Arsenal finished with only a Dennis Bergkamp goal to sustain them for a tricky
trip to Northern France in two weeks, as the dream of an all-English UEFA Cup
final receded alarmingly at Highbury as well as in Istanbul.
The Gunners grabbed some measure of revenge against Lens, the team who
destroyed their Champions' League ambitions at Wembley 17 months ago, but the
Tricolour raised in North London at the end of a scrappy semi-final first leg
had little to do with Arsenal's Gallic trio of Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit
and Gilles Grimandi.
Instead it was the symbol of a notable triumph by the visitors, who absorbed
the body blow of Dutch ace Bergkamp's sensational early opener to ride out a
storm and reduce Arsene Wenger's team to ragged ordinariness.
And with Leeds going down 2-0 to Galatasaray there is much work to do for both
Premiership giants in a fortnight's time.
Bergkamp lit up Highbury with just 95 seconds on the old South Stand clock,
striding between defenders Ferdinand Coly and Eric Sikora to latch onto Petit's
piercing 30-yard pass and dodge the wildly on-rushing Guillaume Warmuz before
half-volleying into the vacant net with the confident air only a master
craftsman can muster.
And with Lens seemingly still caught up in the confusion of a hopelessly
mismanaged minute's silence in respect of tragic Leeds fans before the kick-off,
Arsenal swarmed all over them and could have had the tie wrapped up in the first
15 minutes.
That they didn't became a dragging millstone around their necks as all signs
of inventiveness faded in a scrappy second half which ended with Arsenal hanging
onto their narrow advantage and grateful that a thundering free-kick by full
back Eric Sikora landed on the outside of the net in stoppage time with
goalkeeper David Seaman rooted to his line.
It looked a stroll for Wenger's men in the opening 20 minutes but the effect
their attacking dominance was diluted by some sketchy work at the back and two
headers from Kanu, saved by Warmuz, following delicious crosses by Marc Overmars
and Silvinho.
When the lanky Nigerian produced a cunning cut-back from the right, it took
three Lens defenders to scrape it away from Bergkamp in the six-yard box.
Winger Phillippe Brunel then sent Bergkamp crashing just inside the box after
Kanu weaved more of his leggy magic, but Austrian referee Gunter Benko
benevolently ruled it an accident.
After Overmars produced a tame finish straight at Warmuz when picked out in
the box by a delightful Petit chip in the 17th minute, some of the uncertainty
spread to Arsenal's back line and they could have done with the absent Tony
Adams to sort it out.
Stand-in skipper Lee Dixon slipped trying to clear Charles Coridon's low
cross, leaving Brunel with time and room to size up a shot from the corner of
the area - but he blazed wildly over.
Then Grimandi's poor touch let in Coridon again and he pushed on menacingly
into the six-yard box before a combination of Martin Keown and Silvinho crowded
him out.
The Brazilian also had to make a remarkable recovery tackle on the half hour
to rob lone striker Pascal Nouma on the edge of the area, after another
unconvincing Arsenal block.
It gave Lens the encouragement to come back into the game before the interval,
when Arsenal could have done with the finishing power of suspended 19-goal
marksman Thierry Henry, their fourth and most deadly French musketeer, to add
that vital extra degree of security.
They will be glad to have him back for the second leg if they are to make the
final journey to Copenhagen on May 17 where six years ago they won the Cup
Winners Cup under George Graham with that famous 1-0 scoreline six years ago.
Lens who have defied their unimpressive French League form - 12th in the table
- with a notable collection of UEFA Cup scalps including Spanish pair Atletico
Madrid and Celta Vigo as well as a 4-1 win in Germany over Kaiserslautern, the
conquerors of Spurs, produced some of their European form once they had survived
that hectic start.
And with the tireless Coridon providing admirable support for Nouma on the
occasional counter-raid, Arsenal were searching hard for a little more
inspiration to extend their narrow lead in the second half.
Kanu and Bergkamp conjured up a few tricks - although the one by the Dutchman
which got him booked for pulling Coridon slyly back by the arm was a foolish one
- but with Overmars beginning to tire badly, Arsenal lacked the real searing
pace it required to really stretch Lens' crowded defence,
A glorious chance went begging in the 70th minute when Overmars, who has not
scored since December, flipped the ball over the angle of post and bar after
meeting Parlour's sizzling low cross from the right.
And Arsenal almost paid a massive price for that miss when a lightning Lens
break within a minute saw Brunel feed in a lovely low ball for Nouma to crash
against the crossbar - and leave the Highbury fans gasping.
A new input was badly needed and Freddie Ljungberg came on for Overmars
seconds later.
But it was Lens, despite lacking the midfield power of injured former Everton
star Olivier Dacourt and two suspended centre backs, who finished the stronger.
Davor Suker, who came on as an 83rd-minute substitute for Bergkamp, had a
fierce low shot saved at the near post by Warmuz, but in the end it was Arsenal
who were relieved to hear the final whistle after bookings for Keown and Petit
reflected their desperation.
Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Silvinho, Grimandi, Keown, Vieira,
Overmars (Ljungberg 74), Parlour, Petit, Kanu,
Bergkamp (Suker 83).
Subs Not Used: Winterburn, Manninger, Malz, Luzhny, Black.
Booked: Bergkamp, Petit, Keown.
Goals: Bergkamp 2.
Lens: Warmuz, Sikora, Coly, Mawene, Queudrue,
Moreira (Sakho 78), Blanchard, Nyarko, Brunel, Coridon, Nouma.
Subs Not Used: Rodriguez, Job, Barul, Meride, Delporte,
Berthelin.
Booked: Coly, Moreira.
Att: 38,102
Ref: G Benko (Austria).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook