Arsenal 4-2 Sparta Prague Champions League 2000/01 (Highlights)

• Report rights infringement
• published: 11 Jun 2015
• views: 4082

https://www.facebook.com/classicfootballtv Champions League 2000/01 Arsenal - Sparta Praha 4-2 Group stage (Group B ) Highbury - London Goals : Parlour 5',Lauren 7',Dixon 35',Kanu 52'Labant 40' (P),Rosický 90' Arsenal (4-4-2): Seaman; Dixon, Vivas, Luzhny, Silvinho (Cole, h-t); Lauren, Parlour, Vieira, Pires (Bergkamp, 64min); Kanu, Henry (Wiltord, 71). Sparta Prague (3-5-2): Postulka; Hornak, J Novotny, Bolf; Sionko (Papousek, 85), Jarosik, Rosicky, Hasek, Labant; Kincl, Jun (Mynar, h-t). Referee: A Hamer (Luxembourg). "The only disappointment for Arsenal's fans last night was that their side only scored four times. Two up inside seven minutes, Arsène Wenger's players slipped into cruise control and produced only bursts of brilliance to make sure of top spot in Group B. Goals by Ray Parlour, Lauren and Lee Dixon put Arsenal in control and although Sparta Prague pulled one back, Nwankwo Kanu added a fourth early in the second half. Sparta's spirit deserved the impressive injury-time goal added by Tomas Rosicky but they never looked likely to prevent Arsenal continuing their 100% record here this season. Arsenal knew that whatever happened they could look forward to playing in the second group stage, having qualified last week with that 1-1 draw at Lazio. But Wenger's team were aware that victory would guarantee top spot and ensure they could draw only one other group winner in the next round. The £200,000 offered by Uefa for a win must also have interested Wenger as he saves up for decent binoculars and a good lawyer in case his appeal against a 12-match touchline ban fails. Not that Sparta, beaten 1-0 by a piece of Silvinho magic in Prague, had promised to be pushovers. And they must have fancied their chances when they saw Arsenal's defence. With five centre-halves unavailable, Wenger deployed Oleg Luzhny and Nelson Vivas at the heart of a back four composed entirely of full-backs. Barely had Sparta had a chance to test any weaknesses, though, than they were two goals down. It seemed their back line was made of made of players with bad backs, never mind full-backs. Arsenal's first arrived in the fifth minute, Patrick Vieira passing square into the path of Parlour, who struck the ball sweetly past Tomas Postulka from 25 yards. Then, two minutes later, came the second. Robert Pires was the architect, bursting past Libor Sionko on the left flank and cutting back a cross which Lauren swept into the corner. Had Thierry Henry found the back rather than the side of the net when Jiri Novotny made a hash of a back-pass Arsenal would have been three up inside 10 minutes. And, not surprisingly, they drifted for a while. It needed a fine save from David Seaman to tip a Vladimir Labant free-kick on to the underside of the bar, and Arsenal frequently looked a combination of complacent and confused at the back as Sparta refused to throw in the towel. Not long after Sionko and Michal Hornak had headed chances wide, though, Arsenal scored a third. Postulka failed to hold Henry's free-kick and the captain Dixon slammed in the loose ball from a couple of yards. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Seaman had clearly watched that incident too closely. Shortly afterwards he let a Rosicky free-kick slip from his grasp and brought down Marek Kincl as the ball ran loose. To the delight of Sparta's 93 fans Labant scored from the penalty spot. Perhaps to keep them on their toes, Arsenal switched from blue shirts to yellow at the interval, though the official explanation was that the two teams looked too similar to the fourth official. Whatever, the change did not confuse Wenger's players. Six minutes into the second half Henry burst into the box down the left and although his cross was blocked by Postulka, Kanu showed off his wonderful balance to wrongfoot a defender and clip in the loose ball. Still Sparta refused to give up. Seaman atoned for his earlier error by saving well from Sionko and Dixon headed off the line from the resulting corner. But it mattered little as Arsenal looked forward to more testing European ties. •The Lazio defender Sinisa Mihajlovic last night apologised for the abuse he directed at Arsenal's Patrick Vieira in last week's Champions League match. Speaking before last night's home match against Shakhtar Donetsk, the Yu goslav said on the public address system: "I know I made a mistake last Tuesday and I want to sincerely apologise to all those who felt rightly offended for the expression I used in a moment of particular tension on the field." Mihajlovic also called on Lazio fans to cease racist chanting."

Arsenal 4-2 Sparta Prague Champions League 2000/01 (Highlights)

• Report rights infringement
• published: 11 Jun 2015
• views: 4082

https://www.facebook.com/classicfootballtv Champions League 2000/01 Arsenal - Sparta Praha 4-2 Group stage (Group B ) Highbury - London Goals : Parlour 5',Lauren 7',Dixon 35',Kanu 52'Labant 40' (P),Rosický 90' Arsenal (4-4-2): Seaman; Dixon, Vivas, Luzhny, Silvinho (Cole, h-t); Lauren, Parlour, Vieira, Pires (Bergkamp, 64min); Kanu, Henry (Wiltord, 71). Sparta Prague (3-5-2): Postulka; Hornak, J Novotny, Bolf; Sionko (Papousek, 85), Jarosik, Rosicky, Hasek, Labant; Kincl, Jun (Mynar, h-t). Referee: A Hamer (Luxembourg). "The only disappointment for Arsenal's fans last night was that their side only scored four times. Two up inside seven minutes, Arsène Wenger's players slipped into cruise control and produced only bursts of brilliance to make sure of top spot in Group B. Goals by Ray Parlour, Lauren and Lee Dixon put Arsenal in control and although Sparta Prague pulled one back, Nwankwo Kanu added a fourth early in the second half. Sparta's spirit deserved the impressive injury-time goal added by Tomas Rosicky but they never looked likely to prevent Arsenal continuing their 100% record here this season. Arsenal knew that whatever happened they could look forward to playing in the second group stage, having qualified last week with that 1-1 draw at Lazio. But Wenger's team were aware that victory would guarantee top spot and ensure they could draw only one other group winner in the next round. The £200,000 offered by Uefa for a win must also have interested Wenger as he saves up for decent binoculars and a good lawyer in case his appeal against a 12-match touchline ban fails. Not that Sparta, beaten 1-0 by a piece of Silvinho magic in Prague, had promised to be pushovers. And they must have fancied their chances when they saw Arsenal's defence. With five centre-halves unavailable, Wenger deployed Oleg Luzhny and Nelson Vivas at the heart of a back four composed entirely of full-backs. Barely had Sparta had a chance to test any weaknesses, though, than they were two goals down. It seemed their back line was made of made of players with bad backs, never mind full-backs. Arsenal's first arrived in the fifth minute, Patrick Vieira passing square into the path of Parlour, who struck the ball sweetly past Tomas Postulka from 25 yards. Then, two minutes later, came the second. Robert Pires was the architect, bursting past Libor Sionko on the left flank and cutting back a cross which Lauren swept into the corner. Had Thierry Henry found the back rather than the side of the net when Jiri Novotny made a hash of a back-pass Arsenal would have been three up inside 10 minutes. And, not surprisingly, they drifted for a while. It needed a fine save from David Seaman to tip a Vladimir Labant free-kick on to the underside of the bar, and Arsenal frequently looked a combination of complacent and confused at the back as Sparta refused to throw in the towel. Not long after Sionko and Michal Hornak had headed chances wide, though, Arsenal scored a third. Postulka failed to hold Henry's free-kick and the captain Dixon slammed in the loose ball from a couple of yards. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Seaman had clearly watched that incident too closely. Shortly afterwards he let a Rosicky free-kick slip from his grasp and brought down Marek Kincl as the ball ran loose. To the delight of Sparta's 93 fans Labant scored from the penalty spot. Perhaps to keep them on their toes, Arsenal switched from blue shirts to yellow at the interval, though the official explanation was that the two teams looked too similar to the fourth official. Whatever, the change did not confuse Wenger's players. Six minutes into the second half Henry burst into the box down the left and although his cross was blocked by Postulka, Kanu showed off his wonderful balance to wrongfoot a defender and clip in the loose ball. Still Sparta refused to give up. Seaman atoned for his earlier error by saving well from Sionko and Dixon headed off the line from the resulting corner. But it mattered little as Arsenal looked forward to more testing European ties. •The Lazio defender Sinisa Mihajlovic last night apologised for the abuse he directed at Arsenal's Patrick Vieira in last week's Champions League match. Speaking before last night's home match against Shakhtar Donetsk, the Yu goslav said on the public address system: "I know I made a mistake last Tuesday and I want to sincerely apologise to all those who felt rightly offended for the expression I used in a moment of particular tension on the field." Mihajlovic also called on Lazio fans to cease racist chanting."