October 17, 2000: Lazio-Arsenal 1-1
- Dag Jenkins
- Oct 17
- 10 min read
Gunners fire late but fair draw
Pires equalises two minutes from time but Lazio still on course for qualification
Also on this day:
The season so far
Lazio had qualified for the Champions League by winning their historic second Scudetto. The Biancocelesti had also won the Coppa Italia to clinch the double. They had then followed these up by winning the Italian Supercoppa in September beating Inter 4-3. In the Champions League they had reached the quarter finals but were beaten 3-5 on aggregate by Valencia.
The summer market seemed to have further strengthened the Romans. Arriving were keeper Angelo Peruzzi (Inter), midfielders Dino Baggio (Parma), Lucas Castromán (Vélez Sarsfield), Karel Poborský (Benfica) plus forwards Hernán Crespo (Parma) and Claudio Lopez (Valencia).
Some sacrifices were obviously necessary and leaving were keeper Marco Ballotta (Inter), defender Nestor Sensini, midfielders Matias Almeyda (Parma), Attilio Lombardo (Sampdoria), Sergio Conceição (Parma) and forwards Alen Boksic (Middlesbrough) and Roberto Mancini (retiring). Some great players who would be missed.
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). Arsenal had 9 points, Lazio were on 6 points, Sparta Prague 3, Shakhtar Donetsk 0.
In Serie A Lazio had played two games: won 1 (Perugia 3-0 at home) and drawn 1 (Atalanta 2-2 away on debut).
In Coppa Italia Lazio were through to the quarterfinals after beating Sampdoria 6-3 on aggregate in September. The Biancocelesti would now play Udinese in November-December.
Tonight, however, was a Champions League night and with a win Lazio could join the Gunners on top of the group and put a foot in the next round.
Arsenal had finished 2nd in the Premier League, behind Manchester United. They had reached the UEFA Cup final but lost to Galatasaray on penalties after a goalless draw. They did however win their 10th Charity Shield (Man Utd 2-1). The manager was Arsène Wenger and top scorer was Thierry Henry with 26 goals (17 in league).
This season Frenchman Wenger was still in charge. The main new signings were: defender Lauren (Mallorca), midfielders Robert Pires (Olympique Marseille) and Sylvain Wiltord (Bordeaux).
Leaving North London were: defender Nigel Winterburn (after 440 league games, West-Ham), midfielders Emanuel Petit and Marc Overmars (both to Barcelona).
In the Premier League Arsenal had already played 9 matches, winning 5 (including Liverpool 2-0 and Manchester United 1-0 at home), drawing 2 and losing 2 (including Sunderland 0-1 away on debut). The Red Devils were top with 18 points but Arsenal were only one point behind.
In the Champions League the Londoners had won three out of three (Sparta Prague 1-0 away, Shakhtar Donetsk 3-2 and Lazio 2-0 at home).
A difficult game for Lazio tonight. The Biancocelesti had already been beaten at Highbury and the Gunners had some great players (including the new arrivals plus Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams, Freddie Ljungberg, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry).
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)
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Favalli, Couto, Baronio, Lombardo
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Arsenal
Lukic, Dixon, Keown, Luzhny, Sylvinho, Parlour (60' Pires), Vieira, Grimandi (69' Lauren), Ljungberg (73' Wiltord), Henry, Kanu
Substitutes: Taylor, Adams, Vivas, Cole
Manager: Wenger
Referee: Krug (Germany)
Goals: 23' Nedved, 88' Pires
What happened next
In the Champions League the Biancocelesti then beat Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 at home and Sparta Prague 1-0 away and came second behind Arsenal, on the same 13 points and with a better goal difference but the Gunners had won the direct match so won the group.
Lazio were not as successful in the second group phase and were eliminated, against Real Madrid (D1, L1), Leeds United (D1, L1) and Anderlecht (W1, L1).
Lazio did not repeat the previous Serie A campaign and finished 3rd (CL qualification). In early January Eriksson resigned after poor results and having already agreed to become the England manager from June. Dino Zoff came in and things improved but Lazio ultimately fell short. The consolation was another Champions League campaign. The top scorer was Hernan Crespo with 28 goals (26 in A).
In Coppa Italia went out in the quarter finals, losing to Udinese 3-5 on aggregate.
Not a great season for Lazio and to make things worse city rivals Roma won the Scudetto so it was a difficult summer for the Lazio fans.
Arsenal finished 2nd again in the Premier League behind Manchester United. Their top scorer Henry with 22 goals (17 in league).
In the Champions League the Gunners then beat Sparta Prague 4-2 at home and lost 0-3 away to Shakhtar Donetsk and topped the group.
In the second group stage they finished 2nd after 2 wins (Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 away, Spartak Moscow 1-0 at home), 2 draws (Bayern Munich 2-2, Olympique Lyonnais 1-1 at home) and 2 defeats (Spartak Moscow 1-4 and Bayern 0-1 away). They qualified for the quarterfinals but went out to Valencia on away goals (2-1, 0-1).
The Champions League in the end was won by Bayern Munich who beat Valencia on penalties at the San Siro in Milan (after a 1-1 draw with two penalties).
Let's talk about Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry is considered one of the best forwards in football history.
He was born in Les Ulis (Paris), on August 17, 1977. His father was originally from Guadalupe and his mother from Martinique.
As a boy he played in various local clubs; CO Les Ulis, US Palaiseau and Viry -Châtillon.
In 1990 a scout from Monaco spotted him and promised to sign him provided he did a couple of years at the INF Clairefontaine academy. In 1993 he then joined the Monaco youth setup. Arsène Wenger was the first team coach at the time.
In 1994 he joined the first team squad. Henry stayed four full seasons, playing 141 games with 28 goals. He won the league title and the French Super Cup in 1997, under manager Jean Tigana.
In January 1999 he moved to Juventus. He played 19 games with 3 goals (Lazio x2, Venezia) and the Bianconeri finished 7th. His managers were first Marcello Lippi and then Carlo Ancelotti. It was a difficult season and he was not a great success so he changed clubs again but this time he made the right choice.
In the summer of 1999 he signed for Arsenal where Wenger was manager. Henry stayed eight positive years and won the league title twice (2002, 2004), the FA Cup three times (2002, 2003, 2005) and the Community Shield twice (2002, 2004). He played a total of 370 games with 226 goals. He was Premier League top scorer four times. He is a legend at Arsenal.
In 2007 he joined Barcelona and stayed three years. In the first the manager was Frank Rijkaard and the Blaugrana finished 3rd and reached the Champions League semi-final. In his second under Pep Guardiola they won the Liga, Champions League (Man Utd 2-0) and the Copa del Rey. In his third season the Catalans won the Liga again, under Guardiola and also won the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. In his time in Barcelona he played 121 games with 49 goals. He played alongside future Lazio Pedro and a myriad of stars including Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Ronaldinho, Carles Puyol, Samuel Eto'o, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Lilian Thuram, and Zlatan Ibrahimović just to name a few.
In July 2010 he went to the USA and joined the New York Red Bulls. He played 135 games with 52 goals. In 2013 he and NYRB won the MLS Supporters Shield (most points in regular season).
In January 2011 he had briefly returned to Arsenal for two months but just to keep fit for the upcoming season in the States. He played another 7 games with 2 goals (including the winner in 2-1 victory at Sunderland in his last ever game in an Arsenal shirt).
After his American experience Henry then retired at 37.
He won 123 caps for France with 51 goals. With Les Bleus he won the World Cup (1998), a European Championship (2000) and a Confederations Cup (2003). He also played in another World Cup final in 2006 but France lost to Italy on penalties. He is France's second top scorer in their history.
He also won the Golden Boot in 2004 and 2005. He came 2nd in the 2003 Ballon d'Or and 3rd in 2006.
After retiring he went into coaching. In 2015-16 he was with the Arsenal academy. Between 2016 and 2018 he was assistant coach to Roberto Martinez with the Belgium national team. In 2018-19 he had a four-month spell at Monaco. He then spent two years with Montréal Impact, a year back as Belgium assistant coach, a year with France U21s and in 2024 won silver in the home Olympics with France. He resigned in August 2024.
Henry has also been busy with punditry, working with Paramount +, Prime Video and CBS.
In August 2022 he bought a 1% stake in ambitious and up and coming Italian club, Como.
Henry was a forward who could play both on the wing or as the main striker. He was strong (1.88 and 83kg), extremely fast and skilful. This combination made him very difficult to stop. He had great dribbling technique, a precise and powerful shot and was a master at eluding the offside trap. At Arsenal he was also in charge of free kicks and penalties. His only possible weakness was in the air.
A superb player (just don't mention him in Ireland...).
Sources
Comments