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PSV
lineup: Waterreus - Bøgelund, Ooijer, Hofland, Heintze - Rommedahl, Van
Bommel, Vogel, Bouma - Bruggink, Kezman.
Arsenal
lineup: Seaman - Keown, Campbell, A. Cole - Etame Mayer, Silva, Vieira,
Ljungberg - Wiltord, Bergkamp, Henry.
What a shock - Arsenal went ahead straight
from the kickoff! A blunder by Vogel, 20 seconds into the match, sent Henry
speeding through the defensive lines. He passed to Silva who made it look
simple ....0-1. PSV fought back, showing they also had skills, could also
attack and Bruggink had a goal disallowed for hands-ball only two
minutes later. In the 5th minute Rommedahl crossed and Kezman lunged but his
header went past. The Yugoslav had another goal disallowed for offside in
the 11th. Five minutes later Kezman should have struck with lightning speed
at a Bouma cross but gave the ball to Bruggink who couldn't get it past the
defenders. In the 24th Kezman was fed a through ball, broke free and
attempted to score but his run at goal was stopped by Seaman. The best of
the chances were definitely for the home team and Bruggink screamed a
freekick over in the 33rd. Kezman headed just wide in the 37th as PSV kept
up the pressure - surely they were going to score? Kevin Hofland was carried
off in the 44th with an obviously painful ankle injury. PSV held onto the
ball through first-half injury time to give the defender the chance to
recover.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink came out after the break for Hofland and PSV went
on the attack but were also subjected to another early
attack on goal by The Gunners, only Wiltord's attempt was stopped by
Waterreus. Arsenal looked sharper than before the break and threatened to
get a second goal so it it was no real surprise when it came. Again another
defensive blunder, by the young Leandro who'd replaced the unhappy Vogel,
cost PSV the match in the 66th minute as
Ljungberg popped the ball over Waterreus. Henry dashed any hopes of any kind
of PSV recovery with a goal in the 81st, Kanu finding the gap and the French
striker finishing it off. Arsenal kept up the pressure on a broken PSV
lineup that had to cling on to prevent any more balls finding their way to
the back of the net. Unfortunately they didn't succeed and Henry made it 0-4
in injury-time. A humiliating result for Guus Hiddink and his men who
deserved better against an opponent who were decidedly sub-standard for much
of the match but who proved to be deadly when it mattered most.
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