Arsenal (0) 0 - 5 (1) ChelseaHighbury, Wednesday 11th November 1998. kick-off 8pmWorthington (League) Cup 4th roundread the reports by Rupe, Derek, and Paul.Preview
Arsenal (0) 0 - 5 (1) ChelseaHighbury, Wednesday 11th November 1998. kick-off 7.45pmWorthington (League) Cup 4th roundFirst of all, I have to apologise to everyone who, like me, got there late as a result of my advertising the kick-off time as 8pm. As far as I'm aware, this is the first time we've kicked off before 8 at Highbury in a midweek match, since the Arsenal statement that all such matches would have 8pm start times. Anyway, my fault, sorry, I'll try to be more careful in future.
Arsenal:
Seaman
Vivas Grimandi Upson Grondin
Ljungberg Garde (Mendez h-t) Hughes BoaMorte
Wreh Bergkamp (Caballero)
Hmmmm.
Wenger said afterwards that this is the sort of thing you have to expect if you field a second-string side. Things can go well for you, but if they go badly you can lose heavily. Which is very true, but conflicts rather with his previous statements about this not being a reserve side. Ok, so we (officially) don't care about this competition, but at the end of the day it just isn't fun, for the fans or the players, so what's the point? To be honest I wouldn't mind so much if we hadn't been asked to pay full price for this. It rankles a bit that one of my season-ticket cup match credits was used up on this. Having said all that, Arsenal actually shaded the first half, going down only to a dodgy penalty. Arsenal made some decent chances. Hughes had a shot blocked on the line, Boa Morte was beaten by a superb tackle in the box after dwelling on the ball somewhat (something of a speciality, further exhibited in his headless chicken runs down the left). And Kharine made 2 good saves from a Chris Wreh shot and a superb long-range Bergkamp effort. Ljungberg was probably our best attacking force though, and one time won the ball and beat several players to get into a shooting position, only to squeeze it just wide with Wreh a bit slow to get to the far post. They hit us on the break a few times and looked dangerous. Unfortunately, Chelsea's loss of Casiraghi Laudrup and Zola meant they had to field what seems to be their second choice strike force of Vialli and Flo. On current form each of these two players, individually, is better than Casiraghi and Zola put together. Vialli in particular had a superb match, moaning aside! Although we were creating more chances, they looked dangerous when they broke. Vialli was put through on Manninger only to be unjustly pulled back for offside, and was stopped another time by an excellent Upson tackle. So it really came as little surprise when a few minutes later their first was scored from a quick break. Poyet charged down the centre of the pitch and Grimandi got in what appeared to be a fantastic tackle. He took Poyet's legs away but (from my angle) clearly brought his foot down on the ball first. The ball came free to Vialli whose shot was blocked, but then the ref pulled play back and awarded a penalty for Grimandi's challenge. I guess we were lucky it wasn't a red card. Funny, I don't feel lucky tonight. To be fair, the TV pictures seen later, while supporting the view that Grimandi got the ball, did show that from the ref's angle he appeared not to, and maybe even if Elleray had been somewhere in the vicinity of the incident it would have looked like a foul from his angle. Second half, Captain Remi Garde replaced by Mendez (I asked if anyone knew who got the armband for the second half? Dave O promptly wrote in as follows: "We had 3 captains against Chelsea. Remi Garde, Dennis Bergkamp, and finally Stephen Hughes." Thanks Dave.). And for the rest of the match it was men against boys. To be frank, I can't be bothered to describe it. They stuffed us, we tried to get back into it, they stuffed us some more. Bergkamp came off for new boy Fabian Caballero, who showed some promise and set up Wreh nicely but his shot went straight to the keeper. The other good point of the match was the energy and skill of Fredrick Ljungberg, who on this display could become something of a star. Finally, with Saturday's big game against Tottenham coming up in mind, I hope everyone remembers that other embarassing League Cup of 1990-91, when we got thrashed 6-2 by Man Utd (Lee Sharpe hattrick). If so, I hope you remember what happened the following weekend. Liverpool came to Highbury and got the backlash with a superb Arsenal win that was the turning point for that championship season. That's the kind of reaction we need, and although they (mostly) weren't responsible for tonight, let's hope the first team can make up for this night. We all know they have the ability to give Spurs a hiding.
Result : Arsenal (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 5
Scorers: Leboeuf 34 pen, Vialli 49,73,
Vivas og 65, Poyet 80
Arsenal: Manninger; Grondin, Vivas, Grimandi, Upson; Garde, Hughes,
Ljungberg, Boa Morte; Bergkamp, Wreh
Subs: Mendez (Garde h-t), Caballero (Bergkamp 60),
Cole, Vernazza, Lukic
Booked: Grimandi
Chelsea: Kharine, Petrescu, Babayaro, Leboeuf, Duberry, Di Matteo,
Goldbaek, Poyet, Nicholls, Vialli, Flo
Subs: Clement (Nicholls 77), Percassi (Goldbaek 77),
Lambourde (Leboeuf 82), Hitchcock, Zola.
Booked: Di Matteo, Babayaro
Att: 37562
Ref: D Elleray (Harrow)
In the end a heavy and on the face of it, embarassing defeat at
Highbury, only the 2nd time Arsenal have lost by more than 4 goals at
home since they joined the top division nearly 80 years ago. However,
the bare scoreline doesn't really tell the true story as a virtually
complete reserve side (bar Bergkamp who was only playing for match
fitness) had the better of the first half against a Chelsea side
boasting full internationals in 9 positions. A harshly awarded penalty
gave the visitors an undeserved half time lead, and it was only after
conceding a soft 2nd goal soon after the break that the Arsenal 2nd
string started looking 2nd best.
In the first half it was the Arsenal reserves who created more chances, with the match starting off in a similar pattern to the previous round at Derby. Early nervousness among the young Gunners led to Chelsea looking the more dangerous in the opening few minutes, and the visitors might have taken the lead early on when Poyet climbed highest at a corner, but his header hit the ground and bounced over the bar. However Arsenal soon settled down and not long afterwards had a better chance to open the scoring. Grondin did well on the left, cutting in and evading a challenge from Petrescu before slipping a ball into the area for Wreh to run onto unmarked. From an acute angle he whipped a left foot shot goalwards but Kharine made a great save, though was fortunate the ball bounced down off his block and then over the bar onto the roof of the net. Arsenal were now playing some nice stuff and Chelsea were sufficiently rattled to resort to committing a stream of niggling fouls to stop their opponents playing. It was a cynical Vialli trip on Hughes which led to the free kick from which Bergkamp fired in a beautifully struck 30 yarder which almost surprised Kharine. The keeper did well though and just got down at his near post to palm the ball aside. Ljungberg was causing constant problems down the right. After Wreh had found him with a good crossfield ball he effortlessly got round Babayaro and got to the byline, but his cutback into middle was just cut out by Leboeuf. Then the Swede checked another right wing run and played the ball inside for Garde a few yards outside the area. The Frenchman cleverly backheeled the ball on for Boa Morte who was in space just behind him, but the winger was caught slightly unawares and snatched at his shot from 20 yards and it flashed a couple of feet over the bar. Ljungberg then went on a brilliant run into the area which deserved a goal. He regained possession about 30 yards out before setting off on a mazy run, slaloming his way past 3 challenges to leave himself with only Kharine to beat from an angle on the left. He dragged his left foot shot wide of the far post though, and Wreh seemed a bit slow following in to get on the end of it. Meanwhile Chelsea were looking dangerous on the break as Arsenal played a risky offside game. It worked for the first half hour, albeit with the erroneous help of the linesman on a couple of occasions, but then twice in the space of a couple of minutes it came unstuck. First Di Matteo played a lovely long ball to pick out Flo's run down the inside left channel and he got ahead of Upson and fired in a shot from an angle. Manninger made a great block but the ball ran loose to Vialli, but he took too long to pick his spot and Grimandi made a brilliant saving tackle to dispossess the player-manager. A couple of minutes later it was Poyet who broke clear as the Arsenal defence appeared to stop in antication of a pass to the offside Vialli. Poyet however took it on himself and broke down the middle seemingly with only Manninger to beat. Grimandi however was in hot pursuit and as Poyet advanced into the area got in a quite brilliant tackle which clearly got the ball first. It rebounded clear to Vialli though and he seemed certain to score into the empty net. He took it too casually though and Vivas made a fantastic block on the line, but once more the ball rebounded out to the feet of Flo. This time it was Upson who pulled off a superb block. Great cheers from the North Bank at Chelsea's failure to convert 3 easy chances quickly turned to consternation as it became clear the ref had given a penalty. Bizarrely he then merely booked Grimandi when he should surely have sent him off given that he viewed the tackle as a foul. Classic case of a ref bottling the full consequences of decision he knows is probably wrong. I suspect he was also trying to make his own sort of amends for another decision he got wrong when Upson tripped Vialli right on the byline in the corner of the box. Technically a penalty, and if not a goal kick. Ref tries to appease both sides (though of course does neither) and gives a corner. Anyway, Lebouef confidently dispatched the penalty. Manninger went the wrong way but wouldn't have got to it had he gone the right way. To their credit Arsenal weren't fazed, and got right back at Chelsea. Bergkamp just failed to get on the end of flick through from Garde, and then the Dutch master held possession well in the middle of the Chelsea half before stabbing a brilliant pass forward to pick out Boa Morte just inside the area. The Portugese youngster turned on the ball but with it falling on his right foot perhaps hesitated slightly and allowed Duberry to get in a brilliant saving tackle. Boa Morte took the corner and swung it long to where Upson was unmarked beyond the far post. He headed back into the middle, Wreh's attempt at an overhead kick squirted out to Hughes about 16 yards out, and his right foot shot beat Kharine at his near post but was kicked off the line by Petrescu. Remi Garde had to go off at half time and was replaced by Mendez who took over on the right with Ljungberg moving into the middle. The second half was less than 5 minutes old when Chelsea got the 2nd killer goal. Goldbaek curled a long ball in from the righthand touchline to pick out Vialli's run down the middle. Grimandi was in attendance but Manninger chose to dash off his line, and in fact seemed favourite to get there first but unaccountably he hesitated at the vital moment and Vialli nicked the ball past him and was left with a simple tap in. Arsenal now started to miss Garde's defensive and positional nous in the middle. With Bergkamp going off on the hour to be replaced by the new 21yr old Argentinian striker Caballero, the Gunners had only two men over 23 on the pitch and their inexperience started to show as Chelsea began to take advantage of their anxious pressing for a goal back. The 3rd goal arrived when Flo broke clear down the left, evaded Grimandi's last ditch tackle and got to the byline where he held it up before cutting it back for Poyet. The Uruguayan sidefooted a shot goalwards from about 12 yards, and the ball ended up in the net off Vivas' attempt to clear. From the TV replay it looked as though Poyet's shot may just have gone wide but Vivas couldn't be sure so was a bit unlucky to see it deflect just inside the post. Poyet turned provider for the 4th goal with a lovely first time volleyed flick which set up Vialli for a shot from the edge of the area. Manninger got a hand to the cross shot but couldn't stop it going in. There was no doubt the final goal was Poyet's as he was left unmarked just outside the area to run onto Petrescu's pass and flick the ball home past Manninger's rather peculiar looking attempt to block. Late in the game it looked like being six, but with a 3 on 1 break Flo made a woeful pass to Vialli and the Arsenal defence recovered their ground. At the other end Arsenal kept trying but with one or two heads dropping a bit found it difficult to make much headway. There were a couple of balls across the 6yd box from Wreh and Caballero which might have produced something had there been a red shirt in the middle to get on the end of them, and Hughes did well with a triple turn out on the right which bamboozled a defender but his eventual cross was cleared with difficulty. The only real chance I can recall came when Caballero knocked down a cross from the right to find Wreh unmarked in the area about 15 yards out, but he hurriedly stabbed a shot straight at Kharine when he probably had time to steady himself to really whack it. The second half was rather hard to watch, but I thought Arsenal did very well in the first half, and had a bit more luck gone our way might even have got something out of the game. There is no way that was a penalty and even then Chelsea didn't get on top until Manninger gifted them the 2nd goal. Considering the relative experience and pedigree of the two teams I reckon the Arsenal lads did pretty well. Vialli clearly knows Chelsea have no chance of winning the league, and he thus has to give the cups a much higher priority.
Manninger 6.5 Not his best game. Did make a couple of good saves.
Vivas 7.0 I thought he had quite a good game defensively, but
played some poor passes going forward.
Upson 7.5 Reasonably solid, on the whole coped quite well with
Flo.
Grimandi 7.5 Pretty good game again and unlucky to be penalised for
a perfect tackle, though possibly a bit slow for two
of Chelsea's 2nd half goals.
Grondin 7.0 Another fairly promising performance. Determined in
the tackle.
Ljungberg 7.5 Had a good first half, but the switch to the middle
in the second didn't suit him.
Hughes 8.0 I thought he had another confident and skilful game,
particularly in the first half. Seems to relish the
extra responsibility he has when his seniors aren't
there.
Garde 7.5 Had a pretty good game and we missed him in the 2nd half
Boa Morte 6.0 I think I'm now convinced he's not up to it, though he
did keep trying until Duberry stamped on him in the 2nd
half in an incident which should have seen Boa Morte
booked and Duberry sent off.
Wreh 7.0 I thought he actually worked quite hard, when he was
near the ball at least.
Bergkamp 7.0 Looked somewhat as though he needed the match practice.
Mendez 6.0 I guess he wasn't on at a good time but fairly anonymous
Caballero Looked quite promising I thought, though he didn't see
much of the ball.
Derek
It was pretty obvious to all concerned that we might be in for a pasting as soon as we saw the teamsheets. For once, Chelsea had their most effective forward pairing on display last night - Vialli and Flo - their most underrated midfield player - Poyet - and of course not forgetting the most important factor of all, the one and only smiling Ref, Schoolmaster Elleray, was taking charge, supposedly. Our side relayed the true value of this Competition to Arsenal Football Club Plc - nothing, minus the gate receipts and TV money of course.This was cemented when DB10 was taken off after an hour, and without Garde following the restart the team must have been a contender for the youngest (and smallest ?) Arsenal side in any competitive game in my shortish lifetime. It was also surely the most Continental (ie non English) side I've ever seen in the red and white - this does worry me a fair bit. There must be some class English talent around somewhere..... Amongst the collective wailing as the third, fourth and fifth goals found their mark, I wondered if anyone present took time out to look at how the really young players are developing. We all know how Alex is doing, even though he had a bit of a 'mare last night, but I was especially impressed with Upson's and Grodin's performances, all things considered. The less said about Boa Morte the better. One of the toughest jobs AW has got is how to replace the 'Famous Five' - it has been argued that this could be the toughest task in team rebuilding any Manager has faced in the Premier League since it's inception. I would suggest that Grodin and Upson look to have the qualities required to graduate into the back line, but give them, especially Grodin, time to learn their jobs properly. Luckily for them, they have good teachers. Cast your minds back a few seasons, when Moan U where being beaten by the likes of York City, at home, in the same Competition (Coke Cup ?) How we all laughed at the time, slating their understrength side. Little did we know that this was their proving ground for the Nevilles, Beckham, Scholes et al, and look how they developed. This is where we went very wrong four or five years ago, and it's only now that we are catching up. As much as I hate that club, I admire the way in which they built their side. You never know, in four or five years time, we will hopefully look back on this match with some amusement, as our young Gunners stick another piece of silverware in the Cabinet at the newly expanded Highbury Stadium, capacity 60 thousand (Dream on Paul, dream on...) Good luck to the lads for Saturday. Let's give those w*****s the pasting they deserved last season. Keep the faith, even after last night ! Other reports
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