IT was a day when the Premiership results looked more like Italy's
Serie A in the years of Catenaccio.
Only seven teams and 10 players out of almost 200 managed to score;
and this just as Carling's propaganda magazine was being distributed,
stating: ''The public has rarely had such value for money.''
Saturday's ''value'' worked out at one goal for every #100,000 of gate
receipts. Yet such is the nature of the game that supporters of Arsenal,
Manchester City, and, in particular, Manchester United would cheerfully
have paid more to see the opposition denied any score at all.
At Old Trafford, they had not seen a visiting Premiership team get the
ball into the net since April, when Graeme Sharp did so for Oldham. The
shock was therefore all the greater as first Stan Collymore and then
Stewart Pearce did so either side of half-time for Nottingham Forest.
It was a performance reminiscent of the period in which Frank Clark
was Forest's left back, not their manager, and he was understandably
delighted with the success of his team's counter-attacking.
''We had one or two strokes of luck but you need them when you come
here,'' he said.
The script demanded a goal from Collymore, who has been linked with
United, much to Forest's annoyance, since Alex Ferguson made a tentative
inquiry six weeks ago. The price will have gone up by another million or
so following his outstanding performance and thunderous goal.
Blackburn and Newcastle, Manchester United's most serious challengers
for the championship, gained no more than one point after having taken
part in goalless draws in the Midlands.
Coventry Steve Ogrizovic denied Newcastle with fine saves from an Andy
Cole penalty and Paul Kitson's short-range header. Blackburn were unable
to score against a Leicester team now under the wing of Ferguson's
protege, Mark McGhee, who offered a clue to the weekend's shortage of
goals. ''Some of the things I've worked on this week were there to be
seen, like the clean sheet,'' he said.
That also was the case with Everton and Tottenham, who failed to score
at Goodison Park. Like Leicester, both have brought in a new manager
keen to improve their league position by concentrating on the
goals-against column.
Everton, remarkably, have not conceded one since Joe Royle replaced
Mike Walker. And Saturday's seventh shut-out in succession was a club
record. Seldom can the home crowd have greeted a piece of history with
so little enthusiasm.
Tottenham were equal strangers to the 0-0 draw until Gerry Francis
applied the brakes which had been neglected -- perilously but excitingly
-- under Ossie Ardiles. If Brian Little pursues the same policy with
Aston Villa, tonight's game at Southampton will hardly be worth
watching.
The only teams to score more than twice on Saturday were among those
least expected to -- West Ham and Leeds. The Londoners had managed 12 in
18 games before Tony Cottee struck a hat trick past Manchester City;
Leeds added to the troubled waters at Arsenal with a 3-1 victory.
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