Arsenal (0) 2 - 0 (0) Borussia Dortmund
Highbury, Tues 17/09/02
Champs League stage 1 match 1Part of me says we need to try to keep our feet on the ground. But with Arsenal not only starting the domestic season in the kind of form we expect to see only during the post-Xmas making-up-for-the-start-of-the-season romp up the table, but also translating that form into a barnstorming start in Europe, it's bloody hard.
Dortmund played their part and had some decent chances. Perhaps if Rosicky had been fit they might have troubled us more. The giraffe Koller up front needs perfect
service if he's going to score against a defence like ours.
He appeared to have a great talent for falling over but I didn't see much else.
There was action at both ends in the 1st half. The highlights were a Wiltord effort saved well at close range by the Dortmund keeper, and a Henry shot which he did well to get down to as it was heading inside his right hand post. Up the other end the Argentine Rodriguez hit a fine shot which rocketed inches over the upright and would have given Seaman no chance. Arsenal took more and more control in the 2nd half, and the highly influential Bergkamp broke the deadlock in the 62nd
minute. He received the ball in the D, with space created by a
nice dummy run from Ljungberg (on from the start). Dennis's shot looked like it was heading in anyway, but there's no doubt that the defender's deflection defender helped make sure.
Freddie had looked a little off the pace at times. But his play for the second goal was vintage Freddie.
Actually it was vintage everyone. One of those perfect goals
which makes the entrance fee a privilege to pay. A Dortmund attack broke down and Seaman ended up with the ball in his hands in a crowded box. Wiltord started bobmbing away from goal and H threw it ahead of him so Sylvain didn't have to break stride. He bombed forward down the right win with Henry making a run on the left and Freddie down the middle. Wiltord's arrow of a pass found Henry, and Freddie cleverly checked his run to stay onside just in time for Henry to cushion the ball forward for him without the flag going up. The keeper came out but Freddie
got there first, rounded him, and knocked it into the centre of the goal as he lost his footing. He even managed to turn his
fall into a backward roll.
So I think we can safely say that Wenger's decision to bring Freddie straight back in was the right one. What was surprising
was seeing Lauren on the bench. Luzhny the moose had a mare again, and given that the Cameroonian was fit enough to warm the bench (and come on towards the end as Oleg became more &
more of a liability), the decision to start with Luzhny seemed
bizarre. Oh well, if Lauren stays fit we won't have to worry about that again. There must be a youngster that's worth
blooding if we need cover for Lauren again. Can't Moritz Volz play there?
The other match in our group went well for us too, PSV drawing 0-0 at Auxerre.
Finally, can anyone tell us what "Borussia" means?
(see below for answers!)
A selection of reports from other sites...
Rupe adds...
Many thanks to Arseweb readers Jörgen (from Sweden) and Aidan (from a German company in London) for their answer to the Borussia question above. Apparently "Borussia" was the Roman name for "Preußen", which was one of the states that made up Germany before it all got unified (the first time). This and more at this Bundesliga FAQ. A few people wrote to suggest what I had suspected, that Borussia had some connection with Prussia. But no-one's come up with any source evidence for this, so unless there's a connection between Prussia and Preußen, I think we have to go
with the latter....
Or will we? It appears (thanks now to Phil L, John W, and Mike P and his German sales team!) that Prussia and Preußen are essentially the same thing, both derived from the Latin "Borussia". Ralf and Guido (via Mike) say that "according to the best know german Dictionary (Duden), Borussia is a:
"Frauengestalt im Sinnbild Preußens" which translates to "Symbolic Prussian Female Form". So, "Girly Prussian Dortmund" it is.
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