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Electronic Telegraph


Sunday 15 March 1998
Issue 1024


Overmars opens up the race
By Colin Malam


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   Man Utd (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 1

   THIS was the day and the game that confounded all who were foolish
   enough to believe the title race was over as early as Christmas. The
   only consolation for the pundits who crowned Manchester United as
   champions so prematurely is that, unlike a generous Manchester
   bookmaker, they do not have to count their mistake in hard cash.
   
   Fred Done, the local bookie who has already paid out on United winning
   the title, could yet be proved right, of course. They still enjoy a
   six-point lead over Arsenal with the sands of the season running low.
   Their goal difference is also so superior to Arsenal's that it is
   worth an extra point. Yet only the very committed or the very brave
   would bet against the London club catching then now.
   
   The late goal by Marc Overmars that brought Arsenal a richly deserved
   victory here means they are in a position not simply to draw level
   with United but to overtake them. They will do so if they make the
   most of the three games they have in hand, and their current form is
   such that there is every chance they will exploit them to the full.
   
   The team George Graham built, and Arsne Wenger has refined so
   impressively, have lost only one of their last 18 games. As Wenger
   said afterwards: "What we've done since January shows consistency, and
   consistency for me is quality. This result is a big satisfaction for
   me because we look a real team now."
   
   United, by comparison, are in disarray. They have won only four of
   their last 13 matches in all competitions, are playing without
   confidence and are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the
   weight of their heavy workload. Yesterday, manager Alex Ferguson
   admitted that even a squad as extensive as his were not strong enough
   to offset the effect of injuries to key players such as Roy Keane,
   Ryan Giggs, Gary Pallister and Nicky Butt.
   
   Worse still, further damage was sustained yesterday. Peter Schmeichel
   pulled a hamstring making one of his late forays upfield in an attempt
   to help out his forwards and will miss the second, delicately poised
   leg of United's European Cup quarter-final against Monaco here on
   Wednesday. The injury could be bad enough to keep the influential
   Danish international goalkeeper out of action for five weeks.
   
   In addition, Phil Neville and Ronny Johnsen aggravated existing
   injuries and are doubtful for the second of the two matches -
   yesterday's and the return against Monaco - that Ferguson said in the
   match programme would shape United's season. Not only that, but the
   result itself - the second defeat they have suffered at home this
   season - was hardly calculated to lift their spirits.
   
   More worrying still, if this match was regarded as a full dress
   rehearsal for the renewal of hostilities with Monaco, United found it
   extremely difficult to breach Arsenal's magnificently solid defence
   without the aid of the recuperating Giggs. Lacking the Welshman's
   verve, pace and vision, the defending champions' attacks rarely rose
   above the predictable; so it was hardly surprising to hear that
   Ferguson may gamble on Giggs' hamstring on Wednesday.
   
   United's loss yesterday was underlined by the menace given Arsenal's
   attacks by the pace and trickery of Overmars on the left. The Dutch
   international might easily have had a hat-trick as he tormented the
   right side of United's defence, especially in the first half. For some
   reason, Ferguson elected to mark Overmars with the young and
   inexperienced John Curtis, and a measure of control was not
   established until the job was handed over to Phil Neville late in the
   first half.
   
   Going outside or inside Curtis with equal facility during the first 45
   minutes, Overmars chipped a shot a foot wide of the far post,
   surprised Schmeichel with a swerving shot of sudden violence and then
   jabbed the ball into the side-netting after bursting between Curtis
   and Gary Neville. He should also have won a penalty when the desperate
   Curtis clearly brought him down without punishment from the referee,
   Alan Wilkie.
   
   While Ray Parlour might also have scored after being put through by
   Dennis Bergkamp, United were reduced to preying on Arsenal's mistakes
   for a sight of goal up to the interval. Alex Manninger had to come off
   his line twice, to block shots from Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole,
   after Lee Dixon had given the ball away and then when he and Nigel
   Winterburn unwisely tried to catch Cole offside on the half-way line.
   
   United acquired a better balance and a greater sense of purpose in the
   second half, after seven minutes of which the naturally left-sided Ben
   Thornley came on to end Curtis's miserable second start for the club.
   Yet, for all the hot air that was generated, Tony Adams, Martin Keown
   and the other partnership at the core of Arsenal's victory, Emmanuel
   Petit and Patrick Vieira, made sure Manninger, 20, did not have a real
   save to make.
   
   As United committed themselves more and more to winning the game,
   Arsenal began to exploit the space opening up at the other end.
   Schmeichel had to save well from Remi Garde and Nicolas Anelka, the
   substitutes used to freshen up the Gunners' midfield and attack,
   either side of the decisive thrust by Overmars 11 minutes from the
   end, when United were trying to regroup after the loss of Phil Neville
   and Johnsen.
   
   The winning goal started with a flighted pass from Keown inside his
   own half. Bergkamp's head flicked it on and Anelka's head offered
   Overmars a clear run at goal. Heading the ball forward himself, the
   little man accelerated away smoothly from all challenges and calmly
   steered the ball into the far corner as Schmeichel came out in vain to
   challenge him. Game on, as they say.
   _________________________________________________________________
   
   Man Utd (0) 0 Arsenal (0) 1
   Overmars 79.

   Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville, Irwin, Johnsen (May 79), Beckham,
   Cole, Sheringham, P. Neville (Solskjaer 77), Scholes, Berg, Curtis
   (Thornley 52). Subs Not Used: McClair, Van Der Gouw. Booked: G.
   Neville, Sheringham.

   Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Adams, Bergkamp,
   Overmars, Wreh (Anelka 66), Keown, Parlour (Garde 70), Petit. Subs Not
   Used: Grimandi, Lukic, Hughes. Booked: Anelka, Adams, Dixon.

   Att: 55,174
   Ref: A B Wilkie (Chester-le-Street).
   _________________________________________________________________

   March 15 1998 FOOTBALL
   
   Overmars swoops to conquer
   
   Joe Lovejoy at Old Trafford
   Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1 
   
   ONE-NIL to the Arsenal for the second time in four days, and now you
   had better believe them - they could well win the League. Marc
   Overmars settled the crunch before lunch with his 11th goal of an
   increasingly influential season, thereby trimming United's lead at the
   top of the table to six points. The Gunners, having zeroed in on their
   target, possess the potentially decisive advantage of three matches in
   hand.
   
   By deservedly completing the double over the defending champions, whom
   they beat 3-2 at Highbury in November, Arsène Wenger's confident,
   combative team have thrown open a title race on which the book was
   closed a fortnight ago. It was not lost on Tony Adams, and the other
   survivors of the George Graham era, that the last time they won at Old
   Trafford, in 1989, they went on to win the League.
   
   There was more than a hint of a sea of change about a thoroughly
   entertaining match which, for once, lived up to the hype and
   hullaballoo. Arsenal's last defeat in the championship was back on
   December 13, whereas United have won only four of their last 13 in
   League and cups. The strengthening impression is that the marathon men
   in the leaders' slipstream may well go on winning - and that the
   front-runners are just as likely to go on dropping points.
   
   Alex Ferguson accepted that this was "a major result". A dispiriting
   afternoon for the United manager and his players was compounded by an
   injury to Peter Schmeichel, who damaged a hamstring in a desperate
   late foray upfield and will be out for at least a month, starting with
   the second leg of the European Cup quarter-final at home to Monaco on
   Wednesday.
   
   In many ways, it was a tale of two wingers, one who played and one who
   did not. United cannot replace Ryan Giggs, who gives them, in
   manager-speak, an extra dimension with his pace, guile and sheer
   unpredictability. Without his trickery to complement the more
   straightforward skills of Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole, their
   attacks are comparatively easy to read and contain. In the Welshman's
   absence, Arsenal had the cleverest forward on the field in Overmars,
   who is beginning to look like a snip at the £7m Wenger paid Ajax last
   summer.
   
   Already lacking Giggs, Gary Pallister and Roy Keane, United had also
   lost Nicky Butt with a calf injury, and Ferguson had to shuffle his
   pack again. He left out Brian McClair, and played Paul Scholes and
   Ronnie Johnsen in midfield, only to have them muscled out of it by
   Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Ray Parlour. By moving Parlour in
   from his customary station wide on the right, Wenger won the numbers
   game in the central crucible.
   
   John Curtis, another youth-scheme product, was drafted in for only his
   second start in the League, but the decision to play the novice at
   right-back was a puzzling one, exposing him to ordeal by Overmars. The
   19-year-old had a chastening 52 minutes before substitution put him
   out of his misery.
   
   After their battling victory away to Wimbledon in midweek Arsenal
   were, in the vernacular, "up for it". Brimming with self-belief from
   the start, it was apparent that they genuinely thought they could win.
   Like Graham's champions of '89 and '91, they are not the prettiest
   team to watch, but they are impressively competitive, and they do not
   lose many. Four in fact, to United's seven. As ever, their success is
   founded on an organised, resolute defence. In Martin Keown and Adams,
   both superb here, they possess the best pair of centre-halves in the
   country, and Lee Dixon, at right-back, is playing at least as well now
   as when he was winning caps for England.
   
   The European Cup may be the Mancunian priority, but the 55,000 inside
   Old Trafford begged to differ. They arrived yawning, but a bristling
   atmosphere soon blasted the sleep from those tired eyes.
   
   First out of the traps, Arsenal might have been two goals to the good,
   and should certainly have had a penalty, before the first half reached
   its mid-point. Having identified young Curtis as United's Achilles
   heel, they channelled nearly everything down the left, where Overmars
   slalomed through at will. Early on he rounded Schmeichel but shot
   tantalisingly wide of the far post. The 'keeper then parried his
   explosive shot from 25 yards and a third incursion was terminated by a
   clip of the ankles - rash evidence of Curtis's discomfiture. The
   refusal of an obvious penalty was almost as culpable as Mike Riley's
   reaction when Gary Neville scythed down Barnsley's Andy Liddell in the
   FA Cup.
   
   Overmars, darting between Curtis and Gary Neville, shot into the side
   netting from close in and Parlour blasted wastefully over with
   Christopher Wreh unattended in front of goal. Phil Neville was forced
   to change places with Curtis, and only Arsenal's inaccuracy was
   keeping United in it.
   
   When Overmars spurned another good chance, hooking the ball wide of
   the gaping net with Schmeichel stranded off his line, even Wenger
   started to wonder whether his team might be punished for their
   profligacy. The continuing absence of Ian Wright points up their one
   obvious weakness, the lack of goals from other positions. The winning
   goal came after 79 minutes. Keown's long clearance was headed on by
   Bergkamp then Anelka to Overmars, who slotted it coolly across
   Schmeichel and into the far corner. A dramatic finale had something of
   everything before David Beckham fired a last-minute free kick just
   over, and that was that.
   
   Ferguson was "very disappointed" but admitted "they deserved it".
   Wenger had no doubts where the match had been won and lost: "They
   [United] were without Keane, Butt and Giggs in midfield, three very
   important players."
   
   And the championship? "There is great confidence and spirit in our
   team now. Mentally, as well as physically, we are very strong. But I
   don't think United have lost the title today." Watching the talismanic
   Schmeichel hobble away, the departing hordes were not so sure.
   
   Manchester United: Schmeichel, G Neville, Irwin, Johnsen (May 79),
   Beckham, Cole, Sheringham, P Neville (Solskjaer 77), Scholes, Berg,
   Curtis (Thornley 52). Unused: McClair, Van Der Gouw.
   
   Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Adams, Bergkamp,
   Overmars, Wreh (Anelka 66), Keown, Parlour (Garde 70), Petit. Unused:
   Grimandi, Lukic, Hughes. Booked: Anelka, Adams, Dixon.
   
   Scorer: Arsenal: Overmars (79 min)
   Booked: G Neville (27min), Anelka (86min), Keown (89min).
   Referee: A Wilkie (Chester-le-Street)
   Attendance: 55,174.

   Copyright 1998 The Times Newspapers Limited. 
   _________________________________________________________________

   News Update
   March 15 1998 FOOTBALL

   Hugh McIlvanney on the injury crisis that is threatening to destroy
   Manchester United's challenge for glory at home and abroad 
   
   Ferguson has to break the pain barrier 
   
   SUDDENLY a season that many had seen as a triumphal procession is
   fraught with dark possibilities for Manchester United. If they are
   granted no respite from the bombardment of injuries that has distorted
   the shape and form of their team, the promise of glory could dissolve
   into a nightmare of frustration.
   
   Obviously Alex Ferguson is the last manager to give house room to such
   pessimistic imaginings, but the realist in him will recognise that he
   is coping with the beginnings of a crisis, some crucial days in which
   the physical damage suffered by key players could make a casualty of
   his dreams of combining a fifth Premier League title with the crowning
   achievement of success in the European Cup.
   
   Yesterday's defeat at Old Trafford not only left the championship, at
   least theoretically, at the mercy of Arsenal but alarmingly increased
   the injury problems threatening United's prospects of gaining the
   victory over Monaco in Manchester on Wednesday night that would earn a
   place in the semi-finals of the greatest continental competition.
   
   Even the 79th-minute goal with which Marc Overmars put Arsenal just
   six points behind the leaders in the table, with three matches in
   hand, may not be remembered more painfully than the later moment when
   Peter Schmeichel's attempt to impersonate a striker around the
   opposition's penalty area ended with him so severely disabled that he
   is likely to be out of action for five weeks.
   
   Schmeichel's decision to charge upfield to compete for a corner as
   part of the frantic search for an equaliser was perhaps acceptable
   (such sorties express the extreme competitiveness that helps to raise
   him above the standards of other goalkeepers), but it was absolute
   folly to continue scuffling in an advanced position, and his badly
   judged challenge on Dennis Bergkamp may prove destructive to much more
   than a hamstring.
   
   The depth of United's fitness difficulties was demonstrated by the
   fact that they had already used the three substitutes permitted when
   Schmeichel was hurt. There were only four minutes of stoppage time
   remaining and the cripple managed to hop and limp through them without
   any material cost to his team. But his absence on Wednesday could be a
   savage blow to the confidence of United, especially as Ferguson
   already knew he would have to juggle his reduced outfield squad
   desperately against Monaco in pursuit of the fluency and penetration
   so conspicuously missing yesterday.
   
   He felt that, although Arsenal's win was merited, the makeshift
   formation he was obliged to field could have held out until the end
   but for the enforced removal of Phil Neville and Ronny Johnsen in the
   77th and 78th minutes respectively. It was, Ferguson said, the period
   of confusion caused by a double flurry of positional adjustments in
   defence that produced vulnerability.
   
   "Our failure to regroup quickly enough was the decisive factor in the
   match," he insisted. "You cannot deny Arsenal's right to the victory.
   They deserved it. But basically this match was about strength.
   
   "Injuries had left us with a midfield which was not, by any stretch of
   the imagination, the kind we would have been expected to put out
   there. And even one of the regulars who played until the end, Paul
   Scholes, was carrying the effects of his knee injury. I felt sorry for
   the players. They did quite well in the circumstances but they just
   didn't have the strength to beat Arsenal."
   
   Nothing he said was intended to obscure the essential superiority the
   opposition exhibited through most of the game, particularly in the
   middle of the park, where Patrick Vieira was consistently powerful and
   his French compatriot Emmanuel Petit dominated with stylish authority.
   
   At the front, too, Arsenal were more direct and penetrative, never
   more so than when Overmars had the ball. He was immeasurably the most
   menacing attacker on the field, and with a shade more luck might have
   settled the outcome before half-time. Overmars was richly entitled to
   both his goal and the tribute from his manager, Arsène Wenger, that
   defined him as "a big player" who performs best on the most demanding
   occasions.
   
   Copyright 1998 The Times Newspapers Limited. 
   _________________________________________________________________

   March 15 1998 FOOTBALL
   
   Up for grabs
   
                                TITLE RUN-IN
                                      
   WHISPERS of an Arsenal League and FA Cup Double have blossomed into
   lusty cheers after their 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old
   Trafford, writes Jim Munro, football editor.
   
   United's lead at the top of the Premier League was reduced to six
   points when their would-be usurpers plundered the narrowest of
   victories in a tight and testy game that had been billed as the battle
   for the championship. Marc Overmars became the looter-in-chief 11
   minutes from time, sprinting onto a flicked header from Nicolas Anelka
   to fire a low, accurate drive through the legs of Peter Schmeichel in
   goal, securing the win.
   
   To heighten United's anxiety, Schmeichel limped from the field at the
   final whistle having torn a hamstring. He will miss the European Cup
   quarter-final with Monaco on Wednesday, but of more importance to
   United's title aspirations, he could be an absentee for much of the
   remainder of the season.
   
   Schmeichel was left stranded in the Arsenal half, clutching his right
   leg, having moved upfield for a corner late in the game. "There was
   nothing wrong with Peter coming up for the corner," said Alex
   Ferguson, United's manager. "He has often done that before when we
   have been losing.
   
   "But when they broke, he had to chase back and although he's fast and
   fit, he injured his hamstring and it is likely to keep him out for
   five weeks. He is definitely out of Wednesday's match against Monaco.
   It is a terrible blow for us."
   
   In the title run-in, Arsenal have three games in hand with nine points
   available, enough to overhaul the leaders, but Arsène Wenger, their
   French coach, was typically level-headed in his summary of a day's
   work well done.
   
   "Manchester United have a small advantage because we have to take the
   points available from the games we have in hand," he said, "and that
   won't be easy. Every game is very difficult, but the most important
   job is done.
   
   "We had more chances than Manchester United and put in a solid
   defensive performance. Both teams lacked sharpness because we've
   played many games in recent weeks but if you count the chances we had
   we deserved the three points."
   
   And on the possibility of Arsenal wrestling the championship from
   United's grip: "I have believed it always and the players believe they
   can do it. It makes it very exciting for everybody in England now."
   
   While Arsenal maintained the momentum of their pursuit, the chasing
   pack did little better than stumble through the afternoon. Liverpool
   were put on the rack at White Hart Lane, but snatched a dramatic
   equaliser a minute from time through Steve McManaman in a 3-3 draw
   with Tottenham, Chelsea lost the lead at West Ham to go down 2-1, and
   Blackburn were beaten 1-0 at Everton.
   
                                TITLE RUN-IN
                                      
                             Manchester United
                                      
March 28        Wimbledon               (H)
April  6        Blackburn Rovers        (A)
April 10        Liverpool               (H)
April 18        Newcastle United        (H)
April 27        Crystal Palace          (A)
May    2        Leeds United            (H)
May   10        Barnsley                (A)

                                  Arsenal
                                      
March 28        Sheffield Wednesday     (H)
March 31        Bolton Wanderers        (A)
April  5        Liverpool               (A)
April 11        Newcastle United        (H)
April 13        Blackburn Rovers        (A)
April 18        Wimbledon               (H)
April 25        Barnsley                (A)
April 29        Derby County            (H)
May    2        Everton                 (H)
May   10        Aston Villa             (A)

   Copyright 1998 The Times Newspapers Limited. 
   _________________________________________________________________
   
                    Man United v Arsenal 14/03/98 11.15
                                      
Man United              (0) 0 Arsenal                 (0) 1 FT
                              Overmars 79

   Who said it was all over? Not Arsenal, and after this the Premiership
   could be ending up in North London after all.
   
   The Gunners had not triumphed in the Theatre of Dreams since the 1990
   ``Battle of Old Trafford'' - the season which ended in George Graham's
   side being crowned as kings of the championship castle.
   
   But now Arsene Wenger must begin to believe the glittering prize in
   within his grasp after the most deserved of triumphs over a United
   side who have lost their way.
   
   Marc Overmars was the agent of United's destruction, the flying
   Dutchman ghosting through to plant his 11th of the season past Peter
   Schmeichel 11 minutes from time.
   
   Yet nobody at Old Trafford could really begrudge Arsenal their victory
   after a match which they had dominated from the start, showing real
   quality, real belief, United out-thought and out-fought.
   
   Only poor finishing had kept United in it as Alex Ferguson's side were
   a pale shadow of the side who had seemed on course to romp home just
   weeks ago.
   
   But with time running out, Dennis Bergkamp and substitute Nicolas
   Anelka linked up to put Overmars into the box with United caught
   square.
   
   Overmars had missed three great chances before hand, but not this
   time, drilling low past into the net to clinch the points and leave
   Wenger's men six points behind with three games in hand, their destiny
   in their own hands.
   
   United have now lost seven Premiership games - one more than
   Ferguson's ``maximum'' - and as Arsenal celebrated their triumph,
   Ferguson's fears increased, Phil Neville damaging a hamstring and
   Peter Schmeichel hobbling off with a knee problem sustained augmenting
   the attack.
   
   And make no mistake, Arsenal deserved it. Before the game the usual
   cocksureness of the United fans was missing, a slight sense of
   foreboding floating around Old Trafford.
   
   The absence of Nicky Butt contributed to that, and without the England
   man Ferguson drafted in John Curtis at right back, shoved Gary Neville
   into the centre and put Ronny Johnsen in midfield.
   
   But what United clearly lacked was width and with Arsenal typically
   rugged, resilient and resourceful, that looked to be a crucial factor.
   
   When the home side did push forward they foundered on the defensive
   rocks of Tony Adams and Martin Keown, while the Gunners were
   everything the champions were not.
   
   Simple balls over the top, looking to exploit the pace of Overmars and
   Christopher Wreh, unhinged United with worrying ease, watching Monaco
   coach Jean Tigana justified in a quiet smile of anticipation.
   
   While Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira were quietly effective,
   blocking the holes and throttling David Beckham and Paul Scholes'
   creative impulses, Ray Parlour's work down the right emphasised what
   United were lacking.
   
   Although it was down the other flank that Arsenal came closest,
   Curtis' inexperience exposed by Overmars.
   
   In the 14th minute an exchange of passes with fellow Dutchman Bergkamp
   sent the winger away clear, Overmars nipping the ball beyond
   Schmeichel but taken too wide and drifting his effort from an acute
   angle across the face of goal.
   
   It was a warning shot, but one not heeded by the home side, Overmars,
   given too much space, testing Schmeichel from 25 yards.
   
   United, with Phil Neville looking like a converted full-back on the
   left, were getting nowhere, yet might have been gifted the lead when
   Lee Dixon unaccountably passed across goal straight to Andy Cole.
   
   Adams moved across to block, but only for the ball to fall perfectly
   to Sheringham, who knew he should have done better than drive at the
   quick-rushing Alex Manninger.
   
   Within a minute Bergkamp's super ball inside Curtis for Overmars
   should have brought a penalty as the England under-21 man mistimed his
   tackle, Arsenal furious at Alan Wilkie's shake of the head.
   
   But still the Gunners were in charge, and Wenger must have wondered
   how they failed to go in ahead.
   
   Wreh's flick to Parlour was fed on to Overmars, who sped between
   Curtis and Gary Neville to poke past Schmeichel but into the
   side-netting, and then Parlour ghosted on to Bergkamp's header but
   again failed to hit the target.
   
   The misses might have been costly if Cole, released by Schmeichel's
   long throw with Arsenal expecting a flag, had not struck at Manninger,
   but still the visitors were on top.
   
   And the half ended with a move that summed them up. Adams ended a
   United attack and five passes later Wreh, fed on the right by Parlour,
   pulled back for Petit's first-timer to fly a fraction over the top
   with Schmeichel a spectator.
   
   Ferguson acted at the break, sending Phil Neville to right-back with
   Curtis swapping to the left, but only for the seven minutes before Ben
   Thornley entered the fray, and at least United, now with a natural
   left-sider, had more conviction.
   
   No more penetration though, Manninger superbly protected as Arsenal
   held with relative ease, still probing for the chance themselves.
   
   It came - and went - in the 62nd minute, Vieira caressing a dinked lob
   over the top for Overmars, who momentarily lost the ball as it dropped
   12 yards out before touching over Schmeichel but wide of the gaping
   target.
   
   Wreh made way for Anelka with 24 minutes left, although it needed an
   outstanding tackle by Keown to prevent Cole finding Sheringham in
   front of goal.
   
   Wenger clearly felt the extra pace of his young protege might be the
   key, and Anelka had, after all, scored the opener in the November win
   at Highbury.
   
   United seemed, at last, to be putting it together. Adams robbed Cole
   in the act of shooting, Thornley's effort when the ball fell to him
   not far wide, and when Remi Garde replaced Parlour, Wenger seemed to
   be settling for a draw.
   
   Not so. Anelka showed what might be when rifling a drive over the top
   and then Garde sprinted down the right to thud one at Schmeichel from
   Overmars' pass.
   
   Phil Neville went off feeling his hamstring with 15 minutes left,
   Johnsen briefly reverting to defence as Ole Solksjaer came on before
   David May replaced him.
   
   And perhaps that was the crucial error. May had not touched the ball
   when Bergkamp's touch found Anelka, whose overhead pass sent Overmars
   into the box.
   
   This time, at last, Overmars was decisive and clinical, the finish
   brooking no argument.
   
   Anelka, racing past Dennis Irwin, could have finished it off five
   minutes later, Schmeichel saving with his legs before joining the
   frantic late siege.
   
   But the Dane only succeeded in damaging his knee trying to chase back
   from the Arsenal, and even a pitch protest - ended by Nigel Winterburn
   grabbing the miscreant - did not unhinge the visitors.
   
   This time United could not rescue themselves. The title race is alive
   again and Ferguson's Champions' League worries are massive. All
   changed, changed utterly.
   
   Man United: Schmeichel, G. Neville, Irwin, Johnsen (May, 79), Beckham,
   Cole, Sheringham, P. Neville (Solskjaer, 77), Scholes, Berg, Curtis
   (Thornley, 52).
   
   Subs not used: McClair, Van Der Gouw.
   Booked: G. Neville, Sheringham.
   
   Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Adams, Bergkamp,
   Overmars, Wreh (Anelka, 66), Keown, Parlour (Garde, 70), Petit.
   Subs not used: Grimandi, Lukic, Hughes.
   Booked: Anelka, Adams, Dixon.
   
   Attendance: 55,174.
   Referee: A B Wilkie (Chester-le-Street).
   _____________________________________________________________________

Overmars fires Gunners to victory over United

   LONDON, March 14 (AFP) - The race for the English Premiership  
title took a fresh twist on Saturday when a late goal by Dutchman 
Marc Overmars gave Arsenal a dramatic 1-0 win over leaders 
Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

   Winger Overmars, a constant threat to United throughout the  
game, coolly buried the winner on 80 minutes after a neat flick-on 
by substitute Nicolas Anelka sent him clear through on goal. 

   Arsenal's victory, their first at Old Trafford since 1990, puts  
them firmly in contention for the title and they are now just six 
points behind United with three games in hand. 

   Arsene Wenger's side were up against the best home record in the  
league. United had conceded just six goals in the Premiership at Old 
Trafford and the Londoners had not scored at the 'Theatre of Dreams' 
since 1991. 

   But Overmars' goal proved a fair reward for the Gunners,  
unbeaten in the League for three months, who were much the better 
side for most of the match. 

   United have not won any of the four matches they have played  
this month. 

   Arsenal almost scored after 13 minutes when Dennis Bergkamp  
released his compatriot Overmars down the left and the winger 
dribbled past United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel before shooting 
just inches wide from the acute angle. 

   Overmars went close again 10 minutes later with a powerful drive  
which Schmeichel did well to keep out. 

   But a clumsy error by Arsenal's veteran full back Lee Dixon  
almost gifted United a goal they didn't deserve. 

   Dixon gave the ball away to Andy Cole, who was tackled by Tony  
Adams, but the ball fell to Teddy Sheringham who saw his low shot 
superbly saved by rising Austrian star Alex Manninger in the 
Gunners' goal. 

   Bergkamp then released Overmars down the left again and the  
Gunners unsuccessfully appealed for a penalty after he went down 
under a challenge from Curtis. 

   Overmars went close again on the half hour when he tricked his  
way through the United defence only to shoot into the side netting. 

   The visitors, who beat United 3-2 at Highbury in November,  
continued to create most of the chances and a minute later, Ray 
Parlour broke down the right but lifted the ball over the advancing 
Schmeichel and the United goal. 

   Cole was in an offside position when he received Schmeichel's  
long kick on 38 minutes, but the assistant referee did not flag and 
the United striker ran through only for for Manninger to save 
impressively. 

   After 61 minutes Overmars was again just inches away from  
opening the scoring after Emmanuel Petit found him in the box with 
an exquisite chipped pass. 

   Ronnie Johnsen fired just past the angle from a fine United move  
before Scholes blazed over from Thornley's cross. 

   But Overmars finally broke the stalemate 10 minutes from time  
when he burst on to Anelka's flick to score past Schmeichel in the 
bottom corner. It was his 11th goal of the season. 

   United, who face Monaco in a European Cuip quarter-final on  
Wednesday night, must be worried by their slump. In their last nine 
Premiership matches they have scored only nine times and taken only 
11 points. 
  	   	

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