In the end, it was all in vain.
For although Arsenal fulfilled their part of the equation in beating a dogged
Aston Villa side through Nwankwo Kanu's 66th-minute strike, it was agonisingly
not enough to hold on to their title.
For Tottenham's failure to gain a draw at Old Trafford, despite taking an
early lead which had raised hopes to fever pitch at Highbury, meant that
Manchester United prevailed by a single point.
Tottenham and their manager George Graham, the former Arsenal boss, will
hardly have endeared themselves to the Highbury faithful.
But when you are left to rely on your fiercest local rivals to win you the
title with a last-gasp equaliser, perhaps fate is simply not on your side.
Then again, it was not today that Arsenal lost the title. Four draws in their
opening five games of the season put them at an immediate disadvantage,
conceding a last-minute goal to lose at Sheffield Wednesday hardly helped and
then defeat at Villa after leading 2-0 at half-time was perhaps the biggest
setback of all.
However, if the Gunners' had managed to win at Elland Road last Tuesday, the
title would still have been theirs and although the team were defiantly cheered
on a lap of honour at the end, there was a massive sense of anti-climax at
Highbury.
And Villa shared in the feeling of disappointment after they were also denied
a place in the InterToto Cup by virtue of West Ham's victory against
Middlesbrough.
In the stands, radios carrying commentary from Old Trafford had been pressed
to the ears of supporters throughout the game but on the pitch, the Arsenal
players could only concentrate on beating Villa otherwise the outcome would have
been academic.
The visitors reverted to a back five, with a fourth central defender, Riccardo
Scimeca, playing in central midfield along with the defensively-minded Simon
Grayson.
They relied on hitting the Gunners on the break and otherwise pressed their
men behind the ball to frustrate the home side, who never quite clicked into top
gear during the opening 45 minutes.
Patrick Vieira did force Michael Oakes into a diving save and the Villa keeper
did even better to block Marc Overmars' goalbound shot with his legs after the
Dutchman had cut into the penalty area.
But Arsenal were forced to reorganise after just 15 minutes as Fredrik
Ljungberg replaced Nelson Vivas and took up a spot on the right wing, with Ray
Parlour moving inside and Emmanuel Petit reverting to left-back, where he
started his career in France.
Ljungberg was in position to block a strike by Alan Wright soon afterwards but
still Arsenal came forward, with Grayson clearing a header from Vieira off the
line.
With 25 minutes gone, Highbury instantly erupted with the news of Les
Ferdinand's strike at Old Trafford and there was suddenly an extra spring in the
step of the home side.
However, they still needed to score and Parlour wasted two half-chances before
Bergkamp's curling free-kick was headed off the line by Gareth Southgate after
Steve Watson had been booked for bringing down Overmars in full flight.
Southgate, who had similarly kept out a dead-ball effort from David Beckham a
fortnight before, was in commanding form as he dispossessed Bergkamp and then
blocked a drive by Lee Dixon.
There was no room for complacency though as Villa threatened intermittently,
with Scimeca mis-hitting a shot wide from the edge of the area and Julian
Joachim also coming close.
Tensions were rising by the minute as Bergkamp tangled with both Mark Draper
and former Spurs defender Colin Calderwood.
Yet shortly after Overmars had hit the side-netting, Highbury fell eerily
silent on learning of Beckham's equaliser against Tottenham just before the
break.
Vieira somehow conspired to miss two more chances shortly after the interval,
with one cleared almost off the line and the other deflected over the bar.
Then Andy Cole's goal took the wind out of the sails of the home crowd and
after Vieira had gone down injured after a tussle with Draper, Nicolas Anelka
was denied by Oakes' quick reactions.
It was Anelka's first and last contribution to the game after a performance
which did little to instil belief that he will stay at Highbury next season and
he was duly replaced by Kanu with 30 minutes left.
The Nigerian's impact was almost immediate as he controlled Petit's corner and
then turned and shot fiercely into the net to finally give them a real chance -
but only if Tottenham equalised.
All Arsenal could do was to win their own game and Ugo Ehiogu's breakdown in
communication with Oakes let in Overmars, who could only head straight at the
keeper, while Bergkamp fired over before striking a volley well wide.
Villa had their own openings, with Seaman saving well from Joachim even though
the whistle had curiously already gone and former Highbury hero Paul Merson
struck one shot just wide and another straight at the Arsenal keeper.
Sunlight streamed into Highbury during the final 10 minutes as Kaba Diawara
clipped the top of the bar, Vieira drove just wide, Kanu headed past the post
and Bergkamp put an effort just wide.
But it did not matter as the outcome at Old Trafford, which was confirmed two
minutes after the final whistle at Highbury, made clear.
The Gunners have qualified for the Champions' League group stages again and
contributed to a thrilling title race, which threatened to produce one final and
monumental twist.
But ultimately, it was just not enough.
Teams:
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Adams, Vivas (Ljungberg 15),
Parlour, Petit, Vieira, Overmars (Diawara 79), Bergkamp,Anelka (Kanu 61).
Subs Not Used: Bould, Lukic.
Booked: Adams.
Goals: Kanu 66.
Aston Villa: Oakes, Ehiogu, Calderwood (Stone 79), Southgate,
Watson (Vassell 72), Scimeca, Draper, Grayson (Delaney 72),
Wright, Joachim, Merson.
Subs Not Used: Barry, Enckelman.
Booked: Scimeca, Watson, Draper, Southgate.
Att: 38,308
Ref: D Gallagher (Banbury).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook