Arsenal 1 Leeds U 0:THE LONG stalemate was just a piece of scene-setting. Thierry Henry decided this FA Cup tie after a five-year absence from Arsenal and sent the side on to a meeting with Aston Villa in the fourth round.
It was a goal perfectly reminiscent of his great days with the club. Alex Song slipped the ball through in the 78th minute and the substitute Henry, on loan from New York Red Bulls, came in from the left to slant a right-footed shot across the goalkeeper Andy Lonergan. Even so, Leeds United had also made this encounter an occasion.
The match had a ring to it, even with Henry merely on the bench. The clubs who met in this tie live in separate divisions, but they seemed to belong together in a competition with tradition as its soul and its principal attraction.
The sides, who also met in the FA Cup last season when Arsenal advanced through a replay at Elland Road, have each won the competition, even if Leeds did so just once, in 1972.
The present aspirations in Yorkshire are not so much for glory as for the steps that will take them closer to re-emergence in the Premier League.
A knockout competition such as the FA Cup should, however, come as a relief from all that earnestness, and the Leeds players savoured the game. Here was an occasion that would excite a team that also understood there was scant risk of disgrace.
For Arsenal’s part, the available prizes at the moment are the FA Cup and the Champions League. There is a contrast in those pieces of silverware, but Arsenal ought to have had a regard for the domestic honour since, in theory, it is a great deal easier to win.
Progress against Leeds was not exactly difficult, but there was trouble in making a breakthrough. The visitors, despite having some intention of taking the game to Arsenal, were prepared to be obdurate in their 4-1-4-1 system. Arsene Wenger’s players attacked, but early on there was little precision in front of goal. Marouane Chamakh did not make his presence felt when sending his finish over the bar in the second minute.
There was little reason for Leeds to feel beleaguered before half-time. While the Arsenal centre-half Sebastien Squillaci had been wasteful when heading off target from a Mikel Arteta free-kick in the second minute, Simon Grayson’s team were generally composed. Their opponents had to cope with exasperation and an injured Francis Coquelin had to make way for Nico Yennaris after half an hour.
It would still have been a distortion of the truth to pretend that frustration had seeped into the Emirates. There may only have been a little wistfulness about one absentee. Robin van Persie was excused the game, even though the club often appear dependent on him for goals. His name would have begun to be more prominent still in the thoughts of the Arsenal fans when there was deadlock after 45 minutes.
There ought also to have been regard for the opposition among those in a sportsmanlike mood. Leeds were composed and there was also a wish to go on the attack, despite the fact they had not inconvenienced the Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny at that juncture. Leeds, after 45 minutes, would have had the impression that, if Arsenal were any guide, the Premier League might not be so intimidating after all.
It was not only for sentimental reasons that chants for Henry broke out in the opening moments of the second half. The Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain showed some urgency when cutting in from the right before shooting off-target in the 47th minute. But it would have been unjust to write off this fixture as a non-event.
With 69 minutes gone, Henry entered the fray in place of Chamakh, while Theo Walcott took over from Oxlade-Chamberlain. Even so, this was not the return anticipated for Henry.
It was no gentle reintroduction in which the fans could reminisce about him without paying much attention to the game being conducted before them. Arsenal did show rising urgency, but the main impression was of the fortitude and discipline in the Leeds ranks.
ARSENAL: Szczesny, Koscielny, Miquel, Squillaci, Coquelin (Yennaris 33), Arteta, Song, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Walcott 68), Chamakh (Henry 68), Arshavin. Subs not used: Martinez, Park, Benayoun, Miyaichi. Booked: Arshavin.
LEEDS UNITED: Lonergan, Thompson, Lees, O’Dea, White, Townsend, Pugh, Nunez (Forssell 81), Clayton, Becchio (McCormack 74), Vayrynen (Brown 60). Subs not used: Taylor, Bruce, Sam, Parker. Booked: O’Dea, Townsend.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne Wear).
