Arsenal (2) 3 - 2 (2)Highbury. Sunday 9th November 1997FA Carling PremiershipPreview
Arsenal (2) 3 - 2 (2) Manchester United
scorers: Anelka 7 Sheringham 33, 41
Vieira 27
Platt 83
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Adams Grimandi Winterburn
Parlour Platt Vieira (Bould) Overmars
Wright Anelka (Wreh)
booked: Platt, Wright
Arsenal started superbly and were all over United for a while. Parlour
and Overmars were both playing well going forward, giving us more width
on both sides than we've seen for some time. Parlour had arguably his
best game in an Arsenal shirt, tackling back and chasing around with
maximum enthusiasm. He was porbably man of the match and made up for
his recent drop in form.
The first goal came from an Overmars run and shot, which was blocked on the edge of the area. The ball spun loose to our left and Anelka collected it, cut back inside, and drove the ball home through a crowd just inside the near side of the goal. Schmeichel might be disappointed to have been beaten at that post, but he may have been unsighted. 20 minutes later Overmars forced a corner by chasing a ball over the top. He made several good runs and used the ball well, helping the team forget the absence of Bergkamp. The corner was headed out our right hand side, and Vieira came out to get it. Havng seen him refuse shooting chances so often, it came as something of a shock when he unleashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net right over Schmeichel. Arsenal started the match pressing United hard and fast when they got the ball, but as things went on we started giving them much more space, and in the last 10 or so minutes of the half they got right back inot it. It saddens me to say that Sheringham got them both. The first was a free header from good cross from their right. He found space right between the two centrebacks, one or both of whom must feel somewhat responsible. Their was less we could do about the second, a snatched shot from outside the area following a quick and well worked break by United. Schmeichel stopped at one point just before the half ended, and appeared to have been hit by a missile from the crowd. He had, of course, been getting plenty of stick through throughout. But this is right out of order. I heard afterwards that Winterburn had also been struck by something when taking a corner down by the away fans. Alex Fergusoin has, according to Ceefax, been berating the ref Mike Bodenham for not giving a penalty in the first half when Winterburn tripped Scholes, but I didn't see it from the Clock End. Palliste went off no a stretcher, some sort of back problem apparently. Let's hope he's ok, but has to miss the rest of the season anyway, if you know what I mean. Arsenal came back on with Bould replacing Vieira and going into a back five. Presumably Vieira was injured, because he seemed to be playing alright. But if it was tactical, it was still a good decision, because Arsenal went on to have the best of the second half. Later on Wreh came on for Anelka, who had done better than previously - not just because of the goal. The winner didn't come till there was less than 10 minutes to go and saw Platt meet a corner from our left with a header that went into the net just inside the top corner. There was a nervy few minutes to foloow, but it was Arsenal who created the better chances. Wright hadn't had many good balls to play with, but created a gilt-edged opportunity for Wreh. Wright beat his man on the right wing and brought the ball along the goal-line before cutting it back to Wreh who shot wide past the far post. Some seemed to think Wright had a poor game, but it seemd to me that he tried hard and had a lot of nothing balls to fight for. The most disappointing aspect of his play remains the lack of patience he shows towards Anelka. When Wright is in the clear and the pass is easy then I guess it's right to have a go for not passing, but in the positions he was shooting fromn today I thought encouragement might be more in order. This puts us back into second in the table, and is extremely encouraging given our absences. Soon we'll have Bergkamp Petit and Keown back, and with Overmars's return and continued improvement from the youngsters I think the championship potential doesn't look so bad again. Let's hope Vieira isn't out for long. Gerry Francis is said to be "considering his position" but fortunately Alan Sugar has responded by saying that Francis is his man. Splendid. Spurs are now 1 point away from the relegation zone, with 2 of the teams that are 1 point behind having a game in hand. According to AFCi the official site, Vieira twisted ligaments in scoring, and could be out for a month. Check out AFCi and the Other Arsenal sites A Comprehensive list of links to other reports will be here shortly. You can download mpeg movies of the goals from Gustav Nygren's page.
FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal vs Manchester United Sun Nov 9 1997
Result : Arsenal (2) 3 Manchester United (2) 2
Scorers: Anelka 7, Vieira 27, Sheringham 33,41
Platt 83
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Grimandi, Adams; Vieira, Platt,
Parlour, Overmars; Anelka, Wright
Subs: Bould (Vieira h-t), Wreh (Anelka 79), Boa Morte,
Hughes, Manninger
Booked: Platt, Wright
Man United: Schmeichel, G Neville, P Neville, Pallister, Berg,
Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Scholes, Cole, Sheringham
Subs: Johnsen (Pallister 38), Solskjaer (Giggs 71),
McClair, Poborsky, Van Der Gouw
Booked: P Neville, Scholes
Att: 38205
Ref: M J Bodenham (East Looe)
As we all knew they would, with the odds stacked against them, Arsenal
pulled out the stops and produced a committed and compelling performance
which in the end Manchester United had no answer to. Missing arguably
their best two players of this season, and deprived by injury of their
most influential midfielder after halftime, the Gunners reorganised, dug
deep and came back from the shock of seeing a two goal lead erased to
snatch a late winner.
The team news held a couple of surprises. Firstly Overmars was back, and secondly Grimandi was preferred to Bould in defence, presumably because Wenger thought he was better equiped to cope with Cole's speed. Which also presumbaly meant that Wenger had ignored Man United's pre-match propaganda which suggested that Cole wasn't fit. As expected the match started at a fast pace, though the first few minutes produced little in the way of real opportunities at either end. A Cole flick might have put Butt in for an attempt but Adams had picked up his run through the defence and the midfielder sliced his attempted volley. At the other end Parlour went on a run down the right which ended when Phil Neville brought him down in the area. The Clock End screamed for a penalty but the ref ruled that Neville had got the ball. Overmars then came into the game, first being upset by 3 successive rough challenges which went unpunished, and then going on a couple of good runs down the left. The first Gary Neville just managed to stop, but on the second Overmars collected a Wright knock down, and raced forward to the edge of the area, cut onto his right foot before firing in a shot which was blocked. Anelka picked up the rebound, turned back into the area and checked onto his right foot before striking a beautifully hit shot which beat Schmeichel all ends up at his near post. A couple of minutes later and it might have been two. Wright picked up a loose ball on the half way line and released Anelka with an early pass. The young Frenchman's pace took him away from a couple of defenders, but he chose to hit an early shot from the edge of the area, didn't quite get hold of it and Schmeichel was able to make a fairly comfortable save, diving to his right. United began to press a bit more now, but apart from a snap 25 yarder from Sheringham which he hit straight at Seaman they didn't make much impression on the Arsenal defence, and it was the home side who again created the next decent chance. Parlour broke superbly down the right, winning a 50-50 challenge with Phil Neville on the half way line before taking the ball on towards the United area. He slipped to ball to Wrighty on his inside and the striker drifted past a challenge on the edge of the area before hitting a left foot shot from 20 yards. It took a deflection so Schmeichel had to make a great save, plunging to his right. He couldn't hold it though, Platt picked up the rebound and touched it back to Anelka unmarked about 12 yards out. It was from an angle though and on his weaker left foot he lifted his shot high over the bar. Soon afterwards Arsenal did go two up. Parlour curled a left wing corner in towards the near post and it glanced off a combination of Adams and Berg. Vieira had to turn away from goal to retrieve the ball, but he somehow managed to get his foot round the ball to fire in a tremendous shot from the edge of the area which curved beautfully over Schmeichel's head and into the net off the underside of the bar. The keeper could only wave disconsolately as the ball whistled past. The rest of the half was dominated by the visitors' slick passing, but the only time Arsenal's defence cracked they were punished. First Gary Neville chipped in a cross from the right, and Sheringham found space between Grimandi and Dixon to nod past Seaman from just outside the 6yd box. Pallister then then had to go off after twisting his back and Vieira also needed treatment to a knee injury which I suspect he sustained during his goal celebration. A few minutes later United were level. Butt headed a loose ball forward and Giggs flicked forward beautifully for Sheringham. He turned on the ball, swung his left foot rather hopefully at it but connected perfectly to send a shot past Seaman and into the far corner from 20 yards. Bit of a shocker to see a two goal lead pulled back, but Arsenal did come back into it in the final few minutes of the half. A couple of corners caused United problems, including one which went straight through the 6yd box and out for a goal kick the other side. From the other end it looked as though Wright had missed a good chance at the back post, but the TV replay clearly showed Gary Neville putting his arms round Wrighty and ushering him out of the path of the ball. In injury time at the other end, United also might have had a penalty when Scholes turned past Winterburn before going down under his challenge. Big sigh of relief as the ref waved play on. The final seconds of the half were marred as Arsenal took a corner. First Winterburn and then Schmeichel appeared to be hit by objects thrown from the crowd. Vieira's injury forced his substitution at half time and Wenger took the opportunity to rearrange tactically, bringing on Bould as a 3rd centre half. Dixon and Winterburn pushed further forward, Parlour moved into the middle to partner Platt and Anelka moved a bit wider on the right so that Arsenal were playing a sort of 3-4-3. The change worked well for Arsenal, in that it prevented the visitors from making any sort of impression on Seaman's goal, but it also served to make the second half much less open than the first. United had a lot of possession but did very little with it, while Arsenal did look slightly more dangerous on the occasions that they got forward. Anelka and Parlour both bothered Schmeichel with long range efforts, but the nearest we came to a goal prior to the final 10 minutes was when Overmars, I think, chipped the ball forward to Wright as he made a run just inside the area. WWW controlled the ball with his right foot and hit a volley with his left with looped over Schmeichel but also just cleared the bar and dropped onto the roof of the net. 10 minutes from time Wenger replaced Anelka with Wreh, which seemed a slightly strange decision, but in the end was the catalyst for the winning goal. Parlour won the ball in his own half, produced a lovely turn before striding towards the half way line and hitting an early pass for Wright to chase down the right wing. WWW's run beat the offside trap and he ran clear down the right and cut in before pulling the ball back towards the unmarked Wreh in the middle, with Overmars equally well placed behind him. Wreh stabbed a left foot shot goalwards which took a wicked deflection off Gary Neville. With Schmeichel going the wrong way for the original shot it looked a goal, but somehow he reached up and clawed the ball away and Neville cleared for a corner. Winterburn took it from the right and found the head of Platt, gloriously soaring above the heads of the United defence to send a superb header looping into the far top corner and Highbury into pandemonious delight. It set up a nervous final few minutes as United pressed desperately for a winner, but apart from one half chance when Solskjaer hit a volley straight at Seaman they didn't seriously threaten to score. In contrast at the other end Arsenal should have made it four. Wrighty again did superbly on the right wing, turning past Johnsen and skipping round the defender along the byline before laying the ball back to Wreh. From the corner of the 6yd box he had only Schmeichel to beat but somehow scuffed his shot wide of the far post. All in all a highly satisfactory performance and result. I was sad (or happy) enough to watch a recording of the match as soon as I got home, and what struck me afterwards was that for all Man U's possession in the 2nd half they didn't produce a single decent chance. Even in the first half, when admittedly they looked a bit more dangerous, apart from the goals they were restricted to a couple of long range efforts which Seaman saved comfortably. Most refs might have given a penalty for Nutty's challenge on Scholes but I reckon he tried to pull out of it and Scholes prejudiced his case by appealing before he'd even hit the deck. I'd have booked him for diving myself, and Arsenal had an equally good shout for a penalty earlier.
Seaman 7.5 Little chance with either goal, and competently dealt
with the few other shots he had to save.
Winterburn 7.5 Much the sort of performance you'd expect in this sort
of match from the old trooper.
Dixon 7.5 Also a typical battling game, despite nearly having his
shin broken by a nasty Cole challenge. Couldn't see a
great deal of difference between that and the one in
Rotterdam there was so much fuss about.
Adams 8.0 Storming game again, won everything in the 2nd half.
Bould 7.5 Imperious in the air and gave that extra bit of
stability when it was needed in the 2nd half.
Grimandi 7.5 Possibly at fault for the first goal, but I thought
otherwise he had a good game, mostly marking Cole and
keeping him reasonably quiet.
Vieira 7.5 Another composed and solid game capped by an astonishing
goal.
Parlour 8.5 Quite superb, possibly the best game I've seen him have.
Not just work rate and effort but also some lovely turns
and flicks.
Platt 8.0 Also had a great game overall, and for that goal I'll
always love him.
Overmars 7.5 One or two good runs, and he does seem to make that
difference, be it real or talismanic.
Wright 7.5 Rather quiet for most of the game, but had a brilliant
final 10 minutes.
Anelka 7.5 Some nice runs with the ball, though I think his running
off the ball needs some work. Worth a bit extra for a
great opening goal though.
Wreh Unfortunate that he missed an absolute sitter, but
otherwise looked reasonably promising particularly
receiving the ball with his back to goal.
Derek
Other reports
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