(1) 3 - 1 (0) Arsenal (4-2 on agg)Stamford Bridge, Wednesday 18th February 1998Coca-Cola Cup semi-final second legPreview
(1) 3 - 1 (0) Arsenal (4-2 on agg)Stamford Bridge, Wednesday 18th February 1998Coca-Cola Cup semi-final second legI didn't even get to watch this properly on the telly so I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a proper report. I'm sure it won't be long till Derek has a report on site. Meanwhile, Ian's ANR report is up.Arsenal fielded a stronger side than expected, but perhaps Bergkamp and Parlour weren't fully fit. Chelsea beat us with 3 pretty good goals, especially Di Matteo's second from 75 yards. Arsenal clung on at 3-0 down and a miracle looked possible when we had a penalty given for handball (looked very dodgy to me). But even a second would have required us to hang on for extra-time with 10 men, Vieira having walked early in the second half.
Oh well, just have to concentrate on the league and cup double now.
Maybe it's for the best. In the other semi, Paul Merson's Boro caused a shock
beating Liverpool 2-0, setting up a repeat of last season's
FA Cup final.
Arsenal vs Chelsea Wed Feb 18 1998
Result : Chelsea (1) 3 Arsenal (0) 1
Chelsea win 4-3 on aggregate
Scorers: Hughes 10, Di Matteo 51, Bergkamp pen 82
Petrescu 53
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Grimandi, Adams; Vieira, Petit,
Parlour, Overmars; Bergkamp, Anelka
Subs: Platt (Parlour 45), S Hughes (Winterburn 71), Lukic
Booked: Dixon, Parlour, Vieira, Adams, Petit
Chelsea: De Goey, Petrescu, Leboeuf, Clarke, Duberry, Le Saux,
Di Matteo, Wise, Vialli, M Hughes, Zola.
Subs: Newton (Vialli 80), Hitchcock, Flo
Booked: Hughes, Clarke, Duberry, Wise.
Att: 34330
Ref: G Poll (Tring)
Afraid I'm too pissed off to attempt the usual match report, and my
emotionally traumatised state of mind leads me to offer the following
observations and comments. Please bear in mind that objectivity and a
balanced view point are phrases which hold little meaning for me at the
moment.
Arsenal were crap last night, but Chelsea were little better even given the advantage of having one extra man in the 1st half and two in the 2nd. However, over the two ties it was Arsenal who deserved to win on the strength of their first leg performance. Chelsea are merely spawny bastards. Their first goal came from a lucky roll of the ball outside the Arsenal area and their second shouldn't have stood because immediately prior to it Hughes fouled Platt. And it was also lucky because Di Matteo will only hit one goal like that, err, per season. The third goal was due to shite defending. Hughes should have been sent off in the first 5 minutes, and Wise soon afterwards. Duberry should also have been sent off - the penalty was given for deliberate handball which is a mandatory yellow card, and he'd already been booked. Petrescu should also have been booked for that dying swan act in the penalty area in the 1st half. Vieira's first booking wasn't even a foul. The second might have been, but as it was only on Le Saux shouldn't really have counted. Similarly Parlour's booking for a foul on Wise was unjustified. You don't try a man for murder because he's accidentally squashed an insect after all. I find myself unable to resist giving the usual ratings. Think it's become something of an addiction, maybe some cold turkey is needed.
Manninger 6.5 Made one good save late in the game from Di Matteo, but
can't recall him needing to do much else, apart from
picking the ball out of the net. No chance with any of
the goals.
Winterburn 6.5 The usual limited but gutsy peformance.
Dixon 5.5 As crap as his recent norm, though did keep trying
particularly towards the end.
Grimandi 7.0 Reasonably competent again.
Adams 7.5 Pretty much what we'd expect, chasing a losing cause.
Vieira 6.0 Played reasonably well, but a really silly (though
I thought innocuous) deliberate trip, after he'd
already been booked.
Petit 7.0 Also committed and determined.
Parlour 6.0 Again looked hampered by injury.
Overmars 6.0 Disappointing, did quite a lot of chasing but little
creating.
Bergkamp 6.0 Again looked off key whether due to injury or not.
Anelka 5.0 Previously I've been tempted to buy Bernard a piece of
cod to go with the bag of chips he's got on his shoulder
but last night I was forced to agree that he just wasn't
trying or up to it. Although I feel obliged to point out
that it was his quick pass which released Bergkamp for
the penalty incident, and it was a decent shot which
hit the crossbar in the 1st half, and I don't think he
was offside.
Platt 6.0 Ran around a lot and at least looked like he was trying.
Hughes Also tried a bit after he came on.
For those who were hoping to see a more detailed and verbose report,
I've appended the most accurate and objective one I've found on the Web,
on the Sporting Life site.
Derek By Martin Lipton, PA Sport Chief Soccer Writer Perhaps they should sack the manager every week if this is the response. Luca Vialli stepped into Ruud Gullit's shoes for the battle of Stamford Bridge and instantly broke the mould of Chelsea history. In the 85 years since the Gunners moved north of the river from Woolwich, the Blues had never beaten them in a cup tie. But last night, as overheated tempers raged without ever a sign of calming down, that bogey was laid in emphatic style, the Vialli era beginning in the most memorable of fashions as they went through to the Coca-Cola Cup final. With referee Graham Poll the busiest man of the night, booking nine, sending off Patrick Vieira and letting as much go unpunished, Chelsea managed to play what little football was possible. Mark Hughes, five times a Wembley winner with Manchester United and the Blues, took just 10 minutes to level the scores on aggregate from the only on-target shot of a frighteningly brutal first half. Then after Vieira had seen red for a debatable foul on Graeme Le Saux, Arsenal went to pieces as Chelsea - having waited 25 years for a Wembley final - reached the Twin Towers for the second time in 10 months. Vialli's fellow Italian Roberto Di Matteo, who had put Gullit's side on the road to FA Cup glory last May, crashed home a pile-driver second as Arsene Wenger's men lost the plot. Three minutes later, Dan Petrescu stuck the fatal blow into the Highbury outfit as they collectively went missing defensively. From that point on, even if the few cool heads on display were vastly outnumbered, there was nothing stopping a glory night for the new King of the Bridge. The reaction as Vialli took himself with nine minutes left told the story of the astonishing last week, Gullit and all his achievements forgotten. A foolish handball by Duberry allowed Dennis Bergkamp to slide home from the spot straightaway, hope anew in Highbury hearts. But there was to be no dramatic finale, no devastating twist at the end of a week of the barely credible, as Chelsea claimed their March 29 date. At the end Vialli rose off the bench in triumph, hugged by Graham Rix, Kevin Hitchcock, and anybody else who could get close before joining the triumphant parade, his name reverberating. A hero as ever, Vialli left as he had entered, his warm welcome from the Stamford Bridge faithful one thing guaranteed, but even more certain was the nastiness of the affair. The previous three meetings this term had brought 17 yellow cards and one red, with so much bad blood spilled you might have thought Sam Peckinpah was the director of proceedings. Add to that explosive mixture Mr Poll, who had booked eight and sent off two Leeds men on his last match here, and the night was ready to go off. It did, Hughes starting as he meant to go on - and setting the tone - with three late lunges inside the first four minutes. Tony Adams, Gilles Grimandi and Vieira were the trio in the firing line, and the third did bring the deserved booking. Hughes' actions had the desired effect of firing the Gunners up as well, tackles flying in from all directions with the ball often not even in the vicinity. It meant there was precious little football being played, but from the one meaningful moment, in the 10th minute, Chelsea levelled the tie. Lee Dixon had been cautioned for a foul on Zola - playing alongside the new player-boss just behind Hughes - and the Sardinian got up to take the free-kick. The ball was half-cleared, Vialli left it to Di Matteo, and although his efforts to dribble through were blocked, Hughes turned on a sixpence to rifle past a startled Alex Manninger. Chelsea were exultant, but what followed bared little resemblance to football. Wenger described the first meeting this term as "really vicious" and this was from the same catalogue, foul upon foul which saw the trainers constantly called on and Mr Poll almost out of breath. Bergkamp and Ray Parlour had passed pre-game fitness tests, but neither looked near 100%, Bergkamp in particular shackled and struggling. More noteworthy was the ever-mounting foul count, Steve Clarke, Parlour, Vieira and Adams all ending up in the book. While Nicolas Anelka rattled the woodwork in injury-time, the flag was up, with neither keeper called into serious action before the interval whistle allowed both sets of prize-fighters to rest on their stools. Hope that wiser counsel would prevail, however, was wide of the mark, both teams picking up where they had left off - with Arsenal paying the price. Vieira's lunge on the once-more tetchy Le Saux looked worse than it was, but Mr Poll had no hesitation in banishing the Frenchman. And before Wenger could re-organise his team, they found themselves out of the cup as Chelsea scored twice in three minutes. The first was a result of all that had gone on before. Emmanuel Petit seemed to have found Petit and David Platt, who had replaced Parlour just before the break, was adamant Hughes had fouled him. But Mr Poll waved play on as Arsenal stood arguing, and Di Matteo said a grateful thanks, picking up the ball, running 10 yards and then - echoes of that Wembley thunderbolt last May - crashing unstoppably into the top corner from 30 yards. Still, an Arsenal goal would mean extra-time, but the Gunners were still at sixes and sevens when Petrescu sealed it in the 53rd minute. Zola's corner somehow found its way to the Romanian, who sidestepped two would-be tacklers before toe-poking past a static Manninger low into the corner. No way back, although the over-intensity continued, Michael Duberry joining the list of shame for a foul on Overmars, before Platt, snatching at his effort, fired over 15 yards. Adams was pushed up, to no avail, Stephen Hughes came on for Winterburn, but Arsenal - Petit became caution number eight for a foul on Vialli - were shot. The fairytale finish, of course, would have been a crowning goal from the new player-boss. It did not come, and Bergkamp's penalty, after Duberry had stupidly thrust out an arm, put hearts in mouths. They stayed there right to the end, but the fears were forgotten as the final whistle came. He did not score, yet this was Vialli's night. Ruud who? Other reports
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