Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Bould, Linighan, Winterburn, Selley, Schwarz, Carter, Wright, Dickov Subs: Campbell (Linighan 60), Morrow (Selley 71), Bartram
Leicester: Poole, Blake, Willis, Mohan, Whitlow, Oldfield, Draper, Thompson, Ormondroyd, Walsh, Lowe Subs: Roberts, Gee, Ward
Scorers : Ormondroyd 16, Lowe 28 Wright p19
Bookings: Willis, Mohan, Blake Keown, Selley, Carter, Wright, Schwarz
Att : 20774
Referee : D Elleray (Middlesex)
Well, if it hadn't been for the news from Gothenburg, this would have been a thoroughly depressing evening. Leicester were obviously hyped up and deserve some credit for the way they played, but Arsenal for the most part really were awful. With Adams out, presumably injured, the only real plus point was that Wrighty is back, and extended his scoring sequence to 12 consecutive games.
In Adams' absence Graham obviously decided that to compensate he needed to replace him with two centre halves, so Arsenal started the match with five at the back. Carter presumbaly was told to get down either flank, and in the early part of the match at least, the fullbacks, Dixon in particular, were getting quite far forward. Early on it seemed that fears that Dickov and Wright wouldn't play well together were well founded, when they both went to the near post for a cross from Carter and got in each others' way. However, to be fair, there weren't many other occasions when they noticeably clashed.
To begin with it seemed this might be a typical Arsenal away performance to an inferior team, as the Gunners had most of the early possession. However, it soon started to fall apart. After a quarter of an hour, a cross from the right found the unmarked Ormondroyd in the box. Seaman made a great save diving to his left to push away the header, but Ormondroyd followed up and collected the ball beyond the far post. From an acute angle, I think he tried to pull the ball back into the middle but it deflected off Linighan's shin and went through Seaman's legs into the net.
Joy for the Leicester fans and that familiar sinking feeling for the Gooners. However, it wasn't long before the gloom was lifted a bit. Dickov played a ball through the middle for Wright to run onto. He took it on into the left side of the box, Willis dived in, missed the ball and took away Wrighty's legs. Poole went the right way, but Wright still drove the penalty confidently inside his right hand post.
Some relief for the Arsenal fans, but it only lasted 10 minutes. The disorganised state of Arsenal's defence was shown up by a free kick 15 yards into Arsenal's half. Mohan, I think was picked out totally unmarked in the box on the left, and his header back into the middle was turned past Seaman by a Lowe (and low) header from 6 or 7 yards. Dixon and Keown had a go at each other for leaving Mohan unmarked.
Can't really remember much else of note in the 1st half, apart from several bookings, six I think in the 1st half, an excessive number given that it wasn't a particularly dirty or bad tempered game. Dickov did have a half chance from just inside the box but scuffed his shot straight at the keeper, and there were a couple of other occasions when Leicester might have made more of the general disarray in the Gunners' defence.
The 2nd half picked up much where the 1st left off. The general balance of the side improved a bit when Campbell replaced Linighan and at first went into the left side of midfield, and there was another slight improvement when Morrow replaced the ineffectual Selley. However, defensively things didn't get much better, and there were several occasions when Leicester could have increased their lead. Lowe shot over the bar, and Oldfield I think, missed woefully when well placed.
Arsenal did increase the pressure in the last 10-15 minutes and began to look as though they might nick a goal back. The closest they came though was when Wright, played through down the left by Schwarz, beat Poole only to see his shot come back off the post. Carter, I think, stretching put the rebound wide. Morrow put a 25 yarder a couple of feet over the bar, Dickov had a couple of attempts, one of which the keeper did well to hold.
Carter had a couple of moments late on. Played through into the box down the left, by Campbell I think, and chased by a couple of defenders it looked odds on he'd get a penalty or pull it back into the middle, but was dispossessed by a superb tackle by the Leicester right back, Blake. Then, down the right he did well to cross from the byline deep to the far post, bypassing the keeper, but it was just too high for Campbell, sandwiched by two defenders to get any direction on his header.
All in all, a desperately disappointing performance from Arsenal. The defence was frequently a shambles. Dixon had one of those games where little seems to go right, though Winterburn did reasonably, particularly towards the end. Selley looked out of touch and out of his depth, and Schwarz didn't often get into the match either. Up front Dickov and Wright both worked quite hard, but without getting much service. Arsenal persisted in pumping high balls in their direction which was exceedingly pointless. When Campbell came on, he did at least move into the middle when there were long kicks from the back and get his head to some of them.
After losing to Southampton and Leicester, we can only go out on Saturday and beat United 5-0. Ever the optimist, me. On the other hand, maybe the generosity Mick pointed out will extend to making United feel better. I sincerely hope not.
Derek