Arsenal 1 Leeds United 1
A tale of two penalties, one for either side, means Simon Grayson and Arsene Wenger will have to do battle again at Elland Road on Tuesday week. Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring from the spot less than ten minutes after half time when Denilson foolishly stuck out a leg to halt Max Gradel’s progress.
Arsenal responded by bringing talisman Cesc Fabregas and the pacey Theo Walcott off the bench and Leeds just couldn’t handle the England winger’s relentless running down the right. In the last minute before stoppage time Whites full back Ben Parker pulled him back giving referee Phil Dowd no option but to point to the spot again. Fabregas dispatched the equaliser calmly from twelve yards.
Moments earlier there had been controversy when Walcott and Alex Bruce tangled over the ball in the United penalty area with the official ready to award a spot kick for the challenge. The linesman flagged the active Nicklas Bendtner offside however as the ball broke to him and he curled an effort wide.
The first half had a single clear cut opening spurned by the home side. With ten minutes played Andrei Arshavin was put through on goal by the vision of Tomas Rosicky but shot straight at the keeper. Goal line clearances from Whites captain Johnny Howson and lone frontman Luciano Becchio kept the visitors in it. The Gunners were certainly on top for the opening forty five, worried only once by an incisive ball from Snodgrass but Wojciech Szczesny came off his line to smother the danger.
Leeds have both centre halves Bruce and Andy O’Brien to thank for earning them a replay besides an inspired goalkeeping performance from Kasper Schmeichel. The Dane twice denied long range efforts from Denilson superbly, the second a world class finger tips stop late in second half stoppage time.
Arsenal owe a debt to their own keeper Szczesny for keeping them in the match when they were a goal down. Just after the hour mark the Polish custodian plunged to his right to parry a powerful Becchio header from a Snodgrass corner. The introductions of Fabregas and Walcott intensified the pressure on the Leeds goal as the visitors continued to drop deep.
This wasn’t helped by the negative tactics of Grayson swapping on-loan Gunner Sanchez Watt for Leigh Bromby, going five at the back. Nonetheless the visitors deserved a replay and held their own against a strong team put out by Wenger. The Frenchmen retains his undefeated managerial record on Third Round weekend, whilst his counterpart further adds to his reputation, Leeds having knocked out Manchester United at this stage of the FA Cup last season.
Bendtner continues to forge a career for himself as a waster of chances his teammates work extremely hard to make. He is particularly profligate in the air and if the Dane could just improve his finishing then he has the potential to become a real force in English football. Arshavin has been very hot and cold since joining Arsenal and this season it’s more often than not been the latter. You could tell fellow forward Marouane Chakmakh had never played in the cup and the Moroccan has now failed to find the net in six matches.
More encouraging were the displays of Rosicky in an advanced central position and Walcott’s terrifying speed on the wing. The Czech Republic national captain has struggled to recapture the form he showed before his length spell on the sidelines, but today particularly in the first half his distribution going forwards and guile were notable.
For the visitors Becchio has to be commended for the shift he puts in up front on his own. The work rate of the Argentine forward makes him almost like a lower league version of Carlos Tevez, always willing to chase down lost causes until he runs himself into the ground. At the back there can’t be high enough praise for Bruce and O’Brien. The pair both put in tremendous last ditch tackles to keep Leeds in the match. The replay should be a real treat!
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