, first when Grimandi hacked
a ball out of defence to find Bergkamp on the halfway line with Henry in
the middle and only one defender covering. 2 on 1, and an almost certain
goal, but the ref pulled play back to give Arsenal a free kick and book
Leboeuf for following through on Grinandi. And then when Bergkamp
hassled Leboeuf and stole the ball albeit with the possible use of his
arm, and squared it for Henry running in, but this time his attempt to
pick his spot with a sidefoot shot from 20 yards sailed over the bar.
All in all a fairly satisfying result, even if the defence struggled at
times, and the midfield clearly missed Vieira.
Seaman 7.5 A couple of great saves, though apart from watching the
ball sail alarmingly across his 6 yard area a few
times, had little else to do.
Dixon 6.5 Looked very uncomfortable early on, but as ever plugged
away.
Silvinho 8.0 Made one, scored a screamer, and otherwise got forward
to good effect. I did think he let Zola go for their
2nd goal though.
Keown 7.0 Still looking a little bit twitchy I think, but as
determined as ever.
Luzhny 7.0 Did as well as could be expected, though both he and
Keown had trouble dealing with Hasselbaink's
muscular presence, and Zola's elusive one.
Grimandi 7.0 Also did reasonably well at the limited job of
covering and tackling in midfield.
Parlour 8.0 I thought he had a pretty good game overall and was
comfortably our best player while he was on, certainly
in the first half.
Lauren 7.0 One or two nice runs, some good first time quick passes
but somewhat ephemeral at times.
Pires 7.5 Looked a bit off the pace in the first half but got
better, played some clever passes and had a good 2nd
half. His corners are consistently accurate too.
Kanu 7.5 Was dominated by Desailly in the first half, but had
a good second half, with the usual nice touches and
shuffles, and even got stuck in quite well.
Henry 7.5 Good running and constantly looking for space as usual,
and another good finish.
Bergkamp Still looks slightly off his game, fell over the ball
a couple of times, but his attitude and presence helped
the comeback.
Wiltord Didn't see a great deal of the ball, but it was nice
to see him attacking the box when the ball was out
wide, and following shots in.
Ljungberg Hustled and bustled as usual.
Derek
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