(0) 1 - 2 (1) ArsenalPride Park. Wednesday 28th October 1998. Kick-off ???Worthington Cup 3rd roundPreview
(0) 1 - 2 (1) ArsenalPride Park. Wednesday 28th October 1998. Kick-off ???Worthington Cup 3rd roundA convincing win for the reserves, perhaps more convincing than the scoreline indicates. Wenger said he was pleased to see the fringe players go out and play like they knew what being Aresnal was about, even down to conceding a late goal! When pushed, he picked out Vivas for particular praise. Vivas scored the second, his first goal for us, when left clear for a far post header from a Mendez corner. The first had come from a Boa Morte corner, this time headed in by Arsenal debutant Og.The draw for the next round has thrown up some interesting ties. The most interesting will surely be Chelsea's visit to Highbury, which might be a bit of a battle. Vieira, I think, will be back from suspension. Dennis Wise will miss the game having been sent off in Chelsea's 4-1 beating of Villa. AFCi reports that the match will be on the Wednesday. Helpfully, for a home match, they include a link to "directions to Stamford Bridge". Curious. We can only hope that the Arsenal team turn up at the right stadium!
See Transfers page for news of a Paraguayan youngster, just joined us till
the end of the season.
Result : Derby (0) 1 Arsenal (1) 2
Scorers: Sturridge 83 Carsley og 21, Vivas 55
Arsenal: Manninger; Grondin, Vivas, Grimandi, Upson; Garde, Hughes,
Ljungberg, Boa Morte; Mendez, Wreh
Subs: Crowe (Upson 78), Riza (Wreh 90), Cole, Lincoln, Taylor
Derby: Poom, Schnoor, Prior, Laursen, Powell, Delap, Dorigo,
Carsley, Burton, Baiano, Sturridge
Subs: Elliot (Prior 69), Harper (Burton 69), Wanchope (Baiano 69),
Hoult, Carbonari
Booked: Schnoor, Sturridge?
Att: 25621
Ref: S Lodge (Barnsley)
A hugely enjoyable game at Pride Park last night as the Arsenal 2nd XI
overcame a Derby side only missing Wanchope and Stimac through choice.
The inexperienced Gunners thoroughly deserved the victory, playing some
lovely football, particularly in the 1st half, admittedly against a team
which seemed curiously unmotivated.
Arsenal's relative lack of depth up front was shown by Wenger's choice of Mendez to partner Wreh up front, and the young French left back David Grondin was given his debut, but the team otherwise had a fairly solid spine with Grimandi and Upson at the back, and Hughes and Garde in midfield. However, nervousness perhaps contributed to a slightly shaky start in defence as the home team started off at pace. Grondin's inexperience was shown early on when he slid in to tackle Burton out on the Derby right, but the forward was just too quick and got clear down the wing. He chipped over a cross from the byline which Upson just got a head to in front of Baiano. At the other end Ljungberg had started to help settle things with a run down the right after he'd been fed on the halfway line by Vivas. Schnoor was forced to stop him on the edge of the area with a trip, for which he was booked, and Hughes curled the free kick wide of the far post. The Gunners then gained further encouragement when Hughes found Vivas in space with a sweeping pass from left to right. The Argentinian fed Mendez inside and he turned nicely on the edge of the area but then dragged a left foot shot wide. Arsenal then proceeded to totally dominate the rest of the half, playing some lovely football full of good passing and movement in the process. One nice move involved Ljungberg cutting in from the right and scooping a pass over the defence for Wreh to collect in the box. He was sheperded to the byline, but held the ball well before laying it back to pick out Hughes' run into the area, and the midfielder's shot from 15 yards was deflected wide for a corner. It was another combination between Wreh and Hughes which led to the goal. Wreh did well with a little dribble just outside the area and then laid it square again to pick out Hughes. Again his shot from the edge of the box was deflected for a corner which Boa Morte bent into the 6yd box. It went just over Ljungberg's head at the near post, Poom seemed to start to go for it and then changed his mind which confused Carsley just behind him, and the hapless midfielder headed into his own net. The young Gunners continued to dictate play, and several times tore further holes in the Derby rearguard. Some good interplay between Mendez and Hughes on the halfway line sent Boa Morte streaking clear down the left. He played a ball across the 6yd line which was heading for the unmarked Ljungberg at the far post before Schnoor just managed to get a touch which deflected the ball out for a corner. From the corner as he jostled with Wreh at the near post the German then dramatically collapsed to the ground as a stray elbow caught him in the chest. I'm sure the whole ground could hear his yell of pain, but the ref ignored it, the corner was half cleared and when the ball was returned into the box, Mendez turned on it but scooped a shot high and wide. Grondin was now getting forward well down the left. One cross sliced off the outside of his boot, but another one hit on the run was only slightly overhit for Mendez at the far post. The young Frenchman then combined beautifully with Boa Morte on another incursion into the Derby penalty area, exchanging passes before cutting the ball back from the byline, but Wreh's shot was blocked. Having presumably received a bit of a rocket in the dressing room at half time, Derby started off the 2nd half with a bit of a flurry. About 5 minutes into the half they even had the ball in the net only to see the goal disallowed. A pass from Carsley picked out Delap unmarked on the right just outside the area. He had a chance to take it on for a shot but instead chose to bend a pass in to pick out Baiano who was unmarked on the 6 yd line, and with Manninger stranded he bundled the ball into the net. The linesman's flag was up though and Baiano was rightly ruled offside. A couple of minutes later Arsenal were 2-0 up. Boa Morte won a corner on the left which Mendez curled into the area. Poom again started to come for it and changed his mind, and the ball dropped onto the head of Vivas as he ran in unmarked, and his firm header from about 10 yards flashed past a defender on the line and into the back of the net. Derby continued to labour away at their efforts to find a goal but only really began to seriously threaten when Smith made a triple substitution midway through the half, with Wanchope and Harper coming on to pep up their attack. It was the latter, a young right winger who did most to encourage the home side's hopes of getting back into the game, but some resolute defending from Arsenal kept them out. Vivas, Upson and then Crowe (on for Upson) blocked efforts from Sturridge after he'd been found by balls in from the right by Harper. The Rams did eventually batter their way through 7 minutes from time. A corner was only half cleared to Powell on the edge of the area. His shot beat Manninger but smacked off the outside of the post. The rebound went straight to Harper out on the right and he whipped in a cross which found Sturridge unmarked in the middle and he headed home from 6 yards. Derby renewed their efforts for another goal but were now beginning to leave space at the back which Arsenal almost took advantage of more than once. Garde led a break and fed Boa Morte who laid it back for Ljungberg. He drifted along the edge of the area before laying it off for Garde to tee up Hughes for a 25 yard shot which he struck well, but straight at the keeper. Another Garde pass found Boa Morte again and he wriggled clear down the left and pulled the ball across the 6yd line which was only inches too far in front of Wreh as he arrived at the far post. More Boa Morte trickery on the left led to another cut back into the 6yd box, the ball was desperately cleared straight back to him and his next cross was also just cleared for a corner this time. Finally in injury time a good break down the left involving Crowe and Ljungberg ended with the former laying the ball back from the byline for Riza (who'd just replaced Wreh), but his shot from 12 yards was deflected wide. All in all a highly encouraging performance from the lads. The defence was a bit shaky early on but played pretty well in the second half when Derby finally managed to exert some pressure. Hughes and Garde controlled midfield for much of the game, and Boa Morte and Ljungberg were a constant threat.
Manninger 7.5 Didn't have that much to do in truth. Calmly plucked a
tremendously struck 25 yarder from Carsley from beneath
his crossbar, and on another occasion was quickly off
his line to thwart Sturridge when he was through.
Vivas 8.0 Solid all round, both in defence at rightback and
centreback where he moved when Upson went off, and got
forward well in the 1st half too.
Upson 7.5 Another promising and composed performance.
Grimandi 8.0 Played pretty well overall I thought.
Grondin 7.5 Looks very promising, particularly going forward
though perhaps a bit naive defensively.
Ljungberg 7.5 Consistently threatened, particularly in the first half
and did a lot of work covering in the 2nd.
Hughes 8.0 Authorative performance in the middle, with some lovely
sweeping passes in the 1st half and a lot of good work
in his own area in the 2nd.
Garde 7.5 Did a pretty good holding job in midfield.
Boa Morte 7.5 The usual mix of brilliance and comic ineptitude,
though there was enough of the former to outweight the
latter.
Wreh 7.5 Worked hard and held the ball up well particularly in
the first half.
Mendez 7.0 Looked somewhat out of position on occasion, but still
did pretty well.
Other reports
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