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Arsenal captain Tony Adams is struck on the back by Galatasaray's Gheorge Hagi before the Romanian was dismissed last night.

- (Photograph: Reuters).
Front: At least five injured as soccer fans clash in Copenhagen


Referee's decision angers Wenger



Thursday, May 18, 2000

Wasteful Arsenal pay the penalty


Michael Walker in Copenhagen

ARSENAL - 0 GALATASARAY - 0
(aet. Galatasary won 4-1 on penalties)

European football has a lot of questions to ask itself this morning. With Euro 2000 23 days away, the last thing needed was a fresh outbreak of ugly hooliganism. It made Copenhagen a depressing place to be this past 48 hours. But, if the game can ever be said to redeem the sport, then last night's UEFA Cup final can be submitted in evidence.

Pulsating and drenched in skill, it was settled on penalties. Dramatically. Gica Popescu, the former Tottenham player, converted the decisive kick after Davor Suker and Patrick Vieira had both hit woodwork. It gave Turkey its first ever European trophy and Galatasaray a treble. How it had remained goal-less in the invigorating previous two hours was remarkable. Arsenal did not deserve to lose.

On an evening when the 39,000 inside the ground were well behaved, the solitary offender was Gheorghe Hagi. Hagi was brilliant last night but got himself dismissed foolishly in the second minute of extra-time for throwing a punch at Tony Adams.

That was just the beginning of the extra period's excitement. Thierry Henry had a point blank header clawed away by Claudio Taffarel and Taffarel made a double save to deny Kanu. Then came the penalties and Arsenal paid heavily for missing theirs.

The Parken Stadium erupted, in contrast to the benign pre-match atmosphere and to that which had surrounded and overshadowed the game earlier in the day and on Tuesday night. Local pom-pom girls were wheeled out and a Danish pop star belted out a version of Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen. Someone somewhere must have thought it was It's a Knockout.

It was not of course. The populace of this normally peaceful city woke up to television pictures of football fans from two other countries fighting viciously in Copenhagen's town hall square.

It was possible to saunter through the warm boulevards beside the Tivoli Gardens yesterday lunch time and not even know there was a football occasion about to occur. Suddenly turn a corner though, and it was all too visible. Tens of thousands of unsegregated fans mingled in a confined area. A lot of this was amicable but the undercurrent of tension was unmissable. It was no surprise that there were sporadic eruptions of violence.

The scale of this was difficult to ascertain but policemen firing tear gas in the afternoon was a bad sign. Twenty minutes before kick-off, David Davies, the executive director of the English FA held an impromptu briefing at which he addressed the impact of the hooliganism held for both Euro 2000 and England's bid to stage the World Cup in 2006.

"Saddened and disappointed" by the trouble, Davies said that the FA had held talks with their Turkish counterparts on Tuesday to assess what could be done to improve relations and avoid confrontation at Euro 2000. Both England and Turkey have qualified. In terms of England's World Cup bid, Davies said the situation was "unhelpful".

Davies did not know the number of those hurt but said that Paul Dineen, the Arsenal supporter stabbed on Tuesday night, had been visited by the club's vice-chairman David Dein and its managing director Ken Friar. Dineen was able to go to the game and went as Arsenal's guest.

What they witnessed in an entertaining if slightly fractious opening half - two bookings a team - were two quality sides whose varied talents cancelled each other out. They also saw Hagi at his impudent best. The Romanian maestro was the axis on which the large amount of Galatasaray possession pivoted.

A lot of this was nullified by the interventions of Martin Keown and Adams, indeed David Seaman did not make a serious save in the first half. There was more than an element of fortune about that as three minutes before the interval Arif Erdem had the half's best chance. Released by a combination of Hagi's skill, Hakan Sukur's control and Davala Umit's vision, Arif dragged his 15-yard shot wide. Galatasaray's players groaned.

In a match as tight as this, such opportunities had to be accepted, and for all Galatasaray's marginal territorial superiority, that was the only first-half moment when a Turk goal looked imminent. At the other end it was a similar tale. The breakaway speed of Marc Overmars, Ray Parlour and Henry was clearly distressing Galatasaray's defence but only once, when Claudio Taffarel scrambled to push away Overmars' clever near post drive in the 34th minute, was the Brazilian keeper forced into fast activity.

Yet it was far from dull and the action resumed immediately on the restart. Within four minutes Hakan had struck a post and Keown missed an open goal from six yards. Okan Buruk, once the golden boy of Turkish football, jinked between defenders, slipped the ball to Hakan who, under pressure from Keown, beat Seaman but not the woodwork.

Two minutes later a flashing attack by Silvinho on the left took the ball to Henry; the Frenchman cut past his marker, slid the ball across Taffarel to the oncoming Keown. The centrehalf met it at pace. The ball ballooned over.

Now Arsenal surged. Henry poked a shot close from an awkward angle, then Parlour put a volley on the run a yard wide following more slick work from Overmars. Seaman was rocked back by a Capone effort from distance but Arsenal regained the initiative with Henry and Emmanuel Petit going close again. But, when Hakan stumbled when clean through five minutes from the end, extra-time and the golden goal was calling. So for Arsenal were silver medals.

GALATASARAY: Taffarel, Penbe, Capone, Popescu, Bulent, K Suat (Ahmet 95), Hagi, Davala, Okan (Hakan 84), Erdem (Hasan 95), Sukur. Subs Not Used: Inan, Akyel, Mehmet, Marcio. Sent Off: Hagi (93). Booked: Okan, Bulent, Erdem, Popescu, Capone, Hasan.

ARSENAL: Seaman, Dixon, Silvinho, Keown, Adams, Vieira, Petit, Overmars (Suker 115), Parlour, Bergkamp (Kanu 75), Henry. Subs Not Used: Lukic, Winterburn, Grimandi, Malz, Luzhny. Booked: Vieira, Keown, Adams. Referee: A Nieto (Spain).






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