FOOTBALL Live

Sunday December 28, 2008 Finished Emirates Stadium

1 - 0

Arsenal

  • Gallas 81’

Portsmouth

  1. Adams beaten at Arsenal

    Adams beaten at Arsenal

    Arsenal defender William Gallas scored the only goal as Tony Adams's Portsmouth side were beaten 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Arsenal
    • Portsmouth
    • 90+7' Full-time! Arsenal return to winning ways and Tony Adams' return ends in disappointment.
    • 90+6' Into the sixth minute of injury time, but Portsmouth have created nothing.
    • 90+2; Noe Pamarot comes on for Diop, who is stretchered off. Worrying stuff.
    • 90' There is a bit of a delay as Papa Bouba Diop is treated for an injury - a stretcher is being brought out.
    • 88' Jermain Defoe finally gets a brief run-out as the ineffective Nugent comes off.
    • 86' Carlos Vela drills a low cross that James gets a hand to and neither of the two lurking attackers can turn it in!
    • 83' Just when it looked like Arsenal would not get the breakthrough, they have snuck in front, and the relief around the Emirates is palpable.
    • 81' GOAL!!!! ARSENAL IN FRONT THROUGH WILLIAM GALLAS!! Denilson swings in a free-kick from the left, James makes a right hash of it and Gallas nips in front to bundle a header into the net.
    • 80' Nasri clips a direct ball through the middle for Adebayor to chase, but he is never going to get there ahead of James.
    • 77' Ramsey tries his luck with a 35-yarder, but the shot lacks power and James makes a simple catch.
    • 75' Arsene Wenger continues to show faith in his teenage starlets, bringing on Aaron Ramsey for the final 15 minutes. Abou Diaby comes off.
    • 73' Good save David James!! Nasri is played in through the right channel but the Pompey keeper makes a fine stop.
    • 71' Almunia catches a Marc Wilson cross from the right, then Crouch is caught offside.
    • 68' Bendtner heads goalwards from a corner but the ball comes back off one of his own players - there is a small handball shout against Papa Bouba Diop but the ball hit an Arsenal hand.
    • 66' Interesting change for Arsenal here, as the young Mexican Carlos Vela comes on for Eboue. Doubly interesting because Robin van Persie is left on the bench.
    • 63' This has been a funny game - some great opportunities for both sides but very little in between.
    • 60' AMAZING MISS BY ADEBAYOR!!! James attempts to punch a cross but glances it to Adebayor in front of an open goal. But his first touch is poor and his second sends the ball into the side netting! Awful finish.
    • 58' Nasri delivers a corner from the right and it is cleared well.
    • 55' Almunia briefly comes over all David James, racing out of his goal and missing the ball, but fortunately for him there is a defender back to bail him out.
    • 53' Great work by Samir Nasri to shimmy himself into space and play a fine pass through to Bendtner, but the Dane knows he cannot outpace Distin and throws himself to the ground. Referee Wiley says no foul but he may well have booked Bendtner for diving.
    • 52' Portsmouth free-kick 30 yards out. Kranjcar's shot predictably locates the middle of the wall. Not good.
    • 50' Portsmouth make a change - Arnold Mvuemba comes on for Richard Hughes.
    • 49' Crouch heads across the Arsenal box, and the defenders stand by as it nearly bounces all the way to Nugent before Clichy eventually steps in and hacks the ball away.
    • 47' James flaps at a corner and misses it - the ball comes out to Silvestre whose header is cleared by a defender on the line!
    • 46' Arsenal kick the second half off. No substitutions from either manager.
    • 45+1' Half-time at the Emirates. Both sides have had a couple of good chances, but it has been really uninspiring stuff for the most part.
    • 45' Nasri shoots from the edge of the box, it is deflected by Davis... and goes just wide! James then makes a towering catch from the corner.
    • 42' First booking of the game to Richard Hughes for a late tackle just inside the Portsmouth half. Referee Alan Wiley has not had much to do so far.
    • 41' Bacary Sagna has looked extremely good for Arsenal marauding forward from right-back. Probably their best player so far. But the Gunners look toothless up front and Robin van Persie will surely be on before long.
    • 39' Crouch gets a header on target from a Portsmouth free-kick, but it is weak and straight into the chest of Almunia.
    • 38' Distin makes an excellent inteception as Nasri tries to find Bendtner at the edge of the Pompey box.
    • 36' Richard Hughes makes a strong run down the left and wins a corner that Kranjcar will take... cleared at the near post by a combination of Silvestre and Adebayor.
    • 35' The ball comes back in for William Gallas, who gets a glancing header in but sends it weakly wide! Another great opportunity.
    • 32' ADEBAYOR!! WHAT A CHANCE!!! He races clean through the centre, takes the ball past James but delays his shot into the open goal long enough for Sol Campbell to make a brilliant saving tackle and Distin whacks the ball to safety!
    • 29' Arsenal look lifeless and completely devoid of leadership. Their skipper and vice-captain are not on the pitch, and it looks like a very quiet bunch out there.
    • 26' Portsmouth are making all the running here and look the more confident team. Arsenal do not look comfortable.
    • 24' CROUCH!!! POST!! He meets a diagonal cross with a glancing header that bounces back off the woodwork! Should have done better. That cross came from Hughes out on the right.
    • 21' Sagna crosses from the right to where Adebayor and Bendtner are standing. The Togolese striker is narrowly outjumped.
    • 19' It looks for a moment as though Emmanuel Adebayor is clean through on goal, but he is flagged offside.
    • 18' Sylvain Distin is wearing rather a curious under-shirt. It's got a collar, for pity's sake.
    • 16' Sagna looks for Eboue down the right wing, but Belhadj sprints back to concede an Arsenal corner.
    • 15' Nugent sprints away from his man to meet a diagonal ball on the right side. He attempts a shot but scuffs it badly and Almunia catches.
    • 13' Sorry to go on about how quiet it is, but this really is eerie. A few empty seats as well. More atmosphere on the moon, etc.
    • 11' Campbell concedes a corner, which Nasri takes and Bendtner heads over. Sol Campbell always gets a good reception as Arsenal, where they like him all the more because Spurs hate him so much.
    • 9' The only thing drowning out the sound of pins dropping is the travelling contingent of Pompey fans. There has been nothing to shout about so far in an opening spell played almost entirely in the final third.
    • 7' Kolo Toure paid the price for Arsenal's defensive chaos against Aston Villa and has been replaced today by Mikael Silvestre. And Manchester United fans will tell you he is not averse to a bit of calamity himself.
    • 5' A quiet start in every respect. Arsenal's 'Guardian-reading middle-class fans' are obviously an easy target, but that doesn't stop them being some of the most lacklustre in the division.
    • 3' Portsmouth are basically operating in a 4-5-1 formation with Nugent playing wide on the right.
    • 1' Pompey kick off and give the ball away almost immediately... Bendtner is caught offside.
    • - Interesting changes from both teams. Robin van Persie is dropped by Arsenal as Emmanuel Adebayor partners Nicklas Bendtner up front. Pompey drop Jermain Defoe for David Nugent.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Arsenal v Portsmouth from the Emirates, as Tony Adams returns to his old home.

  • Team Stats

    Arsenal Stats Portsmouth
    59% Possession 40%
    17 Shots 5
    3 Shots on target 2
    2 Saves 1
    11 Corners 2
    8 Fouls 11
    6 Offsides 4
    0 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 0
    26 Tackles 38
    528 Accurate passes 334
    97 Bad passes 51

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Arsenal
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Manuel Almunia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 0
      10 William Gallas 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 66 2 0
      22 Gaël Clichy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 61 33 7
      3 Bacary Sagna 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 50 0 6
      18 Mikael Silvestre 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 58 6 2
      15 Denilson Pereira Neves 0 0 0 3 3 0 1 61 8 0
      2 Vasiriki Abou Diaby 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 51 5 3
      27 Emmanuel Eboue 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 32 5 1
      8 Samir Nasri 0 4 1 1 0 0 0 56 14 2
      26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 38 12 1
      25 Emmanuel Adebayor 0 3 0 2 1 3 0 19 4 1
      12 Carlos Vela 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 11 6 2
      40 Kieran Gibbs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      11 Robin van Persie 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lukasz Fabianski 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      5 Kolo Toure 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Jack Wilshere 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      16 Aaron Ramsey 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 16 2 1
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 14 1 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 4
      39 Nadir Belhadj 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 55 12 4
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 5 0
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 0 0 6 5 0 0 36 3 4
      22 Richard Hughes 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 19 5 1
      35 Marc Wilson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 0 6
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 36 8 5
      28 Sean Davis 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 39 6 10
      9 Peter Crouch 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 22 5 0
      10 David Nugent 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 21 2 3
      16 Noe Pamarot 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      27 Nwankwo Kanu 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      14 Jermain Defoe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      25 Glen Little 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Jamie Ashdown 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      18 Arnold Mvuemba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 4 1

  • Summary

    • 81' GOAL!!!! ARSENAL IN FRONT THROUGH WILLIAM GALLAS!! Denilson swings in a free-kick from the left, James makes a right hash of it and Gallas nips in front to bundle a header into the net.
    • 73' Good save David James!! Nasri is played in through the right channel but the Pompey keeper makes a fine stop.
    • 60' AMAZING MISS BY ADEBAYOR!!! James attempts to punch a cross but glances it to Adebayor in front of an open goal. But his first touch is poor and his second sends the ball into the side netting! Awful finish.
    • 47' James flaps at a corner and misses it - the ball comes out to Silvestre whose header is cleared by a defender on the line!
    • 35' The ball comes back in for William Gallas, who gets a glancing header in but sends it weakly wide! Another great opportunity.
    • 32' ADEBAYOR!! WHAT A CHANCE!!! He races clean through the centre, takes the ball past James but delays his shot into the open goal long enough for Sol Campbell to make a brilliant saving tackle and Distin whacks the ball to safety!
    • 24' CROUCH!!! POST!! He meets a diagonal cross with a glancing header that bounces back off the woodwork! Should have done better. That cross came from Hughes out on the right.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Arsenal v Portsmouth from the Emirates, as Tony Adams returns to his old home.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Alan Wiley

  • Arsenal

    Manager: Arsene Wenger

    Captain: Manuel Almunia

    Starting line-up

    • M. Almunia
    • B. Sagna
    • M. Silvestre
    • W. Gallas Goal
    • G. Clichy
    • E. Eboue Substitution Out (66′)
    • .. Denilson
    • A. Diaby Substitution Out (75′)
    • S. Nasri
    • E. Adebayor
    • N. Bendtner

    Subs

    • K. Toure
    • R. van Persie
    • L. Fabianski
    • C. Vela Substitution In66′
    • K. Gibbs
    • A. Ramsey Substitution In75′
    • J. Wilshere

    Injured

    • T. Rosicky
    • C. Fabregas
    • A. Song
    • J. Djourou
    • T. Walcott
    • D. Eduardo

    Suspended

    None

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Tony Adams

    Captain: Sol Campbell

    Starting line-up

    • D. James
    • M. Wilson
    • S. Campbell
    • S. Distin
    • N. Belhadj
    • P. Bouba Diop Substitution Out (90′)
    • S. Davis
    • R. Hughes Yellow Card Substitution Out (50′)
    • N. Kranjcar
    • P. Crouch
    • D. Nugent Substitution Out (88′)

    Subs

    • N. Pamarot Substitution In90′
    • N. Kanu
    • H. Hreidarsson
    • J. Defoe Substitution In88′
    • G. Little
    • J. Ashdown
    • A. Mvuemba Substitution In50′

    Injured

    • J. Utaka
    • G. Johnson
    • Y. Kaboul

    Suspended

    None