By Myles Palmer
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Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2
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Edu 15
Seaman saved Gareth Barry penalty 55
Pires 60
Dublin 69
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Premiership title? It’s in Arsenal’s hands.
Champions League? It’s out of their hands.
Schmeichel spilled Wiltord’s powerful free-kick, Vieira spun off the wall to ram in the rebound and Edu slotted the second rebound to put Arsenal 1-0 up.
It began as a dreary game on a drizzly day and Lauren seemed badly injured by Delaney’s tackle after 30 minutes. Then Stepanovs went off for treatment to a groin strain.
Dixon replaced the Latvian at half-time.
Dublin and Hadji came on for Vassell and Kachloul.
Graham Taylor did that a lot for England – waited till half-time to pick his team.
Vieira was tackled by tenacious German kid Thomas Hitzlsperger, lost the ball, and Gareth Barry broke into the box.
Lee Dixon raced back to cover and clumsily brought him down.
Barry hit the penalty well but Seaman made a MAGNIFICENT right-handed save and then snatched the rebound.
So Seaman got his long-time roommate out of jail on his(Dixon’s) 38th birthday. A moment both men will remember for a long time.
First half, Freddie Ljungberg had struggled to get his passes in.
Then, on the hour, he picked out Pires with a 40-yard crossfield ball.
Pires flicked the ball past last man Boateng, let it bounce twice, and cunningly lobbed Schmeichel for a priceless second goal which took the pressure off his team.
Bergkamp played pretty well but could not get hold of a shot all day.
When Hadji crossed from the left wing Campbell allowed Dubin to do to him what he did to Dabizas at Newcastle when he nodded in Bergkamp’s free-kick.
Dublin nipped in front of him and sent a close-range header flashing into the net off Seaman’s thigh.
Sky’s Martin Tyler twice commented on the fury of Wenger when Wiltord ran offside to kill promising attacks.Who would be a manager at such moments of intense frustration?
Overall, a very fine victory by the boys. They showed plenty of stamina and bottle.
Yes, it was untidy and scrappy and they perversely insisted on attacking down the muddy, sticky middle of the field, where the ball would not run smoothly.
With Ashley Cole and Thierry Henry available they would have used the left flank to far greater effect.
So, compared to a normal Arsenal game, it was hard work to watch.
You thought:If only they had more organisation at the back !
But, sadly, the defence has been an audition this season, not a cast.Changes,changes and more changes.
This game was the defensive season in miniature, with Luzhny switching from right back to centreback after half-time.
So Arsenal lived dangerously at times and they will be living dangerously for the rest of March and April at least.
It’s crazy to compare this team to the 1998 team.That side could keep clean sheets. This team cannot keep clean sheets – but they score in every game.
In 1998 a game was almost always finished if Arsenal went a goal up. Nowadays the match starts when the first goal goes in.
The fact that Edu has just scored two goals in two starts might make Arsene think about starting him in Turin on Wednesday night.
Juventus are out of the Champions League after five games.
One tabloid story today said Juve cannot motivate themselves for the Arsenal game. The headline was:CAN’T BE ARSED.
David Trezeguet might call his mate on the mobile today and say, “I can’t win it Thierry, but you can, so good luck to you mon ami. If I get a header, I’ll put it wide!”
17th March 2002.