And we're off Sorry for the lack of pregame, minor computer problems slowed me down. Arsenal's starting lineup is the same as it was against Newcastle, except for Shaaban. Sp*rs give Ledley King his first start of the year, Poyet on the bench.
2nd-3rd minutes Gilberto Silva first a decent shot from long range that forces Keller into a save. Jamie Redknapp with a strong volley that Shaaban reaches to stop.
4th minute Arsenal have the ball in the back of the net, but it's waived off for offside. Replays show that Wiltord was barely offside when he put his header into the net. Lively start to the match, with both teams looking active.
5th minute Ljungberg's shot on goal is blocked by Keller, who raced off the line to stop the shot. Rebound to Henry whose shot is stopped by Ledley King. Elsewhere... Southampton 1, Newcastle 0. James Beattie.
6th minute Bergkamp and Dean Richards collide in the air, both men go down. Looks like Richards planted an elbow in the back of Den's skull. Miscellany: Mike Riley is the ref, the irritating Ian Crocker is the announcer.
11th minute Vieira with a foul on King in the midfield, free kick to Sp*rs. I mention this only because Richards just hacked Bergkamp (again) and Riley whistled the play on.
14th minute Spurs with a throw deep in Arsenal territory, headed out by PV. Henry breaks from the clearance, switches feet just outside the box, and SHOOTS AND SCORES! Arsenal 1, Sp*rs 0.
16th minute A little dust up when Campbell and Redknapp both go in hard on a 50/50 challenge. Redknapp looks like he puts his forearm across Sol's face, then Keane and Sheringham get involved, but nothing happens. Free kick to Sp*rs.
19th minute Vieira with a swerving shot from about 25 yards, Keller dives low to stop it. He bobbles the save, but nobody's there to put in the rebound.
21st minute Robbie Keane puts his header wide when unmarked from about 8 yards out. Davies delivered the cross, this was Sp*rs best chance so far.
23rd minute Yellow card to Davies for a late challenge on Cole. Riley blows the whistle, which ruins the advantage as Vieira was in full stride.
25th minute King gives the ball away to Ljungberg in Sp*rs territory, but his touch is poor and Richards clears. Bergkamp lines up a shot from outside the box, and he ends up skying it high and wide. 26 - Bergkamp goes out of the match, apparently bothered by the Richards challenge. Pires comes on to take his place.
27th minute Simon Davies picks up his 2nd yellow in just a few minutes, he's sent off. To be perfectly honest, the 2nd didn't look bad at all, and I didn't see a lot in the first card, either. Let's just put it this way - if you turned things around and those challenges were committed by an Arsenal player, you'd be incensed by the sending off. Looks like another case where a poor referee has exerted too much influence in a match.
Tactics Wiltord up front, Pires on the right. Robbie Keane moves to the right side that Davies had been covering, Sheringham the lone striker.
32nd minute Another apparent Arsenal goal called back for offside. Pires with the cross, Wiltord's shot goes wide, but Henry knees it into the roof. Replay shows the call was close, but probably correct.
33rd minute Sheringham tries to catch Shaaban off his line from the midfield stripe, but the tall keeper easily gathers the shot.
38th minute Ljungberg fouls Stephen Carr, who asks for a card. Just a free kick. Carr's cross goes to Bunjevcevic in the box, but the hearder is well off target.
40th minute Arsenal look like less of a threat since the sending off, for whatever reason. Elsewhere... Southampton 1, Newcastle 1. Ameobi.
42nd minute Ljungberg and Carr tussle again, with Carr blocking Freddie with his arm. This time it's Freddie who complains to the ref, again nothing extra given.
43rd minute 43 - Henry's through ball finds Vieira who lunges at it in the box as Keller arrives to clear. Best recent chance for Arsenal. 44 - Pires's free kick bounces inside the 6-yard box and narrowly misses the target.
HT We're at the half. Arsenal score on a nice Henry goal, Davies sent off after two yellows, then neither team really threatens after the sending off.
HT (still) Arsenal have 9 goal attempts, Sp*rs 3. Possession 53/47 to Arsenal. Fouls 13/6 Arsenal. The more I look at the first disallowed goal, the more I think it was a blown call. Wiltord looks like he was played onside by two players. Awful call. The more I look at Davies's yellow cards, the more I'm convinced he got screwed. For the first card, it didn't look like he even touched Cole (who didn't embellish it, by the way). The 2nd just looked like a late challenge, and not even that strong.