By Myles Palmer
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BIG CLUBS often dip before the Champions League.
Feb 22/23 is a massive date in their calendars.
Many superstars are rested.
I always look to see who dips and who doesn’t.
ARSENAL dipped.
REAL MADRID dipped horribly.
AC MILAN won 1-0 in the 93rd minute to go top on goal difference.
JUVENTUS only drew 0-0 with Messina.
MAN UNITED won 2-0 at Everton.
BARCELONA’S Deco got both in a 2-0 v Mallorca.
BAYERN MUNICH hammered Borussia Dortmund 5-0.
THE FA CUP is the only trophy Arsenal can win, as I said last month. That has not changed and will not change.
But Arsene played a young team and made Dennis Bergkamp captain.
The team was : Manuel Almunia, Emmanuel Eboue,Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy, Fredrik Ljungberg, Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Jose Antonio Reyes , Dennis Bergkamp and Robin Van Persie.
It was Arsene’s 50th FA Cup tie and he knew it would be physical.
The implied message to Dennis was, “Pat’s not playing, Sol’s not, Theirry’s not, Robert’s on the bench if we need him, it’s up to you to get us through to the next round.”
When Sheffield United whipped in an early cross after a short corner, Andy Gray sent a header towards Amunia’s right knee – and he fumbled it away.
Ljungberg picked out van Persie with a good cross, but the kid hit a weak shot. You hoped that young Robin would improve as the game went on. Alas, he didn’t.
Moments later, Fabregas was in but he lifted his shot over keeper Paddy Kenny.
When Jagielka pushed van Persie the Dutchman got him in a headlock. It looked as if the lad would not last 90 minutes.Would he keep his hands to himself for the rest of the game?
After 25, Flamini broke and Freddie set up Dennis for a sweet shot but it skimmed the bar.
Reyes had one shot saved, then another.
Then defender Lee Bromby was allowed a free header from a right wing free-kick.
No defender within five yards of him!
Luckily for Arsenal, Bromby mistimed the header and the ball looped high and wide.
Then skinhead centreback Danny Cullip tangled with Fabregas and stamped on his head. Accidentally on purpose.
Nationwide defenders are clumsy, but most know where their feet are at any given moment, and can move their feet in mid-air.
Bergkamp, outraged, grabbed Cullip by the throat, momentarily, and was sent off.
If you raise your hands in football, you give the referee the opportunity to show you a red card.
That red card was a bit harsh, given the dangerous nature of the head-stamp which inspired DB10’s fury.
After 42, Sheff United had a good goal disallowed.
Long throw, Cullip’s header looped beyond Almunia and dropped into the far corner of the goal. Ref Neale Barry gave a push. Why?
A wild tackle by Fabregas hurt Montgomery and he was cautioned.
The tackle was a bit similar to the one by Frank Lampard which broke Xabi Alonso’s leg.
After 63, Reyes should have had a penalty after being brought down.
It was one of those Giggs-Rooney-Robben moves : stop suddenly in the box, check back, the defender is committed before you stop and he clatters you.
Sometimes you get the penalty, sometimes you don’t.
Moments later Reyes got a yellow for a slightly over-enthusiastic tackle. It wasn’t dangerous, but it was borderline and no Champions League ref would tolerate that challenge,
IN 65, PIRES came on for van Persie and scored after some cool creativity by Reyes, whose craftsmanship allowed Flamini time to make a good run into the box.
Flamini’s shot came back off Kenny and Pires tapped it in.
After 78 minutes, 1-0 to the Arsenal.
Cygan for Reyes was one of those dodgy late substitutions managers make to hold onto a lead.
Taking off a striker in the last five minutes is risky.
Arsene has done it a lot over the last eight years and it has often backfired, as it did here.
Cygan made a poor clearance, the ball was volleyed back into the mix and, as Senderos challenged, the ball hit his upper arm.
It was ball to arm, no intent. But if your arms are up, you are gambling. The man is four feet away and you don’t have time to move your arm away.
It was harsh, but that is FA Cup football.
Those incidents are a penalty if the ref sees the ball hit your arm.
Andy Gray slotted for 1-1.
The replay is at Bramall Lane on Tuesday March 1st.
ARSENAL had improved in the second half, especially after van Persie went off.
They were a man down but they didn’t miss the man too much. Their skill compensated for having only ten men. What they missed was the man’s experience.
Arsenal needed the experience of Bergkamp in that period between 36 and 95.Playing an hour without his experience was what prevented them from winning.
WAYNE ROONEY handled his return to Goodison very well, really. He played well but didn’t score.
Cristiano Ronaldo crossed for the first goal, popped in the second, and hit a terrific shot which forced Nigel Martyn to make a great save.
Ronaldo is an excellent player, improving rapidly, becoming reliable.
He has bottle. He can’t be kicked out of a game. He keeps coming back for more.
Be interesting to see what Ron and Roo can do against the aristocrats of Milan. They don’t look scared of anybody.
Man United?
Very professional. I was impressed. They did exactly what I expected them to do. I had a bet on them.
Will they beat AC Milan at Old Trafford?
Well, Shevchenko fractured his cheekbone after 11 minutes against Cagliari. You could see the big swelling on his face as he went off.
Crespo came on and stumbled around.
Crespo was great at Parma for 4 years, average at Lazio, useless at Chelski.
His game, when he was good, was based on enthusiasm, tenacity, bravery.
Crespo won’t get a kick against Man United. He won’t want to know. He is a plonker these days.
KAKA could be black and blue by the end of the night.
It will be interesting to see how much Man United kick Kaka. Are they good enough to kick him? How much fouling will the ref allow?
Milan have huge experience at the back with Stam, Maldini, Pancaro, Cafu.
Stam back at Old Trafford? Hope he scores!
And Dida is an awesome big keeper with phenomenal hands.
Will Nesta be back? If he is, will it make a difference?
How great is Nesta, really?
REAL MADRID rested Zidane, Raul and Ronaldo.
Owen started and was dire, Guti no help to him in a half-striker role.
They had a lucky escape when a 30-yard shot from Bilbao’s Orbaiz hit the underside and bounced a foot behind the line.
No linesman or ref could have spotted that the ball was over and the backspin brought the ball back into play.
Left back del Horno headed in a right wing cross in 58 and then Luxemburgo made a triple substitution, bringing on Zidane, Ronaldo and Raul.
Then Iraola made it 2-0 for Bilbao.
A striker to watch, a 22-year old.
He made good run, just onside, took a great pass and produced a very cool finish past Casillas. The way Iraola scored was pure class.
Casillas makes a lot of miracle saves, but not this time, amigo.
That goal may have ended Madrid’s title challenge, as Barca are seven points ahead now.
LUXEMBURGO has only been there since December 31st and has improved their fitness and organisation and won his first seven La Liga games.
No mean feat, even with the resources at his disposal.
But he rested his superstars.
And Real Madrid dipped.
Frank Rijkaard played his full team and Barca beat Mallorca 2-0.
February 20th 2005.