The red-faced ghosts of past embarrassments in the English FA Cup gathered to haunt Arsenal at Vale Park last night until David Seaman turned exorcist in a penalty shoot-out that the Premier League team should have avoided.
Seaman's not inconsiderable experience in these matters rescued Arsene Wenger's side after Lee Dixon's opening penalty had been saved one-handed by Port Vale's Paul Musselwhite. The England goalkeeper guessed right as Ian Bogie tried to drive the ball past his left hand, and, when Allen Tankard wafted the First Division's team's fifth shot over the bar, Arsenal were assured of a fourth round tie at Middlesbrough.
Last night a sublime goal from Dennis Bergkamp appeared to have won the tie for Arsenal in extra time, but Wayne Corden brought the scores level to give Port Vale the chance in the lottery that their resilience and no little skill deserved. Even so, Arsenal should have won within the distance.
Marc Overmars hit a post in the first half and Ian Wright saw Musselwhite push a shot on to the near post late in the second before departing with a damaged hamstring which is expected to keep him out of action for three weeks.
Tony Naylor and Gareth Ainsworth wasted precious chances for Port Vale towards the interval, but had the quality of Bergkamp's creative play and another tireless performance from Ray Parlour been matched by sharper finishing the contest would have been over long before the end of normal time.
The standard of passing and movement achieved by Port Vale belied the poverty of their First Division position.
Port Vale had Tony Naylor playing as a lone striker supported by a five-man midfield, tactics which had frustrated Arsenal in the goalless first encounter. Nevertheless their neat and well-organised passing game, allied to Naylor's lurking presence at Steve Bould's shoulder, gnawed at Premiership nerves from the outset.
Yet you felt that if Port Vale fell behind they would surely struggle to save the tie, and they almost conceded a goal on the half-hour. Parlour gathered the ball near the halfway line and surged through on his own before driving in a shot which Musselwhite turned around a post with difficulty.
In the second half Port Vale continued to defend solidly, tackling consistently well and denying Wright all but the odd glimpse of goal. Meanwhile Ainsworth continued to nag away at Arsenal on the right, and eventually this bore fruit.
The tie seemed over in the 100th minute when Bergkamp gathered a pass from Gilles Grimandi, who had replaced Vieira, and sent a shot dipping past Musselwhite. But in the 112th minute, Ainsworth met a return pass from Martin Foyle, one of the Port Vale substitutes, and his centre was driven in by Corden at an unguarded far post.
Port Vale: Musselwhite, Hill, Tankard, Bogie, Aspin, Snijders, Ainsworth, Porter, Talbot (Foyle 101), Naylor (Mills 87), Corden. Subs not used: Van Heusden, Glover, Stokes. Booked: Tankard. Goals: Corden 112.
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira (Grimandi 75), Bould, Wright (Anelka 84), Bergkamp, Overmars (Boa Morte 90), Keown, Parlour, Hughes. Subs not used: Manninger, Upson. Goals: Bergkamp 100.
Referee: N Barry (Scunthorpe).
