By Myles Palmer
Everton 0 Arsenal 1
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Wiltord 62
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I wonder what Ashley Cole thought of this game.
What did Dennis Bergkamp think, watching at home in Hadleigh Wood?
What did Freddie Ljungberg reckon as he nursed his injured ankle at home in Hampstead?
And I wonder if Robert Pires realised that Arsenal were going to struggle so much without him.
The first half was a shabby, scrappy game played in rain and wind.
David Ginola started, played just behind Kevin Campbell, not on the wing, and did well.
Ginola had a deflected shot saved by Richard Wright and a free-kick which clipped the outside of the post.
But he missed a sitter after 23 minutes, sidefooting wide.
Ginola was lively and menacing for someone who has not played Premiership football this season.Much better than I expected.
Lee Carsley did well too, grafting hard, mixing it with Vieira. Gazza was on the bench.
Arsene’s shock selection was centreback Stepanovs,who was unluckily booked for a tackle after 13 minutes.
Seaman, Dixon and Jeffers were among the subs.
Sol Campbell made his silliest tackle so far in an Arsenal shirt, going to ground far too soon, bringing down Kevin Campbell.So he deserved his yellow card.
But after that Sol played very well and held the defence together, even though it’s never pretty to watch a team that can’t pass the ball and has to improvise in defence.
I never felt Sol would get a second yellow.
He has a knack of playing athletically, and robustly, but not riskily, so I didn’t expect him to be sent off, even though there were still 70-odd minutes to play after he was cautioned.
But Arsenal were very poor in the first half. They had one shot, a weak one by Henry.
It was, without Pires, a performance with no fluidity, no tempo,no threat on goal.
Everton, amazingly, were the better side in the first half.
Lee Dixon came on as a sub for the injured Upson, with Luzhny switching to left back.
Dixon gave the team a bit of verve and swagger, which it badly needed.
He clattered Ginola, fiercely, just before half time.
After 55 minutes you were waiting for Gazza to come on, waiting for Jeffers.
Parlour’s crossing was atrocious. But nobody moved towards his crosses, which made them look even worse.
Then Vieira played a lovely chipped pass on the right.
The ball floated down three yards outside the corner of the six yard box and Wiltord zipped forward, lunged, and tried an ambitious volley from an awkward position.
It was a half-chance. He swung his right boot and shinned the ball up in the air. It looped across the goalmouth and fell down inside the far post.
So jammy!
A vital goal,a fluke, but give him credit for reaching the ball and being an optimist.
Arsenal played much better in the second half, but after the goal the game fizzled out as they lapsed into more blatant timewasting than I have ever seen from them.
It was nerve-wracking and I wondered what Pires made of it all.
If we suffered, he probably suffered more than we did.
Sky pundit Alan Smith said that Henry was on the left and Wiltord was on the right, so they didn’t play together.
We all know that and have known it for 18 months.
Verdict : Arsenal will rarely play worse and win.
But they kept their 11-match unbeaten run going and maintained the only unbeaten away record in English football.
They are now in good shape for Gillingham next week, and Leverkusen, who beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 5-0 on Saturday after losing four of their last five games.
The Cameroon-Senegal final went to extra time, so I watched those 30 minutes.
Senegal keeper Tony Sylva made a fantastic save in the last minutes from Eto’o.
Five of the ten penalties were missed in the shoot-out.
Cameroon won the shoot-out 3-2 and retained the trophy.
Lauren, as ever, was supercool from the spot.
10th February 2002.