The Hindu : Sport / Football : Henry shows his class

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 14, 2004

Sport

Sport - Football

Henry shows his class

LONDON, DEC. 13. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho called it a game `for the world.'

Highly touted matches often fall flat, but Chelsea's 2-2 draw at Arsenal on Sunday met the hype with great goals, a touch of controversy, and only a few yellow cards.

Nearing the midway point of the season, it didn't seal the outcome of the English Premier League, but it showed league-leading Chelsea, trying for its first league title since 1955, will be difficult to catch, even for defending champion Arsenal.

Chelsea leads the standings on 40 points with Everton (36) and Arsenal (35) chasing. Fourth-place Manchester United (30) plays at Fulham on Monday.

After only 73 seconds, Henry took a pass from Jose Antonio Reyes, and left-footed a twisting shot from 16m past Chelsea 'keeper Petr Cech.

Chelsea replied in the 17th on a header from John Terry off a corner. Moments before, Arsenal 'keeper Manuel Almunia had made a point-blank save on Frank Lampard.

Henry put Arsenal ahead in the 29th, again catching Chelsea by surprise. The Frenchman took a free-kick as soon as referee Graham Poll began to back away, and curled the ball into the far corner and catching Cech flat-footed.

The 25m goal was controversial, but Mourinho refused to criticise Poll's decision. He didn't need to. His opinion was clear.

Scrappy second-half

Chelsea equalised 31 seconds after half-time when Eidur Gudjohnsen put a close-in header behind Almunia. Despite the goal, the second half was scrappy with loose passes and few chances.

In the 69th, Chelsea's Dutch striker Arjen Robben broke down the left side and stepped cleverly around several defenders before striking a short shot into the side of the net.

Minutes later, Henry missed a potential game-winner and a hat-trick. He was left wide open in front of the net in the 77th, but his shot from eight metres sailed over the crossbar with Arsenal fans behind the goal preparing to celebrate a victory.

In the 84th, Arsenal's Robin van Persie had an open chance in front of the net but directed his shot just wide.

"It was about a fair result," Henry said.

The results:

EPL: Crystal Palace 0 drew with Blackburn 0; Everton 1 bt Liverpool 0; Manchester City 0 lost to Tottenham 1; Newcastle 1 drew with Portsmouth 1; Norwich 3 bt Bolton 2; Southampton 2 drew with Middlesbrough 2; West Bromwich 0 lost to Charlton 1; Arsenal 2 drew with Chelsea 2; Birmingham City 2 bt Aston Villa 1.

La Liga: Albacete 0 lost to FC Barcelona 1; Athletic Bilbao 1 bt Atletico Madrid 0; Osasuna 2 drew with Zaragoza 2; Deportivo La Coruna 2 drew with Sevilla 2; Real Betis 2 bt Racing Santander 1;Real Madrid 1 drew with Real Sociedad 1 (match stopped in the 88th minute due to a bomb threat); Getafe 1 lost to Villarreal 2; Malaga 1 bt Levante 0; Espanyol 2 bt Mallorca 1; Valencia 1 bt Numancia 0.

Serie A: Brescia 0 lost to AS Roma 1; Chievo 2 bt Palermo 1; Livorno 2 Parma 0; AC Milan 6 Fiorentina 0; Reggina 3 bt Cagliari 2; Sampdoria 1 bt Messina 0; Siena 2 drew with Inter Milan 2; Bologna 0 lost to Juventus 1; Atalanta 0 lost to Udinese 1; Lazio 3 drew with Lecce 3.

Bundesliga: Mainz 0 lost to Nuremberg 1; Bayern Munich 2 drew with Stuttgart 2; Bochum 1 lost to Hamburger SV 2; Hannover 0 lost to Hertha Berlin 1; Hansa Rostock 1 drew with Borussia Dortmund 1; Schalke 1 drew with Freiburg 1; Werder Bremen 1 drew with Kaiserslautern 1; Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 drew with Bayer Leverkusen 1; Wolfsburg 5 bt Arminia Bielefeld 0.

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