By Myles Palmer
_____________________________________________
Arsenal 1 Sheffield United 0
Southampton 2 Watford 1
Real Socieded 4 Real Madrid 2
_____________________________________________
Watched too much football on Sunday.
But it got more appetising as the day progressed.
The Arsenal game was like an apple, Southampton like a ham sandwich, and Sociedad was spicy lemon chicken a la Jamie Oliver.
Let’s face it, FA Cup semi-finals are scrappy.
Every April we watch scrappy semis and then we forget how scrappy they were.
So next year we expect a stylish victory or an end-to-end contest.
Basically, Arsenal’s midfield did not function well enough to give Jeffers and Wiltord much service.
Edu was sloppy.
How many times did Edu allow somebody to run up alongside him and pinch the ball?
The playmaking was down to him, since Pires and Bergkamp were absent.
Edu wanted to take his time and make the right pass. But he kept being dispossesed.
The three front men grafted to create the 34th minute goal.
Jeffers did well to cut the ball across the six yard box, Wiltord did well to chase his shot after it hit the post, and Ljungberg did well to keep his shot down.
As Freddie lunged towards the ball, six yards out, off balance,left foot……I thought he might shoot over the bar.
But he hit the ball just under the bar and that was enough to take him back to Cardiff.
That and Seaman’s supersave in 84 minutes.
Seaman has 20 years experience and very long arms.The ball looked in, but he clawed it away.
A moment of amazing drama in a dull game.
Pleased that Southampton will be in the UEFA Cup next season.
Rupert Lowe is a decent chairman and the quirky Gordon Strachan knows the game and believes in good football.
The Saints need the attention, the glory, the money.
It’s a shame they don’t have more Scots in the side.
Who can forget those three killer passes by Jim McCalliog against Man United in 1976 ?
In a game as tight as that, those three passes were gold dust.
And one of them created the goal for little Bobby Stokes.
I try not to write the obvious, but love gambling on the obvious,so I won bets on Arsenal and Southampton.
Also fancied Deportivo to win at the Nou Camp. But I bottled it because I’m a conservative gambler who bets on home teams.
Score? Barcelona 2 Deportivo La Coruna 4.
THE SOCIEDAD GAME WAS ELECTRIFYING.
Kovacevic knocks in a very early goal, De Pedro plays the sweetest ball to the near post and Kovacevic makes it 2-0, the feisty Nihat spurts boldly beyond Hierro to stab in off Casillas for 3-0.
Then Zidane plays a dream-ball, a surreal crossfield pass at a very shallow angle, behind three defenders, and Ronaldo nutmegs Westerveld for 3-1.
WHAT A PASS !
As I’m wondering whether any other player in the world could have seen that pass, let alone played it so perfectly, Xabi Alonso hits a swerving cannonball for 4-1.
Straight from the re-start.
The maestros of Real Madrid are 4-1 down in 35 minutes.
What a game! 10 shots already – and 5 goals !
The artful improvisation and collective intelligence of Spanish football make it aesthetically more pleasing than other leagues.
Later, Portillo came on for Zidane and he made it 4-2 after 84.
The commentator said Valencia were beating Osasuna 1-0,having scored soon after Marchena was sent off in the first minute.
Valencia held on for my third winning bet of the day.
It will be interesting when Arsenal play Socieded next season.
But, as I say, too much football for one day.
The only thing that spoiled the day was the expression on Patrick Vieira’s face when he came off after 56 minutes with a knee injury.
He looked so seriously disappointed. He looked very gloomy.
Patrick obviously hated coming off.Any real footballer would.
When the bionic eye of the electronic camera zoomed into his face, he looked as if he was thinking : this knee ain’t gonna be right by Wednesday.
Since Vieira is the best footballer in the country, since he said on Friday that Arsenal are a better than United and will beat them, Gooners will hardly dare contemplate the prospect of facing Man United without their main man.
Arsenal need three points to go level at the top.
If Vieira plays, and can perform as he did against Everton and Chelsea, then Arsenal will do the double. I reckon.
But if he doesn’t play, they can still win, still do the double.
I’ve got a winding-down feeling now. A long season is almost over.
Only a few more days left.
I have thought for a long time that Arsenal will do the Double.
I still believe that.
Having super-Swede back is vital.
First-goal Freddie scored the goal again and I still believe he will score against United on his birthday.
He is that kind of character.And I believe in that kind of character.
Martin Keown was Arsenal’s best player on Sunday.
Having Keown back is a huge boost.
And Ashley Cole will be glad to get 90 minutes of action under his belt.
ARSENAL WILL DO IT !
But it will be hard work and it might look like hard work.There will be more perspiration than inspiration.
A few ham sandwiches between now and the double Double.
No more banquets.
14th April 2003.