Aston Villa vs Arsenal. CCC semi 2nd leg. 21/02/96

Aston Villa (0) 0 - 0 (0) Arsenal (aet)

Coca Cola Cup, semi-final second leg

Villa Park, Wednesday 21st February 1996

Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Linighan, Morrow, Winterburn, Hillier, 
         Parlour, Merson, Bergkamp, Wright
         Subs: Platt (Winterburn 103), Hughes, Bartram

Villa:   Bosnich, Charles, Southgate, Staunton, Ehiogu, Wright, Draper, 
         Townsend, Taylor, Yorke, Milosevic
         Subs: McGrath (Taylor 33), Scimeca (Staunton 70), Oakes

Result :  Aston Villa          (0) 0   Arsenal                  0 (0)
(After extra time, aggregate 2-2, Villa win on away goals)

Bookings: Scimeca                      Hillier, Parlour, Morrow, Platt 
                                     
Att     : 39334
Referee : K Burge (Tonypandy)

Ultimate disappointment at Villa Park last night in a match which had plenty of tension and excitement and started off brightly, but the longer it went on, the more shapeless and scrappy it became. Arsenal started off well but let Villa back into it towards the end of the first half, and the match was fairly even thereafter till the end of normal time. In extra time Arsenal looked the more knackered and never really looked like scoring the goal they desperately needed.

The "tactical surprise" turned out to be Steve Morrow, drafted into the defence to partner Keown and Linighan as Arsenal mimicked Villa's 3-5-2 formation. The early exchanges were characteristically cautious, and the only time either side came close to a goal was when Draper was allowed to run along the edge of the area and hit a weak shot which Seaman fielded easily.

After that though, Arsenal took a firm grip and dominated the game for the next twenty minutes. Parlour and Bergkamp both had long range efforts which didn't trouble Bosnich, and then Merson went on a superb run down the left, beating 2 or 3 defenders before squaring a cross which unfortunately went just behind Wright. Bergkamp collected the ball wide on the right and was fouled close to the byline, but the free kick was cleared by the Villa defence at full stretch.

Soon after that Arsenal very nearly took the lead. Bergkamp crossed long to the far post from the right, Charles tried to control the ball on his chest but let in Winterburn who blocked his opposite number's attempted clearance and the ball lobbed back into the middle. Merson leapt to head goalwards from just outside the 6-yd box, but Bosnich was equal to it, tipping the header over the bar at full stretch. From the corner Bosnich came for the ball but missed it, and Morrow seemed to have a clear chance but headed wide.

Still Arsenal pressed forward. Dixon intercepted a long pass out of defence by Townsend, carried on and then checked back onto his left foot to swing in a cross which found Wrighty, but his twisting header went wide. Bosnich dropped another Dixon cross under challenge from WWW and Merson had another strong run into the area which was eventually stopped by Charles at the expense of a corner. From that Linighan flicked on at the near post and Keown charging in forced Taylor into a shot on his own goal which was blocked by another Villa player.

Eventually though, midway through the half Villa began to get back into it, sparked by a free kick awarded when Milosevic made an extravagant dive on the edge of the area. Yorke hit it over the wall, but Seaman was well placed and made a comfortable save, tipping the ball over the bar.

A few minutes after that Yorke looked odds on to score, as he turned Linighan near the halfway line and then outpaced him in the race towards goal. As the Tobagan striker raced into the area and bore down on Seaman though, Linighan somehow got back and slid in to snake out a long leg and cleanly win the ball in a superbly timed tackle.

Taylor went off injured just past the half hour. McGrath came on and went into the back three with Staunton moving into midfield. Yorke again came close not long after that. Hillier was outpaced by Townsend down the right, and brought him down with a desperate but needless lunge and was booked. Yorke sneaked onto the near post free kick, but stabbed it a couple of feet wide.

Just before half time he was closer still to a goal. Townsend did well on the left and whipped in a near post cross which Yorke anticipated ahead of the Arsenal defence. Inside the 6-yd box he seemed only to need a touch to score, but mistimed his header and it apparently glanced off his arm to allow Seaman to drop gratefully on the ball.

The second half was largely evenly balanced. Villa possibly had slightly more possession but Arsenal had more chances and came closest to a goal. A few minutes into the half a quick Arsenal break allowed Bergkamp to play a ball through for Wright to run onto. From an angle on the left he got in a shot but Bosnich did well to block. At the other end Yorke escaped his marking to run on into the area, but his shot was well wide.

Bergkamp went on a strong run towards the area and was stopped illegally just outside the area by Southgate. He took the free kick himself and swung it in beyond the far post where Winterburn had stolen in unmarked. Unfortunately it came to him at an awkward height and he could only head it tamely straight at Bosnich. From another Bergkamp cross, Merson got in at the far post to bundle a header goalwards which Bosnich dived across to parry. Merse carried on to collect the loose ball only to have his legs taken away by Ehiogu. Definite penalty from where I stood but the ref waved play on.

At the other end Ehiogu had a reasonable chance with a free header from a free kick but put it over the bar. Soon after that he upended Wrighty on the edge of the box, but with the ball running on to Merson the ref played advantage and Merse was hurried into a shot which went wide. The ref (a "home ref" if ever I saw one) failed to book the Villa defender.

Meanwhile Townsend broke free down Arsenal's right flank and cut into the area, but his shot from an angle sliced wide and out for a throw in. Yorke engineered a good chance for Misalotovic but the Serbian sent his shot horribly over the bar. At the other end, after another good run, Merson crossed for Wright but Bosnich was able to save comfortably from his difficult twisting header.

About 10 minutes from time Merson again combined with Wright following another run down the right. Wrighty was alone in the area surrounded by claret shirts, but controlled Merson's cross and then played it back to Winterburn just outside the area. Nutty took a touch and then hit a shot from 20 yards which clipped the outside of the far post with Bosnich beaten.

As the final seconds of normal time ticked away, Yorke had a good run down the right and fired in a vicious shot which may have been going wide, but Seaman made sure, reacting superbly at his near post to turn it aside for a corner. In injury time, following one last Villa attack it looked from the other end as though the ref had bottled another penalty when Townsend went down just inside the area. However, the TV replay showed that it was a blatant dive by the Villa midfielder.

Extra time was a bit of an anticlimax for the Arsenal fans. Most of the Gunners seemed tired or injured or both. Early in the first extra period Wrighty seemed to be struggling when chasing a pass with McGrath and was holding the back of his thigh afterwards so I would guess he spent most of extra time at least carrying a slight hamstring strain. Bergkamp too was fouled in the 2nd period of extra time and spent several minutes limping.

Anyway Arsenal really only threatened to score on one occasion, in the 1st period. Though that was a beautiful one touch move between Merson, Bergkamp and Wright which moved the ball out to Dixon on the right and he did well to beat his man into the area and pull across a dangerous cross which Bosnich got a touch on which could have gone anywhere, but in fact glanced away for a corner.

Platt came on for a knackered Winterburn (he'd apparently had chicken pox and not trained all week) and spent most of the 17 odd minutes he was on as a 3rd striker, but never looked like getting Arsenal the goal they needed. In fact, at the other end it was Villa were coming closest. Seaman made another good save from Yorke, and McGrath put a good chance into the side netting following a corner. The game ended goalless though, and Villa had won the tie without ever being in front.

The trouble at the end seemed to me to be one or two scuffles at worst, and as others have pointed out, only occurred when the stewards and police allowed a mass pitch invasion by Villa fans which incited a few of the Gooner bad element to retaliate.

Losing a semi-final is always a gut wrencher, and the fact that we lost this one without actually losing made it no easier to accept. I agree with the general opinion that given their current resources, Arsenal did reasonably well, though after their purple patch in the first half failed to produce the goal it deserved, Arsenal's running off the ball got less and less purposeful. I found it so frustrating towards the end that we didn't seem to be getting enough bodies in the box. It seemed to me that Villa were the fitter team, though that's not surprising considering Arsenal started with several players either recently ill or injured, or having played only a handful of first teams games this season.

I thought Linighan had another great game, and as a threesome the defence did pretty well overall. Winterburn strove manfully, but for the most part wasn't really up to the job of wingback, though it has to be said he was involved in Arsenal's best moments, while Dixon did a reasonable job, particularly in the first half.

In midfield, I thought Hillier didn't do too badly, and played one or two nice passes, though he frustratingly gave the ball away too often. Parlour at times looked a bit rusty, but at others did well and could be back to the form he showed before his injury before too long. He was lucky to stay on the pitch though, after a couple of silly fouls late in the 2nd half having earlier been booked. Merson had a pretty good game overall, and it was his strong running with the ball which looked the most likely source of an Arsenal breakthrough.

Wrighty again had one of those games where things weren't quite running for him, and for the most part Southgate kept him pretty quiet. It seemed to me that WWW was intimidated somewhat by his former teammate, and lacked confidence playing against him. Bergkamp showed some nice touches, particularly in normal time, but faded the longer the match went on and never quite reproduced the form he showed in the first leg.

report by Derek Brownjohn

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