Gunners fire late but fair draw

Dag Jenkins
Oct 16, 2023
4 min read

Season 2000-01

Game 4, Group B, Champions League First Group Phase

Tuesday, October 17, 2000

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio-Arsenal 1-1

Pires equalises two minutes from time but Lazio still on course for qualification

This evening was the fourth fixture in the Champions League group phase. Lazio had so far won 2 (Shakhtar Donetsk 3-0 away on debut and Sparta Prague 3-0 at home) and lost 1 (Arsenal 0-2 away). The Londoners had won three out of three (Sparta Prague 1-0 away, Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 and Lazio 2-0 at home). Arsenal had 9 points, Lazio were on 6 points, Sparta Prague 3, Shakhtar Donetsk 0.

A difficult game for Lazio tonight. The Biancocelesti had already been beaten at Highbury and the Gunners had some great players.

The match: Tuesday, October 17, 2000, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

A rainy day in Rome saw just over 40,000 gather at the Olimpico.

Lazio had no real absences but both Hernan Crespo and Claudio López were, a little surprisingly, on the bench.

Arsenal had a couple of players missing, goalkeeper David Seaman and Dennis Bergkamp who as usual paid for his fear of flying while Tony Adams was on the bench.

Arsenal looked more of a team from the start. The first danger came on a Gilles Grimandi header just wide from a Sylvinho freekick. Grimandi tried again a few minutes later but his shot was central.

Lazio's first threat came on a Pavel Nedved low assist across goal but Dejan Stankovic was too far back to get there.

Then it was Arsenal again with a low left foot by Freddie Ljungberg which Angelo Peruzzi dived down to his right and blocked.

There followed a high ball into the Londoners area but Stankovic was unable to get power on his header and the ball was cleared after a scramble.

Lazio's goal came slightly unexpectedly and was extremely fortuitous. In the 23rd minute Juan Sebastian Veron played the ball to the edge of the box where Simone Inzaghi poked it to Nedved, there was then a 50-50 challenge with Sylvinho and the ball spun up and over John Lukic into the top left-hand corner. A freakish goal which was given to the Czech but could have been an own goal, whichever way it was 1-0 to Lazio.

The Gunners attacked furiously and Nwankwo Kanu shot was walled out for a corner by Sinisa Mihajlovic. Sylvinho then cut in from the left, beating Stankovic then Paolo Negro and presented himself in front of Peruzzi but the big Laziale keeper narrowed the angle and saved into corner. A few minutes later Sylvinho was again denied by a Peruzzi save and on the rebound Kanu's flicked attempt went wide.

Lazio showed themselves up front again with a curling long range Mihajlovic free kick but Lukic parried well. Half time Lazio 1 Arsenal 0 but the English side could feel a bit hard done by.

For the second half Eriksson decided to replace Stankovic with Claudio López.

Soon after the break the Biancocelesti had a colossal chance to double their lead. Beppe Pancaro pumped a ball forward and suddenly Inzaghi was one-on-one with the keeper but Simoncino pulled his low left foot about two metres wide. A bad miss.

Nedved then had a header walled by the defence. There were then a few moments of tension when Diego Simeone suffered a cut to his head and there was some pushing and shoving between the players. A few bookings later the game restarted with the Argentine bandaged up.

Just before the hour mark Mihajlovic swung in a corner from the right, Lukic mistimed his punch and Marcelo Salas jumped up on the far post but his header (or probably handball) came back off the woodwork.

In the 60th minute Arsenal made their first substitution, with Robert Pires coming on for Ray Parlour.

Lazio then scored with the Matador but Nedved the assist man was just offside.

Several changes were made at this stage; in the 68th minute Hernan Crespo for Inzaghi and, for the visitors, in the 69th Lauren for Grimandi and in the 73rd Sylvain Wiltord for Ljungberg.

Arsenal pushed forward but Lazio were always ready on the counterattack.

After a few scrambles in the Lazio area the Biancocelesti seemed to have weathered the storm but in the 88th minute the Gunners struck. Patrick Viera did well to win and defend the ball in his own half and then sent the ball over the halfway line, Alessandro Nesta missed the header and Pires suddenly had space to race forward on the left. He reached the edge of the area and hit a wonderful curling shot over Peruzzi and into the far corner, 1-1.

Lazio almost stole it in injury time. In the 92nd minute a Salas volley was walled by the defence and then Crespo rose high to scissor kick the ball towards the goal line where two Arsenal players made a complete mess of things and the ball trickled in. The referee however claimed the Argentine striker's acrobatic kick had been too high on Martin Keown and therefore dangerous play. Full time Lazio 1 Arsenal 1.

A game difficult to decipher. Arsenal had been vastly superior in the first 45 minutes but in the second, Lazio, despite defending for long periods, had the best chances and were punished just as they were starting to savour the prestigious win. Some of the local press criticised the Swedish coach for not buttoning up more towards the end and possibly fielding Roberto Baronio instead of another forward.

The table now read: Arsenal 10, Lazio 7, Sparta Prague 3, Shakhtar Donetsk 3 (the Ukrainians had won 2-1). Still looking healthy for Lazio thanks to the result in the other game.

Next up were Lazio vs Shakhtar and Arsenal vs Sparta Prague.

Who played for Lazio

Peruzzi, Negro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Pancaro, Stankovic (46' C.Lopez), Veron, Simeone, Nedved, Salas, S.Inzaghi (68' Crespo)