Main Page

Arsenal	3 - 0	Newcastle United
Half time:	2 - 0
Score Sheet:
(2) Pires (9) Bergkamp (50) Campbell
	Teams
Wright Luzhny Campbell Adams Cole Ljungberg Vieira Edu Pires Bergkamp Wiltord		Given Hughes Distin Dabizas O'Brien Solano Dyer Robert Acuña Shearer Cort
Substitutes:
(27) Grimandi for Pires (70) Jeffers for Edu (78) Dixon for Wiltord		LuaLua for Cort (84) Kerr for Acuña (84) Elliott for Distin (84)
Subs not used:
Seaman Kanu		Harper Bernard
Bookings:
Luzhny (64)		Distin (16)
Sendings off:
n/a		n/a
Referee: Uriah Rennie - to be honest, he didn't do a great deal wrong, although Mrs Wendy Toms on the line appeared to be signalling to her husband at times - some of her offside flags were baffling.
Attendance: 38,073 Toon fans had the whole Clock end.

62 secs Bergkamp took the ball through the middle and with ref Rennie waving play-on after the ball hit Andy O'Brien's hand he sprayed it left to Robert Pires. The Frenchman had ample time to sweep the ball past Shay Given into the far corner. 0-1

9 mins Nolberto Solano wasted a good free-kick and when Wright released the ball down the left Sylvain Distin missed a crucial challenge. Pires beat the offside trap and with Dennis Bergkamp alone in the middle once the ball was squared he had the simplest of tasks to tap in from six yards. 0-2

Half time: Arsenal 2 Newcastle 0

50 mins Once again Sol Campbell won an aerial battle with Nicos Dabizas and as the ball was played in from a free-kick on the right he powered a header past Given in front of the North Bank. 0-3

Full time: Arsenal 3 Newcastle 0

Uncle Bobby said: 

"It was not a great day for us. Believe or not we had even talked about not conceding an early goal.

"It was a wretched start and the second goal came very quickly after that. Dennis Bergkamp is a genius - we couldn't control him - and we didn't have one. They were far more intelligent with far better movement.

"It is a sad day for us. The fans got up at four in the morning, we got up 15 minutes after the kick-off.

"I have to pick the players up again. We are fourth in the table and have a match against Everton on Friday. The players have been magnificent for most of the season but they are despondent, dispirited and sick about what happened."

About Dyer: 

"He had a masterful game. It was a nice little performance. He is a plus for us.

"Sven-Goran Eriksson had a word before the game. We have been told by the specialist that he can't play two games in a week so there is no way he can play for England.

"If he wants to join in and go with team that is fine by me though."

Arsene Wenger said: 

"Dennis Bergkamp was brilliant. Everything he did was intelligent, clean and sharp. It was marvellous to watch, with perfect execution and intelligence.

"We had a very short recovery time since Juventus but the players responded very well. The players were magnificent for the 90 minutes, showing great desire and fighting spirit.

"After going 2-0 up we suffered for 25 minutes but the second half was all us. The third goal killed the game."

This was our 149th competitive game against the Gunners, more than any other side. 

Campbell's goal was the 209th they've hit against us - three more than Spurs, but still some way behind Villa (217), Man United (242) and Liverpool (244).

We've still not won an FA Cup game in London since 1956, when we slipped past Fulham by 5 goals to 4 at Craven Cottage. Uncle Bobby might just remember that one.....

NB: We've not counted the victory over Hendon as it was played at Watford, which is never used in London stats.

Since then:

1956-57 Millwall lost 1-2
1973-74 Liverpool lost 0-3 (Wembley)
1975-76 QPR drew 0-0
1986-87 Spurs lost 0-1
1995-96 Chelsea drew 1-1
1996-97 Charlton drew 1-1
1997-98 Arsenal lost 0-2 (Wembley)
1998/99 Man Utd (Wembley)
1999-00 Spurs drew 1-1
1999-00 Chelsea lost 1-2 (Wembley SF)
2001-02 Arsenal lost 0-3

A defeat for Brian Kerr in his third Newcastle appearance, all of them away from home (the others being wins away at Coventry in Sept 2000 and at Peterborough this season.)

We may be in something of a rut at present, but our five game winless run was exceeded last season, when we endured a series of seven games without recording a maximum return, from 31st January to 14th April: Chelsea (a) lost 1-3, Charlton (a) lost 0-2, Man City (h) lost 0-1, Everton (a) drew 1-1, Boro (h) lost 1-2, Bradford (a) drew 2-2, Ipswich (a) lost 0-1. We returned to winning ways with a 2-1 home win over west Ham on April 16th. 

They may have closed Wembley, but our almost-annual pilgrimage and consequent humiliation in the North London sunshine was relocated to Highbury.

Fulfilling the ancient lore of the prophet Robert (an old mucker of Methuselah), the believers came from far and wide, and lo there was much grinding and gnashing of teeth as the sacrifice began with the sun at its highest.

Yes, a display and result so familiar that it could have come from the Old Testament. As if we'd never seen Bergkamp and Co. before, despite having met them most weekends lately, we stood transfixed as red shirts glided by us, bearing down on the visiting fans like a pack of wolves, and famished ones at that....

Never mind Tony Blair banning them blokes with horses and dogs, this sort of spectacle should be outlawed forthwith. In front of an audience including women and children, a scene of carnage on the edge of our penalty area was beamed into the homes of innocent citizens across the planet. The lack of blood made it no less gory as we were ritually dismembered. And they looked like they were enjoying it as well, the bounders.

At 2-0 down almost before breath had been drawn, I felt like I'd been hit by a steamroller  and it wasn't just the hearty navvies breakfast of Guinness doing it's dirty work either. 

After that defeat in Turin on Wednesday, the prospect of putting matters right against us must have had the Arsenal players salivating with anticipation. It's fair to say we were something of a soft target, and ripe for the picking. 

No wonder Dabizas looked worried - if Highbury was the Coliseum and Bergkamp the gladiator, then he must have been looking to see when the lions were being unleashed. Arsene Wenger chose normal attire for his pitchside position, but could have been excused for donning toga and laurel band - and I'm sure I saw him give Pires the thumbs down when he went past on the stretcher....      

One or two hopeful shouts for subs to be ushered on were heard around me - quite frankly unless Batman and Robin were sitting behind uncle Bobby, it wouldn't have mattered - that's not to say that our three man tag team replacement with six minutes left wasn't a contender for most futile gesture of the season though. 

So, 0-2 behind, the Toon fans numb with shock and the home mob settling in their seats for more ritual humiliation, things didn't look over clever.

However, as the Gunners basked in their lead and the spring sunshine, we began to show a hint of not being totally KO'd by the early blows inflicted. Had we managed to scrape a goal back through one of our several half-chances, events could then have taken a slightly different turn. 

I doubt it though.

As it was, we arrived at half time without making the breakthrough, but having stemmed the tide and seen Pires depart from the action. Down but not out then.

Unfortunately any slim hopes of a revival were dashed as our Rip Van Winkle imitators shambled out for the second half and promptly conceded the killer third. Thank you and good night. No Smoggy semi, no Cardiff crusade, only the prospect of further pain and torture for the remaining 40 minutes. That the final score stayed 3-0 is testament to the gradual slackening of Arsenal's grip on a match that they still held by the scruff of the neck.

In the dark of St.James' Park, all things had seemed possible, even without Bellamy and with the lumbering Cort. However, the failure to take our chances then cost us dear. This was Arsenal's day, maybe Arsenal's year. 

The worst part of losing (apart from the chance to blow yet more cash on lost weekends and M6/ M4 traffic jams) is that we again showed that all those two-bob two-bit pundits like Rodney Marsh and Brian bloody Marwood were right - we had a purple patch but our predicted fall from grace was rapid, our fragility only too evident. Doesn't make it any more tolerable though, the smug herberts.  

The differences between the two sides? Dead simple really.

They were better organised, able to call on better replacements (remember, no Henry yet again) and demonstrated a single-minded professionalism that bordered on the sadistic. Their work done, they could once again lapse back into a semi-coma, safe in the knowledge that they could keep us out or step through the gears again if we got within touching distance.

We're a wee bit more romantic, not as heartless and gatecrashers at the big boys party. Got the ground, got the fans, got some of the players, got the boss, but lack the killer instinct and the star quality. 

The players might not all know the script, but the people who got up at 3am to stand behind the goal were word perfect. It's very difficult to think oneself into a role - we're more familiar with the mental strain of failure because we've been underachieving for so long. 

Reading interviews with Liverpool players after their season of trophy winning revealed that even old heads like McAllister needed to learn how to win again, and couldn't conjure up that mentality from within themselves. What chance have our lot got then, with nought but a couple of championship medals to rub together?

Victories at Leeds, Arsenal and Spurs may have surprised the players - I know they absolutely staggered me. There's a lack of conviction somewhere (and that's not a cheap shot at messrs Dyer and Bellamy.) 

Teams have good days and bad days throughout a season,  and we are no exception. What appears to have foxed us is that we had all ours in one chunk, and have now been embroiled in a four game sequence with Arsenal and Liverpool that sapped strength and confidence as our failings were ruthlessly exposed. The Ipswich game was just a higher power somewhere sinking a few beers with his celestial mates and having a laugh at us.....

Resorting to cliches, it's vitally important that we now get laid into the teams lining up to take pot shots at us, to exorcise what's gone on since the victory on Wearside. A real streak of belligerence has to be uncovered - something we've not shown for any great period of time this season.

The likes of Derby, Everton and Charlton are not good teams, it's up to us to take the scenario from Highbury into those games and cast them in the role of Newcastle - hapless and helpless.

But please, punch anyone who tells you we've got 8 cup finals to play - if that's the case I'm away home now, given our record in letting other people tie their ribbons to silverware before skulking away for yet more losers parades.

Nobody wants to see Leeds or Chelsea in the Champions League. if we're going to grow and develop (and attract talented mercenaries on huge wages) we have to be in there to gain the experience. The same goes for next season in the League. 

I don't mind losing if we learn from it and progress as a consequence. I'm afraid though that I walked down the Holloway Road thinking we're as far away as ever we were. Sad. Maybe what I always thought is actually true - we're just fated never to do it.

See you there on Friday.     

Biffa

Back to Main Page