FA Cup: Arsenal/ Spurs match report
Arsenal 2 Tottenham 1
Tottenham may have changed their owners and their manager, and have spoken of messiahs and new dawns, but Arsenal’s stranglehold of power in north London shows no signs of loosening.
Utterly dominant in their FA Cup semi-final at Old Trafford, the Gunners wasted more openings in one game than Tottenham have lately managed to create in a whole month.
But even though keeper Neil Sullivan was also outstanding, there was no miracle for supposed Spurs saviour Glenn Hoddle in his first match in charge as Robert Pires eventually clinched victory with 17 minutes left.
Tottenham had somehow managed to seize the lead after just 13 minutes with their first attack, as Gary Doherty headed past David Seaman.
But an already patched-up Spurs were fatally weakened when Sol Campbell went off injured after a foul on Ray Parlour, and Patrick Vieira was thereby allowed the space to head home the equaliser on 34 minutes.
In a cup tie packed with passion and goalmouth incident, if rather low on technical quality, Vieira was Arsenal’s inspiration from then on as they controlled a one-sided second half and eventually made the second breakthrough.
And so the French connection of Vieira and Pires ensured that while Tottenham’s season is now over, Arsenal will continue to fight on three fronts Premiership, Champions League and now FA Cup final.
George Graham may have taken Tottenham to the semi-final but Hoddle was unable to guide them any further and his era as manager must wait for evolution rather than experiencing an immediate galvanising revolution.
Hoddle was admittedly only given clearance to join Spurs six days beforehand, giving him limited scope for influence.
With five players - including Campbell - back after missing last weekend’s 2-0 league defeat at Arsenal, he did make his mark on Spurs’ tactics with a 3-4-3 formation.
With Steffen Iversen and Sergei Rebrov out wide, that placed the onus on Tim Sherwood and Stephen Clemence to control central midfield as well as Les Ferdinand to provide the attacking fulcrum.
Defensive cracks were immediately apparent, with Wiltord shooting just off target and Lee Dixon testing Sullivan as Campbell attempted to steady his side and Hoddle coached vigorously from the touchline.
However, they still made the breakthrough on 13 minutes when Les Ferdinand spun and sent in a shot which Seaman did well to block only for the ball to rebound to Iversen inside the penalty area.
The Norwegian international mishit the ball but it went straight to Doherty, standing unmarked about eight yards out, and he headed home.
Stephen Carr celebrated rather provocatively in front of the Arsenal fans but he soon had more defending to do as Arsenal responded by hauling themselves back into the game.
On a pitch that was rapidly cutting up, both sides were giving away possession, but the goalmouth action intensified only for Arsenal’s finishing to let them down.
With Thierry Henry strangely subdued, Pires robbed Clemence but shot straight at Sullivan, who also saved from Dixon at the far post, while the impressive Ray Parlour missed his kick in front of goal.
However, when Campbell chose to block Parlour as the midfielder raced down the touchline, little can the Spurs captain have realised that it would prove the turning-point of the game.
Not only was Campbell booked but he also aggravated the ankle injury from which he had previously been struggling.
Off the pitch receiving treatment when the ensuing free-kick was taken, his defensive presence was sorely missed as Vieira rose high to head home the equaliser on 34 minutes.
And despite the frantic efforts of the Tottenham medical staff to strap him up, he was eventually forced out of the action and replaced by Ledley King.
The young defender took time to adapt to the frantic pace as Parlour glided past him only to flash a shot just wide.
And with Hoddle sticking rigidly to his tactical plan and his side increasingly pushed onto the back foot, they were defending too deep and conceding possession and space to Arsenal.
Ferdinand, who foraged tirelessly, was isolated up front and while Rebrov spun and shot just wide shortly before the break, that was only their second real effort of the game with their goal having been the first.
The Ukraine international tried his luck again after the break but Arsenal were by now firmly in command as Silvinho and Henry both threatened.
Still the Gunners did not make the breakthrough, with Perry rising to the occasion and Sullivan in inspired form as he denied Wiltord as the striker broke clean through.
Hoddle brought on Oyvind Leonhardsen for Ferdinand, who was presumably injured, switched to a more conventional 3-5-2 and urged his defence forward.
He might as well have asked the Arsenal fans to sit down though, as they sensed blood with their side incessantly pressing forward.
How Arsenal did not score at this stage was a mystery. Henry headed wide, Parlour was even more profligate from close range and Sullivan’s heroics continued as he denied Pires.
The irony was that it was only when Tottenham finally started to show any attacking enterprise of their own that Arsenal finally found their cutting edge with 17 minutes left.
Stretching Hoddle’s side to breaking point on the counter-attack, Wiltord reached the byline and Pires this time could not miss with a tap-in from close range.
Arsenal were undeniably sloppy in the last 15 minutes as Tottenham pressed gamely for an equaliser, squandering possession on several occasions
On the ground where they suffered one of the lowest points of their season thrashed 6-1 by Manchester United they experienced redress by inflicting one of the most bitter possible blows on Tottenham.
The year may end in a ‘1’ but just as Hoddle’s last game as a Spurs player ended in FA Cup defeat at Wembley in 1987 so too has his first match as manager.
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