vs ArsenalThe Dell, Saturday 18th September 1999FA Carling PremiershipPreview
FA Carling Premiership
Southampton vs Arsenal Tue Sep 14 1999
Result : Southampton (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 1
Scorers: Henry 79
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Adams; Vieira, Grimandi,
Ljungberg, Overmars; Bergkamp, Kanu
Subs: Parlour (Ljungberg h-t), Henry (Kanu 71),
Luzhny (Overmars 84), Suker, Lukic
Booked: Winterburn, Grimandi
So'ton: Jones, Dodd, Richards, Lundekvam, Benali, Oakley, Hughes,
Soltvedt, Bridge, Beattie, Kachloul
Subs: Almeida (Lundekvam 71), Le Tissier (Bridge 81),
Colleter, Marsden, Moss
Booked:Beattie, Oakley, Dodd
Att: 15242
Ref: Graham Barger (Tring)
Another tough game at the Dell on Saturday, and one which it was
something of a relief to come away with 3 points from. It was pretty
much the archetypical game of two halves, as Arsenal looked somewhat
jaded in the 1st half, but picked up their performance in the 2nd to
earn 3 points with a terrific winner from Henry.
The game was fairly even during the opening period, with Southampton's frenetic running and 'enthusiastic' tackling matching Arsenal's somewhat more studied approach. However, neither side really looked like scoring in the opening 25 minutes or so, although Arsenal's defence were unsettled at times by balls coming into the area in the air. The Gunner's main threat came from free kicks outside the area, though on only one of these did they come close to scoring when Bergkamp's 30 yarder zipped over the wet grass and only a foot or so wide of the post. The last 15-20 minutes of the half though were dominated by the home team, and Arsenal were lucky to go in at half time on level terms. Arsenal survived one dodgy moment when Dixon mishit an attempt to volley a backpass to Manninger, the ball looped up in the air, Keown mishit his attempt to volley clear and Winterburn eventually headed the ball out of play. From a corner soon afterwards Saints very nearly went one up. Keown and Grimandi seemed to get in each other's way at the near post and missed the cross, the ball cannoned off Vieira and a Saints player to the feet of Richards, 7-8 yards out. He struck a shot instantly goalwards, Manninger produced a magnificent reaction save, but the ball rebounded out to Beattie. Fortunately his shot struck the foot of the opposite post, and Keown blocked Kachloul's attempt from the loose ball. Soon after that Oakley sidefooted wide when a cross from the right found him in space at the back post. Just before half time he forced Manninger into another save when he latched onto the ball following Vieira's miscontrol and fired in a shot from the edge of the area. It skidded off the wet grass and Manninger was a bit lucky to see the ball squirt up off his diving save, back into his face and out for a corner. Wenger's half time talk and substitution, bringing on Parlour for the ineffective Ljungberg, helped Arsenal turn the game round, because the second half was more or less a complete reversal of the first. Manninger didn't have a save to make while Jones was kept pretty busy at the other end. Bergkamp almost broke through early on, but just as he seemed certain to score Richards got back with a superb tackle to nick it off his toe. Then Overmars characteristically cut along the edge of the area before firing in a shot which Jones did well to hold onto. Kanu headed over from a good position and then Adams' pass sent Overmars away down the left, and the winger's square ball into the area found Bergkamp running in. His first touch with his right foot set the ball up for a volley from an acute angle with his left, but it flew over the bar. The two Dutchmen combined again later to set up Arsenal's best chance thus far. Overmars turned on a pass just inside his own half, got away from an attempt to pull him back and carried on down the left to run onto Berkgamp's precision return through pass to leave himself with only the keeper to beat. Jones made a good save with his feet, the ball rebounded to Kanu who skipped round a defender and then the keeper before screwing an angled left foot shot wide of the far post and the 2 defenders on the line. The linesman had his flag up back near the half way line at this stage, though quite what it was for I don't know as there was no question of offside and the ref appeared to ignore him, giving a goal kick. He was by the way, one of the worst linesman I've ever seen. He let one Southampton attack in the 1st half go when the attacker was at least 5 yards offside. At the other end the only real threat I can recall came from another cross from the left which Keown unconvincingly headed clear, and Winterburn threw himself in front of Kachloul to brilliantly block the Morroccan's attempt to volley home the loose ball. The pivotal point really came with just under 20 minutes left. Henry replaced Kanu and shortly afterwards Southampton were forced to take off Lundekvam and bring on Almeida. Henry's pace immediately started to cause extra problems for Southampton and Almeida in particular. Henry should have scored about 5 minutes after coming on when he raced onto a flick-on from Manninger's clearance. Jones made another great block, though I think Henry was briefly tugged back by Richards as he went through, and the defender managed to get back to head the rebound away from beneath the bar. Shortly afterwards though Henry made amends with a brilliant debut goal. Adams passed forward to him on the edge of the area, with his back to goal he turned and hit a superb curler from 20 yards which flashed into the far top corner. He probably should have got a second a few minutes later but headed over from Grimandi's cross, but with Luzhny coming on for Overmars, Arsenal survived the last few minutes without too much alarm and held on for an important win. Overall a somewhat fitful performance from the Gunners, though it was encouraging the way they turned it round in the second half.
Manninger 7.5 One great save and another slightly dodgy one, but
otherwise fairly solid.
Winterburn 7.0 The usual Nutty.
Dixon 7.0 Didn't do a lot wrong, and generally kept Saints'
young winger Bridge quiet.
Adams 7.5 Commanding and solid as ever.
Keown 7.5 Survived his running battle with Hughes pretty well
despite getting no help from the ref.
Vieira 7.5 Relatively quiet at times but controlled most of
midfield in the 2nd half particularly.
Grimandi 7.0 Did reasonably well again.
Ljungberg 6.0 Virtually anonymous during the 45 minutes he was on.
Overmars 7.0 Still looking pretty sharp though he didn't get too
many opportunities.
Bergkamp 7.0 Not his favourite style of game, but he seemed fairly
up for it. One stunning piece of skill in the 1st half.
Kanu 6.5 Not quite his normal languidly brilliant self though
there were still some nice touches.
Parlour 7.0 Pepped up the right side of midfield considerably.
Henry 8.0 Won the game with a superb goal, and otherwise
unsettled Southampton with his pace.
Derek
Other reports
copyright belongs to original author where credited. otherwise © Rupert Ward, ArseWeb MMV ArseWeb is NOT the official Arsenal site. The (excellent) official site is here |