Post by Salem6 on Oct 22, 2003 11:06:54 GMT
By Christopher Davies in Kiev
(Filed: 22/10/2003)
Dynamo Kiev (1) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Arsenal's Champions League misery continued last night when defeat in the Ukraine capital left them three points adrift at the bottom of Group B.
Home win: Maksim Shatskikh celebrates Dynamo Kiev's first goal
Arsenal have a mountain to climb and on the evidence of an eight-game winless sequence, in which they have scored only four goals, there is little hope of them conquering it.
Arsenal may need three wins in their remaining three ties to qualify for the next round, though a more realistic target is third place and parachuting into the UEFA Cup.
There is also the unthinkable, nightmare scenario of them finishing bottom of the group and waving goodbye to European football for another season.
It could have been different had Kolo Toure not missed the most open of goals in a frantic period of stoppage time when, after a goalmouth scramble, the defender's shot from six yards hit the crossbar.
Toure collapsed to the floor, beating the grass in frustration and at the final whistle had to be comforted by team-mates as he lay on the ground.
Inter Milan's surprise defeat at Lokomotiv Moscow earlier in the day had thrown Group B wide open and though the Italians are still favourites to finish top, it is no longer a foregone conclusion. They now lead the group only on goal difference from Dynamo Kiev.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, decided not to risk Patrick Vieira and Freddie Ljungberg, who have just recovered from injury, from the start on a pitch made slippery by incessant rain.
Arsenal came close to taking the lead in the ninth minute when, from Thierry Henry's right-wing corner, Robert Pires's glancing near-post header struck the crossbar.
A minute later Arsenal were almost behind after Maksim Shatskikh cut inside Kolo Toure and only a superb one-handed save by Jens Lehmann prevented the Uzbekistan striker from scoring.
The pace was fast and furious with Dynamo, roared on by all but about 200 of the capacity crowd in the Olympic stadium, slowly assuming control.
Lehmann was a shade lucky when he came out of his area to clear only for the ball to land with Oleh Husyev, whose lob was caught by the German as he ran back towards his goal.
Lauren joined in the Arsenal attack in the 26th minute and, after linking with Henry and Pires, had his shot blocked by Andriy Nesmachnyi.
The goal Dynamo had been threatening to score came a minute later following an error by Edu 10 yards outside the Arsenal penalty area. The Brazilian failed to make a routine clearance and the ball fell to Jerko Leko. His shot hit Shatskikh, who took advantage of the good fortune to score from 12 yards with a clinical finish for his seventh goal in 26 European appearances.
Lehmann did well to tip a shot from Leko over the crossbar as Dynamo raised the tempo, forcing Arsenal on the back foot and looking uncomfortable defending against the home side's pace and precision passing.
Three minutes after the interval a glorious pass by Sol Campbell split the Dynamo defence to put Ashley Cole free. With the ball on his favoured left foot, Cole should have at least forced a save from Oleksander Shovkovskyi but his angled shot from 15 yards was wide.
Then, a free kick from the right by Pires reached Henry at the far post but his downward header was deflected by a defender for a corner.
It was an encouraging start to the second half for Arsenal though the speed of Dynamo's counter-attacks were always a problem for the visitors. Those problems mounted with Dynamos' second goal in the 64th minute, one that will make painful viewing for Lehmann.
The goalkeeper came outside his area to clear the ball but, when he chested it down, lost possession. After Lehmann blocked a shot by Shatskikh, the loose ball ran to Valentin Belkevich, who curled it into the empty net.
Henry gave Arsenal a lifeline in the 80th minute when he stabbed home a pass from Pires for the visitors' first goal in three ties this season.
Source:-
www.sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2003/10/22/sfgdyn22.xml&sSheet=/sport/2003/10/22/ixsporttop.html
(Filed: 22/10/2003)
Dynamo Kiev (1) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Arsenal's Champions League misery continued last night when defeat in the Ukraine capital left them three points adrift at the bottom of Group B.
Home win: Maksim Shatskikh celebrates Dynamo Kiev's first goal
Arsenal have a mountain to climb and on the evidence of an eight-game winless sequence, in which they have scored only four goals, there is little hope of them conquering it.
Arsenal may need three wins in their remaining three ties to qualify for the next round, though a more realistic target is third place and parachuting into the UEFA Cup.
There is also the unthinkable, nightmare scenario of them finishing bottom of the group and waving goodbye to European football for another season.
It could have been different had Kolo Toure not missed the most open of goals in a frantic period of stoppage time when, after a goalmouth scramble, the defender's shot from six yards hit the crossbar.
Toure collapsed to the floor, beating the grass in frustration and at the final whistle had to be comforted by team-mates as he lay on the ground.
Inter Milan's surprise defeat at Lokomotiv Moscow earlier in the day had thrown Group B wide open and though the Italians are still favourites to finish top, it is no longer a foregone conclusion. They now lead the group only on goal difference from Dynamo Kiev.
Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, decided not to risk Patrick Vieira and Freddie Ljungberg, who have just recovered from injury, from the start on a pitch made slippery by incessant rain.
Arsenal came close to taking the lead in the ninth minute when, from Thierry Henry's right-wing corner, Robert Pires's glancing near-post header struck the crossbar.
A minute later Arsenal were almost behind after Maksim Shatskikh cut inside Kolo Toure and only a superb one-handed save by Jens Lehmann prevented the Uzbekistan striker from scoring.
The pace was fast and furious with Dynamo, roared on by all but about 200 of the capacity crowd in the Olympic stadium, slowly assuming control.
Lehmann was a shade lucky when he came out of his area to clear only for the ball to land with Oleh Husyev, whose lob was caught by the German as he ran back towards his goal.
Lauren joined in the Arsenal attack in the 26th minute and, after linking with Henry and Pires, had his shot blocked by Andriy Nesmachnyi.
The goal Dynamo had been threatening to score came a minute later following an error by Edu 10 yards outside the Arsenal penalty area. The Brazilian failed to make a routine clearance and the ball fell to Jerko Leko. His shot hit Shatskikh, who took advantage of the good fortune to score from 12 yards with a clinical finish for his seventh goal in 26 European appearances.
Lehmann did well to tip a shot from Leko over the crossbar as Dynamo raised the tempo, forcing Arsenal on the back foot and looking uncomfortable defending against the home side's pace and precision passing.
Three minutes after the interval a glorious pass by Sol Campbell split the Dynamo defence to put Ashley Cole free. With the ball on his favoured left foot, Cole should have at least forced a save from Oleksander Shovkovskyi but his angled shot from 15 yards was wide.
Then, a free kick from the right by Pires reached Henry at the far post but his downward header was deflected by a defender for a corner.
It was an encouraging start to the second half for Arsenal though the speed of Dynamo's counter-attacks were always a problem for the visitors. Those problems mounted with Dynamos' second goal in the 64th minute, one that will make painful viewing for Lehmann.
The goalkeeper came outside his area to clear the ball but, when he chested it down, lost possession. After Lehmann blocked a shot by Shatskikh, the loose ball ran to Valentin Belkevich, who curled it into the empty net.
Henry gave Arsenal a lifeline in the 80th minute when he stabbed home a pass from Pires for the visitors' first goal in three ties this season.
Source:-
www.sport.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2003/10/22/sfgdyn22.xml&sSheet=/sport/2003/10/22/ixsporttop.html
