Leicester_City (0) 0 - 0 (0) Arsenalafter extra time. Leicester win 6-5 on penalties)Filbert Street, Wednesday 19th January 2000FA Cup 4th round replayPreview
Leicester_City (0) 0 - 0 (0) Arsenalafter extra time. Leicester win 6-5 on penalties)Filbert Street, Wednesday 19th January 2000FA Cup 4th round replay
Arsenal:
Seaman
Dixon (c) Keown Grimandi Silvinho
Parlour Petit Vieira Malz (Hughes 67)
Henry Suker
Leicester started brightly, with Eadie in particular causing problems.
A loose ball to Peitt from Parlour up near their penalty area led
to a City break. Zagorakis's pass through our back line from the
centre circle beat the offside trap but Eadie, on their left, pulled
the shot wide of the far post as Seaman dived to cover.
That pass from Parlour was typical of the whole game, and especially the first half, and it wasn't just Ray that was guilty of wayward passes. Seemed to me that the only players that came out of it with much credit were Keown and Grimandi, who together did a good job at the back on Heskey and the various partners he had through the course of the match. On a quarter of an hour PArlour tried to force his way through the D into the box. Did quite well but there were too many defenders in the way and he ended up trying a shot before there was space for it. Then Petit tried a ridiculous back-heel to Henry on the left wing. There were 2 City players in the way, and it was completely unnecessary. Manu was lucky that Leicester didn't capitalise on the gift. Then Vieira broke well through the middle but ignored the players available to either side and ended up playign ti too far in front of himself. Leicester broke quickly again and it took a good Silvinho interception to prevent Guppy's cross from the left reaching Gunnlaugson. Another dangerous Guppy cross was then plucked out of the air by Seaman. An Arsenal attack was broken down in the box and the ball was cleared high towards Vieira on our right. He headed it infield to Petit who volleyed it straight back to him. Vieira took it forward and his low drive was easily saved by Flowers (back for his first game for a while). It was a classy bit of play between the Frenchmen, but one of the few times in this match when they had enough time for those kind of skills. 22 minutes, and Suker was a bit lucky not to get booked (although as time went on it became clear that ref Mike Riley was reluctant to show anyone a card). Taggart had his arm up when challenging for the ball but Suker's arm went up afterwards. Whereas Taggart's was arguably part of his jump, Sukers looked like retaliation. Nothing nsaty, but some refs will give it. 25 minutes, and Savage showed greta composure and skill in his own right-hand corner to beat our man and bring the ball out. It was a nice long ball forward for Heskey too, but Keown got in to head it safely back to Seaman. A few minutes later Keown did brilliantly in another straight chase with Heskey, this time using his back to hold the striker off and turn away from goal. But moments later Heskey got the better of him for once, leaving Keown on the floor on the left wing. He approached the goal but Grimandi came across quickly on the edge of the box so that Heskey couldn't see all the goal, and his shot from the corner of the box was saved by Seaman at the near post. Vieira fed Parlour on the right and he took the ball on just outside that side of the box. He cut it back to Suker who tried to stab it goalwards first time from just inside the box. It was a difficulat chance and he skied it. Near the end of the half Malz put in a good cross from the left but Suker's glancing header was too glancing and it came easy for Flowers. Then Henry did well to get to the goal-line but his cross was too long. The second half, and Keown did brilliantly again to win the ball and bring it forward into the centre circle. He fell over stretching for it there, but Petit was on hand to push the ball left to Silvinho whose shot from distance went right up on the air. Arsenal continued the trend from the end of the first half, taking control of the game more and more. But the next attack saw Henry receive the ball from Malz, with back to goal on the edge of the box, and then pass it back upfield to Heskey! Leicester broke, finishing with another good Guppy cross from the left (was Keegan watching I wonder?). This time it was Grimandi marking Heskey, and he did well to win the ball as it fell, and it bounced easy for Seaman to gather. Parlour won our first corner on 55 minutes (mind you they'd only had 2). It was played back to Malz who tried to tee it up for a shot but took about 10 times as long as you'll ever get in a game like this. Then a Parlour cross from deep on the right came through to Suker on the far side and his first-time shot went a yard wide of the left-hand post. It looked bad, but not only did the cross take a slight deflection on its way through, but also Henry only just missed it in front of Suker. So it wasn;t the easiest of chances (that came later...). Malz lost the ball to Oakes in the centre circle and tripped him rather obviously to stop him getting away. For once Riley had no choice but to pull out the yellow card. Half an hour to go (in normal time), and a high Parlour cross from the left saw Vieira penalised for climbing on Savage at the far post. Paddy's looping header came down in the goal-mouth where it probably would have been cleared anyway. Then Petit saw a good effort from the D go over, having to reach up to get the shot in on a bouncing ball. 67 minutes, and Hughes came on for Malz. Almost immediately a ricochet nearly fell for Suker int he box but Elliott did well to get in and put it out for a corner. By this stage Leicester had virtually stopped attacking the ball in our half, and it started to become clear (to those who didn't realise it before the game started) that they'd be happy for it to go to penalties. They brought Graham Fenton on for Guppy, perhaps accepting that Heskey wasn't going to beat Keown and Grimandi to his crosses. Then an Arsenal corner from the left came out to Keown just inside the box, and he shaped up like someone who did it all the time, to strike a fantastic volley goalwards. Flowers made a good parry. 15 minutes to go and a slip by Grimandi nearly let Fenton into a dangerous position on the right of our penalty area. But Hughes raced back well to get in a covering challenge. 2 minutes later and Suker had probably the best chance. A Hughes cross was whipped in from the left and Gilchrist fell on it in the 6 yard box. But it came through nicely to Suker who skied it from point-blank range. To be fair Flowers had done well to throw himself in front of it but it was a bit shocking to see Davor miss the target by so far from so near. He tried to deflect the embarassment by claiming handball against the defender. Vieira fed Silvinho in the box on the left and he cut it back to Suker just to the left of the spot. This time he hit a crackign shot which was bound for the roof of the net but Flowers made a great save. From the corner Grimandi brought the clearance down nicely and chipped it goalwards but Elliott was on hand to head clear again. Then with 8 minutes left a Petit cross from the right was headed goalwards at close range by Vieira. Flowers got down to make a good save and then smothered it again when the ball came back to Vieira just wide of the post. This time it came out to Suker who smashed it in only to see Savage clear it off the line, onto the bar, and out for another corner. Floewers appeared to have hurt himself slightly. Some other stuff happened in extra time which I'll fill in later (got to go to lunch now!). Arphexad came on for Flowers at the start of the second period, and it proved to be a good move. When penalties came around Dixon missed our second one with a weak shot to the centre. Suker had put the first away with aplomb, then Hughes did likewise, and Parlour's just squeezed between the post and keeper's dive. Meanwhile Leciester's first four had hit theirs in with little trouble. But Seaman made a good dsave from Oakes's fifth and Henry banged our fith in to make it 4-4 and take it into sudden death. The City sub Campbell scored, as did the rather nervous-looking (subsequently rather releieved-looking!) Vieira. Then Heskey banged his down the middle, and Grimandi's was saved well. All over for another year.
Result : Leicester (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 0
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Silvinho, Keown, Grimandi; Petit,
Vieira, Malz, Parlour; Suker, Henry
Subs: Hughes (Malz 68), Barrett, Luzhny, Winterburn, Manninger
Booked: Malz
Leicester: Flowers, Taggart, Gilchrist, Elliott, Guppy, Gunnlaugsson,
Savage, Oakes, Zagorakis, Heskey, Eadie
Subs: Fenton (Guppy 71), Campbell (Eadie 85),
Arphexad (Flowers 105), Goodwin, Jordan
Att: 15235
Ref: Mike Riley (Leeds)
Another predictably dour and grim battle at Filbert St in which
Leicester predictably won the penalty shoot-out they were basically
playing for. Arsenal never really got going apart from a 20 minute spell
at the end of the second half when they created enough chances to have
won by 2 or 3, only to come up against a keeper in inspired form.
In the first half nothing much happened. Leicester opened quite brightly and for the opening 20 minutes or so at least made a token effort at trying to win the game. Early on a sloppy pass in midfield gave Eadie the chance to break clear but he dragged a left foot shot wide of the far post. Later Heskey forced Seaman into a sharp save down at his near post and that was more or less the sum total of the excitement of the first half. Arsenal gradually gained control and dominated the last 20 minutes but failed to create anything really clear cut. The second half continued the way the first had left off, Arsenal controlling the ball and Leicester seeing less and less of it. The Gunners finally got going midway through the half. Parlour got away down the right and crossed low to pick out Suker a few yards inside the area, but the Croat mishit his right foot shot and the best chance of the evening thus far bobbled a couple of feet wide. Vieira then got the ball over the line with a looping header from another Parlour cross, but the ref penalised him for what looked a non-existent push on a defender. With 15 minutes to go Arsenal started looking certain to score as the tally of chances and astonishing saves mounted. Keown hammered in a tremendous volley off a partially cleared corner which Flowers somehow deflected over the bar. Then Hughes got away down the left and pulled a cross back along the 6yd line which Gilchrist desperately tried to scramble away, using a hand to try and aid the process. He didn't succeed though and the ball fell perfectly for Suker just behind him. Three yards out on his left foot this time there seemed no way he couldn't score, but somehow he managed to lift the ball over the bar. Then the best move of the match created another great chance for Suker. Silvinho played a lovely exchange of passes with Vieira to get into the box and cut the ball back for Suker, who struck a terrific shot from 12 yards on target this time. Once again though, Flowers was equal to it, somehow reacting to brilliantly palm the ball wide. Finally there was an incredible sequence of chances when the ball somehow stayed out of the net. Petit floated in a diagonal ball from the right which found Vieira's run into the middle, and his glancing header appeared goalbound until Flowers pulled off another astonishing one-handed save. The keeper then blocked Vieira's attempt to squeeze in the rebound from a tight angle, and Suker picked up the subsequent rebound. He dragged the ball round one defender and whacked a right foot shot in from just outside the 6yd box, but with Flowers helpless Savage was guarding the line and somehow managed to deflect the shot over the bar with his head. In extra time the match lapsed back into the previous routine, Arsenal dominated possession but didn't create much, Henry wasting the only decent chance, created for him by Petit, with a dreadful first touch which allowed the sub keeper Arphexad to come out and smother. Leicester shuffled their team in a bewildering manner, Savage appearing to go into central defence, Elliot up front and Gunnlaugsson to left back. Henry got frustrated and slyly tapped Savage on the ankle off the ball, which allowed Savage to feign injury and waste a bit of time, and got the home fans and players worked up about nothing. And so inexorably to penalties. I told my mate we might as well leave at the start, though to be fair, bar Dixon's, Arsenal's penalties were all pretty good, and Seaman made a great save from what would have been the winning kick from Oakes. There was a depressing inevitability about it all though, and ultimately it was a somewhat disappointing performance from Arsenal, despite that 20 minute spell having been enough normally to have won the match twice over.
Seaman 7.5 Penalties aside he only had two difficult saves to
make, which he did well, to add to his one penalty
save.
Dixon 7.5 Had another reasonable game, apart from the penalty
and a couple of rash long range shots.
Silvinho 7.5 Also had another competent game, apart from a couple
of poor crosses when put clear in extra time.
Grimandi 8.0 Another solid and composed game overall, even his
penalty was pretty good.
Keown 8.0 Probably his best game since returning from injury.
Petit 7.0 Sloppy at times and occasionally even uninterested,
though perhaps through tiredness he spent a lot of
extra time quite far forward and looked the most
likely to open things up.
Vieira 8.0 Also looked rather sloppy and offkey early on but got
progressively better as the match went on and ended in
near total control of midfield.
Parlour 7.5 As willing and positive as ever.
Malz 6.5 Not a natural left winger, and often wanted too much
time on the ball.
Hughes 7.5 Did reasonably well I thought, and worked pretty hard.
Henry 6.5 Never quite got going, and then disappeared in extra
time after his contretemps with Savage.
Suker 6.0 From the sublime of Sunday to the ridiculous. Also
never really got into the match and didn't relish the
physical battle with Taggart et al.
Derek
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