Report

Arsenal 3 - 0 Sheff Wed

Arsenal made a couple of changes to the side which beat Derby County on Saturday. Nigel Winterburn has been suffering from a throat infection, so Argentinian international Nelson Vivas took over at left-back. Patrick Vieira returned from a one-match ban, to replace broken-arm victim Stephen Hughes, and partnered Ray Parlour in the centre of the champions' midfield.

Wednesday were unchanged in their attempt to win at Highbury for the first time since 1962. The Gunners started the match at a very high tempo and made the early running with striker Nicolas Anelka having a good early chance. On five minutes Ray Parlour, playing in the centre of midfield, slipped a clever pass into the path of Anelka on the right-hand side of the penalty area. But the in-form striker lost his footing on the wet Highbury surface and the ball ran out of play. Anelka was at the forefront of many of Arsenal's attacks and should really have opened the scoring after fourteen minutes.

Skipper Tony Adams strode forward to play in the young French striker but, after taking the ball away from Wednesday keeper Pavel Srnicek, Anelka did not put enough pace on his angled shot and Emerson Thome was able to clear the goalbound effort away from the line. Arsenal appealed in vain for a penalty on eighteen minutes, after an alleged handball by Thome, but Wednesday launched forward with an excellent bid to notch a goal. Andy Booth played in Benito Carbone, whose right wing assault saw him feed Petter Rudi, but the midfielder dragged his fine chance wide, with the Arsenal defence confused by the speed of Wednesday's attack. On the half-hour mark, Arsenal's Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp forced a superb save from Srnicek, following which the keeper had to make a point-blank stop from Patrick Vieira.

Shortly before the break Freddie Ljungberg saw his long-range effort smothered by Srnicek, as the visitors continued to absorb much of what the champions could offer.