Arsenal 0 Valencia 0: The Spaniards will be glad of the point.

Bergkamp and Carboni compete for the ball

Not the team predicted in the pubs around Highbury though. Freddie and Bob started as did Dennis so Wiltord only made the bench alongside Keown who we though must play, Taylor, Kanu, Luzhny, Parlour and Edu.

It was brass-monkey weather at Highbury but only Lauren, Gilberto and Henry wore gloves. Most of the crowd however wore as many layers as they possibly could. Pascal who kept his slot gave Seaman an iffy moment early on with a marginal back pass. Apart from that we looked pretty solid. Not too much flow to the match and not a lot of threats from Valencia but fairly even in the first half in which we had the majority of chances without looking a serious threat.

Dennis to Thierry and it ended with Pires having a half chance that came to nothing. Another chance came with a fabulous cross from Dennis that was just a bit too much for Freddie to control at pace.

A long range shot from our Dutchman after a drive by Pat. Another half-decent Arsenal cross in was headed clear as Bergkamp challenged in the air to win a corner. From the following corner the ball found Dennis at range but his low hard shot was held by Palop - the keeper in for the injured Canizares.

Vieira was fouled by Baraja just within Henry's new preferred free kick range. Henry had his free kick saved. If anything we were on top but not decisively.

Vieira put Henry away but Thierry seemed to delay long enough for the keeper to make another decent save, although to be fair he didn't have much of an angle or room to work in. Aimar is a fine player but a cheating little jerk, he went down as if dead when up against Gilberto then jumped up completely unhurt. Maybe it's just a Brazilian-Argentinean thing but he was rightly booed for the remainder of the match.

Pires is tackled by Aimar

Typical Spanish obstruction on Pat won yet another free kick. Henry was tripped on a run but the free kick he fired in this time was blocked. Patrick lasted just thirty-seven minutes before being replaced by Ray Parlour. Pat was giving his all but several passes went astray. Ray was brilliant right from his first touch. He won good ball, worked hard, made a number of fine passes and showed all the good things some of us know him to be capable of. Why some Arsenal fans continue to berate Ray is beyond me, he was our man of the match - no question.

Offside called against Aimar but he wasn't because Lauren was playing him on. We got an equally bad call in the second half so the two poor decisions evened themselves out. Ashley had a poke but his shot drifted wide of the far post. Parlour was in the thick of things yet again with a fine run down our right. Great cross-field ball by Parlour to Cole who managed to cut inside and got a shot away with his weaker right foot which was off target. Pires was chopped just before the half time whistle was blown by Kim Milton Nielsen who'd kept the game in control with out recourse to needless bookings. Were you
watching D'Urso?

Cole had a great burst down the flank to win a free kick near the corner flag. Bob took it but the keeper punched away. Freddie won us another corner almost immediately as the second half opened with one-way traffic, all heading towards the North Stand. Pascal's high boot kicked Gilberto in the head and the Brazilian was down and looking groggy. The ball was generously kicked out of play by Vicente.

Carew, who seemed to be their prime threat, set off down the right channel and hit a shot across goal. This was followed by some very fluid Arsenal interplay ending with a great dragback, turn and shot by Freddie. Matched unfortunately by a great save from Palop. Good pressure though.

Our best move of the game ended with a header from Dennis that was saved. Cygan gave it away and we conceded a corner. Great cross by Lauren at the other end but no-one anticipated his ball beyond their far post. This was a good dominant spell by Arsenal but we couldn't quite make it pay.

Freddie crossed for a Henry header and another corner. If only we could be more inventive at corners, we only ever hit in-swingers, why can't we mix it up? Anyone else recall Henry heading home a rare out-swinger in front of the North Stand? Anyone remember Geordie's terrific corners? But I digress.

Gilberto headed over from a Pires cross. Rufete on for Vincente. Pires cuts inside and Henry's shot won yet another corner as we're pressing them deeper.

Pires again, receiving attention from both Aimar and Baraja

Our pressure this half was forcing Valencia to make mistakes and they looked just a bit rattled. Cygan went down in central midfield, I'm told by someone sitting behind me that it was a punch, but I didn't see it. Angulo got the first card of the night and it was red. Spanish playacting intensified after the sending off, hardly a surprise.

Ljungberg has a tasty shot held high by Palop. Torres joined in the playacting as he went down from a peachy tackle by Ray, no way was it a free kick. Wiltord on for Freddie. Sol almost got a touch to score as the ball rattled around their six-yard box. Marchena on for Aimar who was booed off. Dennis offside. Three players surround Henry to close him out, such is his threat. Pires replaced by Kanu. Gilberto won the ball but Valencia got a free kick that was put wide by Carboni.

Valencia were rather panicky now and playing very deep in the closing stages as we continued to press. Kanu almost, he does well to get it to Wiltord who misses a sitter. He should have clinched it or given it to Thierry. There was less than a minute left at this point and Valencia almost won it themselves almost immediately but Sol cleared off the line and felt his back in the process. Final score nil-nil. It could have been better, could have been worse. Valencia are a great side and yet we looked the better team. We're obviously saving up all our goals for the Scum!