Arsenal (1) 1 - 0 (0) Derby CountyHighbury, Sunday 2nd May 1999. kick-off 4pmFA Carling Premiershipsee below for reports by: Rupe, Derek.Preview
Arsenal (1) 1 - 0 (0) Derby CountyHighbury, Sunday 2nd May 1999. kick-off 4pmFA Carling Premiership
scorers: Anelka 14
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon Adams Bould Winterburn
Parlour Vieira Petit Overmars (Hughes)
Anelka (Diawara) Kanu (Bergkamp)
Nothing like the last 2 performances, but we hung
on for 3 more valuable points against a Derby side
who really started to cause us some problems
defensively towards the end of the match.
It started fairly well, although the first chance was a low Wanchope shot saved at the near post by Seaman we were soon in the ascendancy. Kanu won a free-kick on the right which Overmars curled in but straight at the keeper Poom. There was some brilliant work on both wings, with Dixon and Winterburn getting forward well and playing their hearts out (it was nice that for once there was time before the second half kick-off for the Clock End to get round to singing their names). One great move used the width of the pitch with Winterburn Petit and Anelka all involved before Dixon's dangerous cross was just intercepted off Nicky's head. Then Vieira blasted a shot from a few yards outside the corner of the box, which dipped and curved not quite enough to slip inside the far top corner. Dixon dribbled round his man and got a cross/shot in which the keeper fisted out, but Adams was penalised for a challenge on him from the corner. Then Parlour did well to win a free-kick on the right wing. Ray found some space for Dixon to give it to him from the free-kick, and they exchanged passses again putting Parlour in a good position outside the box on the right. He anticipated Anelka's run in front of him and slipped the ball forward where Anelka gather and fired past Poom inside the far post. Vieira was tripped on the edge of the area and Petit's weak free-kick somehow found it's way through the wall, not troubling the keeper. Bohinen looked dangerous as he broke up the middle, but just as it looked too late Dixon got across with a blinding tackle. We broke to the other end and as a couple of defenders shepherded the ball back Kanu tried hopefully for a penalty as he went to slip through a gap that wasn't there. There was a bit of argy-bargy next to me as a cup of orangeade went flying, so I missed the next few minutes. As I looked up again a cross or shot from Overmars was deflected towards Anelka but interecepted. Petit went down injured for a while, and just when he'd got back on his feet some fantastic play from Winterburn on the left wing (tackling and then heading the ball back in for himself off the line when it looked bound to go out) allowed him to thread a pass forward for Manu's run. He didn't quite have the pace to get ahead of his man, but still earned a corner... which wasn't given. There followed a beautiful move from defence, starting with Petit, under pressure, lobbing the ball a few yards to Vieira, who nodded it forward to Anelka. His first-time pass sprayed the ball wide to Parlour who'd found space there. He took the ball forward, lost it, battled to get it back, and set up a chance for Petit whose shot from outside the area swerved wide. Petit and Winterburn took the piss a bit down by our left corner flag, passing the ball slightly unnecessarily to and fro past a baffled striker. But a bit later on the other wing Dixon gave the ball away to Wanchope, who strode forward with it till he fell over a challenging defender in the box. That woke the Derby fans up briefly. Kanu was hauled back on the ref's blind side, and then some brilliant interplay between him and Anelka created a chance for Parlour which was blocked. It wasn't long before (man of the match) Parlour was at work at the other end, his challenge surely the deciding factor when Burton's shot went side. Overmars did some super stuff on the right wing, but his cut-back for Anelka from the goal-line was intercepted. Then Carbonari hit a long-range central free-kick straight down Seaman's throat. Parlour was involved again as he hit a series of corners and crosses from the right, but no-one was finding clear positions in Derby's penalty area. Great defending by Adams and Winterburn was turned into attack with Nutty's ball for Overmars. Again he got to the by line but again his cross was intercepted. Not for the first time I wondered why Anelka wasn't trying to get in front of his man. Beck and Wanchope combined to create a chance for the Costa-Rican, but he'd been pushed a little wide by the time the shot came in and he could only find the side netting. As the second half went on, Parlour continued to shine on the right, but on the other side of the pitch Overmars seemed to drift out of the game somewhat, and our attacking purpose started to go. And when Derby brought on another tall striker (Robinson?) we started to look decidedly fragile at the back too, especially (and most disturbingly) to high balls into the box. Parlour set up Kanu but his shot was charged down. Then Kanu won a free-kick outside the box from which Petit's shot seemed to take ages to come in and was also charged down. Overmars, Anelka and Winterburn combined well and a corner was won which was scrambled away from Kanu a foot from goal. The ball came back in and was deflected closer to goal, but just wide, off a defender. Breaking from defence, Anelka pushed the ball wide for Overmars who took it forward and crossed back to the right where Anelka ran wide to collect. He pulled it back for Kanu who bided his time and then slipped it back to Anelka when he'd found space again, but the shot was blocked. Winterburn did some more brilliant and skilful defending by our left corner flag, but Overmars was slow to react to his pass forward and it was picked up by a Derby player setting up their first chance of the half - which was blasted over the bar from inside the box. Bergkamp then came on for Kanu. He took a while to get into the game but looked ok fitness-wise. A dangerous Overmars cross was tipped out for a corner, and Bould's flying header from the corner flew a yard wide. Then they won a corner but Seaman caught it and threw it out for Overmars who carried it right up the pitch and won a corner. From that Parlour had another shot blocked on the edge of the area. Then Overmars again found the by line and cut it back for Bergkamp, who appeared to be chopped down (but it was at the other end of the pitch so who am I to say). Parlour fired wide again, and then Overmars left for Hughes to come on. As I said, Derby gained the upper hand for a while towards the end of the half. They even got the ball in our net one time: as it was lobbed forward Seaman stretched up and got his hands to the ball but dropped it behind him and watched it rolll into the net. But Wanchope (?) had been penalised for a challenge on the keeper. Another ball over the top looked (after some tangling on the edge of the box) to have put Wanchope clear on Seaman, but somehow from behind the striker one of Adams' boots appeared in front of his chest and hooked the ball clear. A risky but extraordinary saving tackle. We had a corner flicked on and cleared off the line (there appears to be shouts of "hands" but it was too far away for me). Then at the other end they had their best chance of the match as Seaman's great save rebounded to a Derby player and for an awful moment everything else appeared to stop as we watched him roll the ball past the post. In the dying moments Parlour had yet another shot, this one saved well at the near post. A nervy but vital win, in the old style. Let's hope the next match is more like the last 2. 3-0 up at half-time please. One point clear again, with GD practically even again, we're still counting on Man Utd slipping up but still looking like we should be there if they do. Now, is there anything George Graham's Tottenham can do about it? One question: how come we get so few bookings (I don't think there were any today) now that they don't count for so much?!
Result : Arsenal (1) 1 Derby (0) 0
Scorers: Anelka 14
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Adams; Vieira, Petit,
Parlour, Overmars; Anelka, Kanu
Subs: Bergkamp (Kanu 62), Hughes (Overmars 76),
Diawara (Anelka 78), Grimandi, Lukic
Derby: Poom, Prior, Carbonari, Laursen, Bohinen, Powell, Eranio,
Delap, Burton, Beck, Wanchope
Subs: Harper (Burton 13), Robinson (Harper 78),
Murray (Bohinen 68), Jackson, Knight
Booked: Delap, Carbonari, Murray, Wanchope
Att: 37323
Ref: Neale Barry (Scunthorpe)
A rather fitful performance yesterday, as Arsenal dominated the first
half after taking an early lead through Anelka but then failed to add to
the score and endured a rather jittery final 15 minutes. Derby defended
obdurately for most of the game and then as the 2nd half wore on
gradually began to threaten to get the dreaded equaliser as Arsenal
became strangely lethargic and nervous.
The visitors came with a clear plan of containment, playing what nominally seemed to be a sort of 3-4-3 formation, but with the two wide forwards Burton and Beck seemingly detailed to restrict Dixon and Winterburn's forays forward. The plan was thrown into disarray early on though when Burton pulled up with a hamstring injury while chasing Dixon as he raced onto Vieira's superb pass. Dixon didn't take full advantage on that occasion but Burton's replacement Harper didn't seem sure of his duties and for the rest of the half Dixon and Parlour enjoyed a lot of space down the right. Indeed the goal came when Dixon knocked a pass inside for Parlour, and the midfielder's brilliant pass into the area allowed Anelka to beat the offside trap and finish superbly, hitting a firm shot across the keeper and just inside the far post. Earlier Vieira had hit tremendous 30 yard shot which cleared the bar by less than a foot, and after the goal it seemed that Arsenal would go on to win comfortably. The Gunners played some nice football in the first half, particularly down both flanks, but the killer final pass never quite came again. Petit emulated his compatriot with a 25 yard piledriver which was a few feet wide, and late on in the half found Overmars' run into the area with a lovely chipped pass down the middle. The winger seemed to be put off by Delap's desperate sliding attempt to intercept the ball though, and it ran away from him. Kanu had what looked a good shout for a penalty, or at the very least obstruction when Harper and Carbonari squeezed him out in the area after a typically brilliant bit of play from the Nigerian had seen him dribble past 3 other players on the edge of the area. Arsenal might have had another couple of penalties in the second half. First Kanu's shot clearly struck Laursen's arms as he put them up to protect himself. Perhaps not deliberate but surely some intent. Then later on after Berkgamp had replaced Kanu, Powell appeared to take the Dutch master's legs from beneath him as he tried to get on the end of an Overmars cross. The second half though was largely a tale of increasing tension, as Arsenal's attacking became increasingly unconvincing and Derby suddenly began to show a real interest in getting the equaliser in the final 15 minutes. Half chances occasionally came Arsenal's way and went. An Overmars corner caused a bit of a near post scramble, and when he crossed the clearance back in, Bould threw himself at the ball but I think only got faint contact with his head and the ball bounced off Delap's legs and just wide of the far post. Following more good work by Kanu, Anelka sent in a low hard cross from the right which Harper cleared from inside the 6yd box, Bould headed wide as he stretched to meet Petit's corner at the far post. Seaman then sent Overmars clear with a superb throw following a Derby corner, and the flying Dutchman got past the last defender but driven wide he mishit his left foot attempt to cut the ball back for Anelka and Bergkamp in the middle, and Prior was able to clear. Earlier, Wanchope had dispossessed Overmars near the Arsenal area after Winterburn's rather risky pass, and the Costa Rican's cross was laid off by Beck to set up Powell for a snap shot which he sent over the bar under pressure from Adams. It was a sign of things to come and the final 10-15 minutes then became a really nervous affair, particularly when Derby had the ball in the net 10 minutes from time. Seaman seemed to misjudge a long ball lobbed forward. He got underneath it somewhat and had to stretch to get one hand to the ball. Wanchope was challenging and his flailing arm knocked the ball away from the keeper and he followed up to lash the ball into the empty net. Fortunately the whistle had already gone for handball, and Wanchope was rather harshly booked. Adams then made a vital overhead clearance to stop Wanchope after the Costa Rican had again made a nuisance of himself in the area, and then after Diawara had missed a free header from a corner at the other end the final scare came from another long ball launched forward by Carbonari. Wanchope and Adams went up for it, and the ball dropped for the striker to leave him a clear shot at goal. Seaman, who for some reason had come well out of goal, redeemed himself with a fantastic block, and the substitute Robinson's attempt from the rebound screwed a couple of feet wide, to a huge Highbury sigh of relief. Arsenal did regain a grip, and managed to retain possession for most of the final couple of minutes. In fact they could have really settled things with a late goal when Parlour's brilliant jinking run into the right side of the area ended with a fierce shot which Poom beat away from his near post. Not a very convincing performance from Arsenal, but the 3 points was the be all and end all. After the early goal there seemed the opportunity to give ourselves the advantage in goal difference but I guess it's not surprising there was something of a dip in form after the previous two games.
Seaman 7.5 Not quite sure what he was doing so far out, but his
late save preserved the points for Arsenal.
Winterburn 8.0 Another all out, all action display.
Dixon 7.5 Also gave his all as ever, and enjoyed a lot of first
half attacking freedom.
Adams 8.0 Commanding in defence again.
Bould 7.5 As reliable as ever.
Vieira 8.0 Had a good game, particularly in the first half when he
really controlled things.
Petit 7.5 Solid and competent game.
Parlour 8.0 Another pretty good game, and he was the one who forced
Arsenal forward in the final few minutes.
Overmars 7.5 Reasonably lively again.
Anelka 7.5 Another pretty good game, and a superb finish.
Kanu 7.5 Unorthodox but effective again.
Derek
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