A wonderful goal from Emmanuel Petit eased Arsenal's growing anxieties against a combative Derby County side at Highbury last night but not before they had lost Dennis Bergkamp with a pulled hamstring that could keep him out of the FA Cup final. The Dutchman's short and unhappy evening also included a missed penalty.
Derby were the first side to beat them in the league this season, although their 3-0 victory at Pride Park now seemed a long way away. That win, on November 1st, had turned out to be a watershed for Jim Smith's team and they came to Highbury looking slightly less chipper following a run of seven games which had brought them just one victory, along with heavy home defeats, 5-0 and 4-0 by Leeds and Leicester.
Logic, therefore, suggested that Arsenal, unbeaten in the league since mid-December and with eight successive Premiership victories behind them, would simply march past Derby towards the title but in football logic, as Manchester United are discovering, can never be trusted. Even so, Alex Ferguson's hope of an Arsenal collapse appeared wan even as he expressed it.
Not that Derby had come to Highbury to be walked over. Their early football was full of pace and bustle, with Lee Carsley and Darryl Powell challenging Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit for their customary command in midfield while Jacob Laursen dogged the footsteps of Bergkamp.
There seemed little untoward as Chris Powell challenged Nicolas Anelka near the byline following a throw-in on the right after 13 minutes but the referee Neale Barry decided the Derby defender had fouled the Frenchman. Bergkamp, however, proved ungrateful, placing his penalty tamely to the right of Mart Poom and seeing the Estonian make a relatively easy save.
Highbury howled its frustration but Arsenal took the disappointment in their stride, gradually establishing familiar links between defence and attack with Bergkamp, Anelka and Marc Overmars gnawing away at the heart of the Derby defence. Midway through the first half Anelka's neat first-time lay-off sent Overmars through for a shot that skimmed the bar.
Derby, however, continued to disrupt Arsenal's movements through their refusal to allow the opposition any time on the ball. Little squabbles broke out - between Tony Adams and Christian Dailly, and Petit and Paulo Wanchope - which were hardly conducive to Arsenal's peace of mind.
Nor was the loss of a limping Bergkamp on the half-hour. The Dutchman pulled a muscle when he slipped as Laursen challenged him for the ball and was replaced by Christopher Wreh, an altogether different kind of player.
For Arsenal the evening appeared to be going horribly wrong, but only for five minutes. Then Overmars, beaten to the ball by Rory Delap, managed to toe-poke the ball away from the defender, leaving Petit to drive a marvellous left-footed shot inside the near post from 25 yards.
But for Poom the contest would have been settled by half-time. The Derby goalkeeper kept out a thunderous drive from Vieira and then grabbed the ball with one hand as Overmars ended a dash through the defence with a shot which threatened to steal in at the near post.
A second goal for Arsenal all but arrived a minute past the hour. Petit struck a free-kick low through the wall of defenders and Poom, seeing it late, could only parry the shot. Wreh pounced on the rebound but only to shoot against the goalkeeper.
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Adams, Anelka (Platt 82), Bergkamp (Wreh 30), Overmars, Keown, Parlour, Petit. Subs not used: Bould, Manninger, Hughes. Booked: Parlour. Goals: Petit 34.
Derby: Poom, Rowett, C. Powell, D. Powell (Burton 74), Sturridge, Wanchope, Delap, Bohinen (Solis 82), Laursen, Carsley, Dailly. Subs not used: Hoult, Van Der Laan, Kozluk. Booked: Dailly, Wanchope, Sturridge, Delap, Carsley. Attendance: 38,121.
Referee: N S Barry (Scunthorpe).
