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Schalke rolls Henry hits two as Gunners slow Panathinaikos charge
Updated: Tuesday October 16, 2001 6:46 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Thierry Henry fired two goals to revive Arsenal's Champions Cup survival hopes in a 2-1 beating of Panathinaikos on Tuesday and delay the Greek club's charge to the second round. French striker Henry gave the Gunners a 24th minute lead from a pass by countryman Patrick Vieira before Arsenal goalkeeper Richard Wright celebrated his debut in Europe's premier competition with a penalty save. Emmanuel Olisadebe leveled for Panathinaikos early in the second half but, within a minute, Henry regained the lead from the spot after a foul on another of Arsenal's French stars, Sylvain Wiltord. The result put Arsenal within three points of Group C leader Panathinaikos and level with Real Mallorca, which was beaten 4-0 at home by last place Schalke. Needing just a point to clinch a place in the second round with two games to spare, Panathinaikos twice went close to taking the lead before Arsenal went in front. Just six minutes had elapsed when Mihail Konstantinou collected a headed pass only to fire too high under pressure from a challenge by Sol Campbell. Angelos Basinas dispossessed Vieira in midfield only to shoot wide before the Gunners midfielder made up for his blunder by setting up Henry's 24th minute strike. The French midfielder won the ball from Basinas with a superbly timed tackle and then sent Henry breaking free of the visitors' defense. Henry ran on to fire home his third goal in this season's competition and 10th in his last 12 outings for the Gunners. Five minutes later it should have been 1-1. Arsenal defender Matthew Upson hauled downed Olisadebe as the Nigerian-born Polish international raced for goal but Wright marked his Champions League debut by diving low to his right and beating out Basinas' penalty kick. Panathinaikos leveled soon after the restart and then fell 2-1 behind with a minute of equalizing. Olisadebe dribbled round England international Campbell wide on left and then prodded the ball between Wright and his near post for the leveller in the 50th minute. At the other end, Sylvain Wiltord was barged over by two defenders and Henry rolled the penalty kick home to restore the Gunners lead. It was almost 2-2 minutes later, however, when Olisadebe hit the crossbar with a 20-yard shot. Wenger praises Vieira for captain's role Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised captain Patrick Vieira for his commanding performance Tuesday. The France midfielder was outstanding in the first half, setting up Thierry Henry for the first of his two goals with a superb pass after breaking up a Greek attack with a sliding tackle, and his no-nonsense approach rattled Panathinaikos for the full 90 minutes. "Vieira gave everything tonight, in the first half he was a real leader," said Wenger. "He was one of our key components. "He had an unlucky patch early in the game when he lost four or five balls. But he had the mental strength and internal resources to make a difference." The defeat wrecked Panathinaikos' 100 percent record in the competition. They still lead the group with nine points, three ahead of Arsenal and Real Mallorca, who suffered a shock 4-0 home defeat by Schalke 04. Arsenal host the Spanish side next week. Goalkeeper Richard Wright marked his European debut for Arsenal by saving a penalty in the first half and Wenger admitted he would have a quandary when England keeper David Seaman was fit again. "I have two first choice goalkeepers now," he said. "But at the moment I'm just happy for Richard Wright and the team that he has done so well. "David Seaman is certainly still the number one in England, but Richard Wright will be No. 1 one day." Panathinaikos coach Yannis Kirastas was disappointed by the defeat and by the refereeing of Switzerland's Urs Meier. "This was not justice for Panathinaikos," he said. "We deserve to be top of the group, Arsenal did not deserve to win. "I'm very happy with the way we played and we had many chances during the game -- but the details are what make the difference in international game." Schalke trounces Mallorca 4-0 to gain first pointsPALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain -- Schalke overwhelmed a 10-man Mallorca 4-0 to gain its first three points of this season's Champions League in a fourth-rotation Group C match on Tuesday. Two goals in either half over a woeful Spanish side kept alive the German side's faint hopes of reaching the second phase. Mallorca, which had its Cameroon international striker Samuel Eto'o dismissed before the interval, remains on six points in the group which also includes Arsenal and Panathinaikos. Having lost the home fixture 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen three weeks ago, Schalke looked to have come into the match in disarray following the internal disputes which culminated in its Belgian international striker Emile Mpenza being sent home. However, Huub Stevens' side began the match in total harmony as it raced into a two-goal lead within 22 minutes. A Marc Wilmots cross from the left after a quarter of an hour found Ebbe Sand unmarked and Danish striker nodded down for Dutch midfielder Marco van Hoogdalem to run the ball in from close-range. Six minutes later, German international Gerald Asamoah's forceful run into the area was abruptly halted by Spanish international centerback Miguel Angel Nadal. The resulting penalty saw leftback Tomasz Hajto calmly send Argentine goalkeeper Carlos Roa the wrong way to stretch Schalke's lead. Mallorca's problems worsened when four minutes later when Eto'o received his marching orders. Felled by an innocuous-looking challenge by Polish centerback Tomasz Waldoch, the young striker was red-carded for arguing furiously and then scuffling with defenders. The ten-man Mallorca, which languishes in 18th place in the Spanish league, never recovered from its dismal start. With 13 minutes left, Asamoah added a third when he nodded home via the unfortunate Nadal after Roa had parried Sand's shot. Mallorca's misery was complete in the 84th minute when substitute Michael Buskens chipped a cross for Sand, unmarked again, to nod home a fourth from the right of the goal. Mallorca visits Arsenal while Schalke plays at Panathinaikos in fifth-rotation matches scheduled for Oct. 24. SummariesArsenal 2 Panathinaikos 1 - result Scorers: Arsenal - Thierry Henry 23, 52pen Panathinaikos - Emmanuel Olisadebe 50 Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 35,042 Teams: Arsenal: 24-Richard Wright; 3-Ashley Cole, 23-Sol Campbell, 5-Matthew Upson, 12-Lauren; 4-Patrick Vieira, 7-Robert Pires (15-Ray Parlour 71), 8-Frederik Ljungberg, 16-Giovanni van Bronckhorst; 11-Sylvain Wiltord (10-Dennis Bergkamp 71), 14-Thierry Henry (18-Gilles Grimandi 90) Panathinaikos: 1-Antonis Nikopolidis; 2-Rene Henriksen, 14-Leonidas Vokolos, 6-Paolo Sousa (4-Giorgios Seitaridis 78), 19-Michalis Konstantinou (7-Goran Vlaovic 78), 12-Jan Mikaelsen, 16-Sotiris Kyrgiakos, 23-Emmanuel Olisadebe, 20-Angelos Basinas, 26-Giorgos Karagounis (11-Joonas Kolkka 78), 30-Takis Fyssas Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland) Real Mallorca 0 Schalke 04 4 - result Scorers: Marco van Hoogdalem 14, Tomasz Hajto 21pen, Gerald Asamoah 78, Ebbe Sand 84 Red card: Samuel Eto'o (Real Mallorca) 26 Halftime: 0-2; Attendance: 20,000 Teams: Real Mallorca: 1-Carlos Roa; 14-Javier Olaizola, 20-Miguel Angel Nadal (4-Fatih Akyel 26), 5-Fernando Nino, 3-Miquel Soler; 2-Alejandro Campano (16-Alvaro Novo 75), 6-Veljko Paunovic, 18-Marcos, 11-Cristian Diaz (7-Carlos Dominguez 56); 19-Albert Luque, 9-Samuel Eto'o. Schalke 04: 1-Oliver Reck; 6-Tomasz Hajto, 15-Tomasz Waldoch, 2-Nico van Kerckhoven, 3-Anibal Matellan, 10-Olaf Thon (20-Jiri Nemec 80), 14-Gerald Asamoah, 12-Marco van Hoogdalem (5-Sven Kmetsch 79), 24-Marc Wilmots (19-Michael Bueskens 74), 17-Sven Vermant, 11-Ebbe Sand Referee: Jan W. Wegereef (Netherlands)
Reuters contributed to this report.
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