• Date: Sat 01 March 2008
  • Venue: Emirates Stadium
  • Ref: Clattenburg, M
  • Attendance: 60,097
Arsenal

Arsenal

Bendtner (90)

1 - 1

Arsenal vs Aston Villa

Team Lineups

Arsenal

Manuel Almunia
Gael Clichy
William Gallas
Bacary Sagna
Philippe Senderos (Pereira Neves Denilson, 78)
Cesc Fabregas
Vassiriki Abou Diaby (Nicklas Bendtner, 59)
Mathieu Flamini (Aparecido Gilberto Silva, 78)
Alex Hleb
Emmanuel Adebayor
Theo Walcott

Aston Villa

Scott Carson
Martin Laursen
Wilfred Bouma
Curtis Davies (Isaiah Osbourne, 40)
Gareth Barry
Craig Gardner
Nigel Reo-Coker (Zat Knight, 32)
Shaun Maloney (Marlon Harewood, 71)
John Carew
Ashley Young, A
Gabriel Agbonlahor


Live Text Commentary
Full time
 

FULL TIME: An injury-time goal from Bendtner stole a point for Arsenal who they threw everything at their stubborn visitors. They did enough to earn themselves a point though Aston Villa defended superbly.

90
Goal
 

ARSENAL 1 - 1 ASTON VILLA: Adebayor's cushioned header finds NICKLAS BENDTNER who side-foots the ball into the back of the net and the Emirates erupts.

90

Arsenal are throwing everything at Villa but they continue to hoof the ball clear.

90

The fourth official indicates three minutes of added time.

90

Laursen wins two consecutive headers to clear the danger for Aston Villa who breathe a sigh of relief.

89

Sagna breaks down the right flank and his cross is put behind for a corner.

88

A longball finds Adebayor in a good position but he fails to control the ball and Wenger is left shaking his head on the edge of his technical area.

86

The home side are becoming increasingly frustrated now and the supporters are beginning to leave the stadium.

84

Aston Villa are desperately trying to grind out this result and have put in a great amount of effort to stay in the game and Arsenal look unable to break them down.

83

Bendtner runs at the Villa defence but they have eleven players behind the ball. He cannot pick out a team-mate and eventually runs the ball out of play.

82

Laursen carelessly gives the ball away to Walcott who runs into the box but then tries to be too clever with a chipped cross, which is easy for Carson to collect.

81
Yellow Card
 

Barry slides in very late on Denilson and earns himself a yellow card.

79

Another attacking substitution for Arsenal as Senderos is replaced by Denilson.

78

That is Flamini's last action in this match as he makes way for Gilberto Silva, who scored a late equaliser against Aston Villa last season.

78

Hleb cuts a pass to the edge of the area and Flamini's side-footed shot sails over the crossbar.

77

There seems to be more chance of a second goal for Villa than an equaliser for Arsenal at the moment and Arsene Wenger is looking very stern on the sideline.

76

Harewood gets a great chance to score but fails to make the most of the opportunity as he skews his shot from inside the box.

75

Harewood receives the ball again and skips past Senderos before he is brought down by another Arsenal player and Villa have a free-kick in a decent position.

73

Harewood immediately picks up the ball and takes the ball to the corner in an attempt to waste time, though there is still 17 minutes left!

72
Substitution
 

Marlon Harewood replaces Shaun Maloney.

70

If the current scorelines stay the same, Arsenal will lose their position at the top of the table to Manchester United.

68

Fabregas has looked dangerous all afternoon from set pieces and this time picks out Adebayor unmarked in the box but his header misses the target.

66

Walcott runs into the box again and tries to clip a pass into the path of Adebayor but a Villa defender puts in a vital interception.

64

Agbonlahor breaks the offside trap and tries to slide a pass through to John Carew whose shot is straight at Manuel Almunia

62

Hleb breaks through the centre of the Villa defence and gets a shot away but Carson gets down to smother the ball.

60

Fabregas picks out Bendtner with a curling free-kick but the big striker's header sails loops over the crossbar.

59
Substitution
 

Diaby makes way for Bendtner. Arsene Wenger is clearly looking to give his side more attacking options.

57

Nicklas Bendtner looks set to take the field as a growing sense of unease surrounds the Emirates.

55

Flamini tries his luck from outside the box but fails to find the target.

54

Senderos puts in a hefty challenge on Osbourne and it seems worthy of a booking, but Mark Clattenburg waves play on.

52

Vila apply some pressure and win a corner after a flowing move. Barry takes the set piece but the ball is headed clear at the near post.

50

Hleb lets fly from outside the box but Carson is equal to the shot.

48

Walcott seems to be playing in a different role for this second-half and is working more towards the right hand side of the pitch, with Hleb taking a more central position.

46

Walcott plays an intricate one-two with Adebayor and forces a fine save out of Carson with a shot from distance.

Second half
 

Aston Villa kick-off the second-half and there have been no further changes for either side.

Half time
 

HALF TIME: Arsenal have looked short of options in the final third of the pitch but Walcott has looked dangerous on numerous occasion. His team-mates will have to step up a gear for the second-half however as Manchester United are leading at Fulham.

45

Walcott turns Laursen inside out and slides a pass through to Adebayor who then picks out Fabreags, but his final shot is sent horribly wide of the target.

45

Fabregas puts a cross into the box looking for Adebayor, but Carson is quick off his line to pluck the ball out of the air.

43

Arsenal have become sloppy in the last few minutes and have given the ball away far too cheaply on numerous occasions.

42

After a good spell of pressure from Villa, Gardner gets a shot away and it is deflected behind for a corner.

39
Substitution
 

Davies is replaced by Isaiah Osbourne

39

Davies is taken off the field on a stretcher and it appears to be an ankle injury.

36

Play stops for a few moments as Curtis Davis receives treatment for an injury after pulling up with no-one around him.

33

Arsenal have responded well to the goal but are lacking the cutting edge in the final third at the moment, though the visitors are making it hard for them by getting eleven men behind the ball.

31
Substitution
 

Martin O'Neill is forced to make an early change as Nigel Reo-Coker limps off the pitch to be replaced by Zat Knight

30
Yellow Card
 

Gallas receives the first booking of the game for a rash challenge on Agbonlahor.

29

Arsenal are left stunned and desperately need to get back into this game, with Manchester United already in the lead at Craven Cottage.

27
Own Goal
 

ARSENAL 0 - 1 ASTON VILLA: Gallas gives Agbonlaho rtoo much space and his shot from inside the box hits Senderos and deflects into the back of his own net.

26

Agbonlahor gets a shot away inside the Arsenal box but it is blocked by Gallas.

23

The corner causes all sorts of problems and Philippe Senderos' shot is blocked on the line.

22

Gael Clichy crosses and it is deflected behind by Gardner. Clichy appeals for a penalty and is certain that the ball hit the Villa full-back on the arm.

21

Adebayor's cushioned header falls to Alex Hleb whose shot fails to trouble Carson.

20

Martin O'Neill is fuming at some of the refereeing decisions at the moment as Martin Laursen is pulled up for an aerial challenge with Adebayor.

18

Shaun Maloney gets space for a shot but his first touch is too heavy and takes him away from goal before he is dispossessed by an Arsenal defender.

16

Walcott beats a couple of men and bursts into the box but tries too much and runs the ball out of play.

14

Aston Villa are finding it hard to retain possession at the moment but have recovered from a slow start.

12

Gabriel Agbonlahor breaks into the box and sets himself for a shot but William Gallas puts in a brilliantly timed challenge to knock the ball behind for a corner.

11

Fabregas fizzes a free-kick into the mixer but an Aston Villa head clears danger for the visitors.

8

Wilfred Bouma makes a good run into the box and is searched out with a cross but Arsenal clear their lines.

6

Walcott links up with Adebayor and gets a snap shot away which forces a decent save out of Scott Carson.

4

Abou Diaby is seeing a lot of the ball on the left side in the opening stages of this match and has shown his trickery to skip past Craig Gardner on two occasions.

2

Cecs Fabregas chips a free-kick towards the far post and Adebayor nods the ball over the crossbar.

1

Theo Walcott gets to the byline and tries to cut the ball back to his strike partner but Curtis Davies cuts out the pass.

Kickoff
 

Referee Mark Clattenburg gets the game underway

Awaiting Kickoff
 

ASTON VILLA STARTING XI: Carson, Gardner, Laursen, Davies, Bouma, Young, Reo-Coker, Barry, Maloney, Carew, Agbonlahor. SUBS: Taylor, Harewood, Knight, Salifou, Osbourne.

Awaiting Kickoff
 

ARSENAL STARTING XI: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Senderos, Clichy, Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini, Diaby, Adebayor, Walcott. SUBS: Lehmann, Denilson, Silva, Bendtner, Justin Hoyte

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Martin O'Neill names an unchanged side after their 2-1 win at the Madjeski Stadium last Sunday., despite Olof Mellberg and Patrick Berger returning to training from injuries this week.

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Theo Walcott gets the nod ahead of Nicklas Bendtner and partners Emmanuel Adebayor up-front in the absence of Robin Van Persie and Eduardo. Abou Diaby returns from injury, but Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue are ruled out.