Arsenal (0) 2 - 0 (0)Highbury, Saturday Match 8th 1997FA Carling PremiershipScorers: Bergkamp 2 (1 pen) Arsenal: Lukic Dixon Winterburn Adams Keown Marshall Vieira Platt Hughes (Morrow) Bergkamp Merson Arsenal bookings: Admas MarshallA fairly easy one this, with 9 of Arsenal's shots on goal being on target cmpared to just 0 of Forest's 3. Evryone had a decent game for us, with Merson's final ball being th eonly disappointment. Bergkamp and Vieira were at their best, the youngsters Hughes and Marshall looked confident again. The singing of "d the resurrection of "we all live in a [David Platt] world" may have been ironic but he really was all over th eplace and was unlucky not to score a couple. In the first half he did a particularly nice bit of close control in the box but couldn't find the accuracy with his shot to place it past Crossley. The first goal came from a through ball by Vieira which Bergkamp took into the right hand side of the box and stroked past the keeper from a narrow angle. The second from a penalty after Dennis had forced his way through a couple of defenders. One of them went down and, thinking he'd been fouled, reached out for the ball with his hand, right under referee Mike Reed's nose. Sunderland did us a favour beating Man Utd 2-1, and our win leaves us second with Liverpool and Newcastle to play each other. Anelka didn't play because of an ankle injury. Report by Rupe
FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Sat Mar 8th 1997
Result : Arsenal (0) 2 Forest (0) 0
Scorers: Bergkamp 50, 79 pen
Arsenal: Lukic, Dixon, Marshall, Adams, Keown, Winterburn, Platt,
Vieira, Hughes, Merson, Bergkamp
Subs: Morrow (Hughes 81), Rose, Shaw, Rankin, Harper
Booked: Adams, Marshall, Hughes
Forest: Crossley, Lyttle, Pearce, Cooper, Chettle, Phillips, Gemmill,
Saunders, Jerkan, Haaland, Clough
Subs: Guinan (Jerkan 67), Roy (Clough 73),
McGregor, Armstrong, Fettis
Booked: Gemmill, Clough, Cooper, Jerkan, Haaland
Att: 38206
Ref: M D Reed (Birmingham)
Following a somewhat frustrating first half against a Forest team that
had come basically to defend, in the end a comfortable victory for the
Gunners. Lacking Wright, Parlour and Bould through suspension, but with
Adams and Merson back following injury, the win was inspired in the main
by Arsenal's two foreign stars, Bergkamp and Vieira.
Forest's intentions were fairly clear from the off, with Saunders on his own up front, and Pearce as one of three centre backs. With the help of some good saves from Crossley, in the first half at least these tactics worked as Arsenal struggled to find a way through. The first real chance came when Vieira played Dixon in down the right, the latter's cross was overhit but retrieved on the left by Bergkamp. The Iceman turned back towards the area, teased a defender before cutting onto his right foot in top corner of the area and whipping in a shot which was curling into the far bottom corner before Crossley plunged across to palm it away. The rebound just eluded Platt following up in the middle. Bergkamp was again causing problems down the left soon afterwards. He turned brilliantly onto a ball into the area from Vieira, and held it up tight on the byline just outside the 6yd area. However, Crossley was equal to his attempt to play the ball along the 6yd line for the inrushing Merson and Dixon, and did well to hold on to the ball. It was Platt's turn next to extend the keeper. Following some good work near the left hand corner flag by Hughes, Winterburn played the ball back to Vieira who in turn knocked a perceptive ball forward into the area towards Platt. With his back to goal, Platt did well to chest the ball down and turn on it to volley in a shot from 15 yards. Crossley made a bit of a meal of the save, having to parry the ball as it bounced just in front of his dive, before collecting it safely. He made his best save of the half soon after that though. Jerkan yet again jerked back on Bergkamp's shirt just outside the area. Merson touched the free kick to Hughes who hit a wicked shot which Crossley had to stretch to and tip over the bar. In between times, Forest did actually get the ball in the net at the other end, following virtually their only attack of note in the half. Haaland played through in the area, but the whistle had already gone for offside by the time he put the ball past Lukic. As the half drew to a close, Arsenal possibly should have had a penalty. Bergkamp again turned well on a ball into the left side of the area from Winterburn. Jerkan first appeared to have both his arms round Bergkamp's waist, then definitely tugged back on his shirt, but the ref merely awarded a corner. From this Merson then missed the best chance of the half. Bergkamp's corner kick was half cleared to Platt as he lurked on the edge of the area. He mishit his attempt at a first time volley, but the ball bounced through the area, Adams attempted to get his head to it and it spun loose to Merson all on his own in the middle of goal about 8 yards out. It was on his left foot and he hit it on the turn, but it went straight at Crossley who gratefully held on to it. Fortunately for Highbury's peace of mind, it only took 5 minutes of the 2nd half for Arsenal to take the lead. Marshall found Vieira in space a few yards inside the Forest half, and the young Frenchman surged towards the area before playing a perfectly weighted and placed pass into Bergkamp's path as he made a diagonal run across the area. The Dutch master ran onto the ball and from an angle on the left, hit a first time left foot shot, which though slightly scuffed was perfectly placed beyond Crossley and inside the far post. Soon after that the ground was thrilled by a superb exhibition of wing play by none other than Martin Keown. He exchanged passes delightfully with Dixon, which sent him clear down the right. He had time to look up before pulling the ball back and picking out Platt as he made a run into the area. Alas, Platt's shot was not up to the standard of play which preceded it and was wafted over the bar from 15 yards. Platt and Keown were again involved in the next near-goal incident. Platt combined well with Hughes as the latter won a corner, and Bergkamp's resulting far post corner was nodded firmly down by Keown only to see a combination of Crossley and Phillips, guarding the post, clear it off the line. Forest eventually made some sort of effort to attack, bringing on a Guinan and Roy, for Jerkan and Clough. However, this inevitably left spaces at the back for Arsenal to exploit, which they nearly did superbly when Merson carried a ball out of his own area before playing it out to Bergkamp near the half way line. The Dutchman turned on it and released a brilliant early pass to allow Hughes to beat the offside trap as he ran clear from half way. The young midfielder probably had too much time to think about it and Crossley was able to make a sharp save from his attempt to slot the ball inside the near post. Soon afterwards though his blushes were saved as Arsenal made the game safe with the second goal from the penalty spot. Winterburn took a quick throw in on the left to try and play Bergkamp in near the corner flag. He won a battle with Gemmill for the ball, and then challenged Haaland just inside the area as it ran loose. For some reason the Norwegian scooped the the ball out of Bergkamp's path with his hands - he seemed to claim he'd heard a whistle, but as the ref hadn't blown, he had no choice but to do so now and award a penalty. Bergkamp sent Crossley one way and stroked the ball into the opposite corner with characteristic aplomb. It should have been three soon after that. Merson set off on a run from inside his own half, Bergkamp stood aside to let him through, as did the nonplussed Forest defence, and the Magic man ran on to strike a shot from just outside the area which Crossley brilliantly tipped round the post. From the other end of the ground it was clearly a corner, but Mike Reed thought otherwise and stuck to his decision even as the replays on the big screens clearly showed the keeper getting a touch. After himself reigniting the 4th official/video replay debate one wonders why the ref couldn't have taken advantage of it on this occasion to change his mind. All in all a pretty comfortable win for the Gunners, and generally a satisfactory performance all round. It is true though that Forest were pretty poor and never looked like scoring though I thought they defended quite well. The only real scare I can remember in the Arsenal goal was right near the end when there was a bit of panic in the area following a free kick, and Keown I think cleared a ball which was bouncing dangerously close to the line. Saunder did sell Adams one outrageous dummy which sent him clear down the left, but spoilt it with a wildly overhit cross. Otherwise the Arsenal defence was virtually completely unruffled.
Lukic 7.0 I don't think he had a shot to save, and can otherwise
recall only one punch clear from a cross.
Dixon 7.0 Reasonably competent game.
Winterburn 7.0 Seemed to be doing even more Nutty chasing of opponents
and the ball than usual.
Adams 7.0 Commanding as usual though little to do.
Keown 7.5 The most adventurous of the back 3, and unusually
competent with it.
Marshall 7.0 Again looked solid and composed.
Platt 6.5 Had a good first half, but then saw less of him in the
2nd - perhaps it was because he needed to do less with
Vieira covering enough ground for the entire midfield.
Vieira 8.0 Back to his best once again. Seemed to be everywhere,
particularly in the 2nd half.
Hughes 6.5 Also had a good 1st half, but faded slightly in the 2nd.
Bergkamp 8.0 Class on grass - perhaps not his technically most
brilliant performance, but certainly one of his most
consistently committed and hard working ones.
Merson 6.5 Looked slightly hampered by injury perhaps, and still
not back to his best, but better than recently.
Report by Derek Brownjohn
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