September 14th, 1999
Fiorentina's Toldo saves penalty to deny Arsenal

By Gideon Long

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Italy goalkeeper 
Francesco Toldo switched from villain to hero when he saved a 
late penalty to salvage a 0-0 draw for Fiorentina in their 
opening European Champions League group B match against Arsenal 
on Tuesday.
Toldo had pulled down Frederik Ljungberg as the Swedish 
midfielder had tried to round him in the 79th minute to give the 
Londoners what would have been a deserved victory. 
Arsenal's second half substitute Nwanko Kanu stepped up to 
take the kick but his shot was weak and Toldo, diving to his 
left, saved it comfortably, turning to salute the Florentine 
crowd as he got to his feet. 
A dreadful late blunder from Toldo had cost Fiorentina two 
points in their 2-2 draw at Reggina in Serie A on Saturday and 
the keeper's relief was palpable. 
Kanu had scored as a late substitute in Arsenal's 3-1 
victory over Aston Villa at the weekend. His disappointment was 
equally apparent.
A draw was a harsh result for the English side, who quickly 
diffused a hostile 30,000-strong crowd in the Artemio Franchi 
stadium and should have taken the lead after just 11 minutes 
when Ljungberg squandered the best open-play chance of the 
night. 
Marc Overmars swept a low cross in from the left to find the 
Swede totally unmarked at the back post. Ljungberg looked as 
surprised as anyone to have the ball at his feet and hit it 
lamely at Toldo who parried it round the post.
Arsenal dominated the centre of midfield, where French duo 
Patrick Vieira and Gilles Grimandi admirably made up for the 
absence of injured compatriot Emmanuel Petit. 
Fiorentina's early efforts on goal were limited to three 
wayward free-kicks from Argentine captain Gabriel Batistuta and 
dozens of mis-timed through-runs which were penalised for 
offside.
Vieira and Martin Keown were both booked by German referee 
Helmutt Krug before the break, as was Fiorentina's former 
Juventus midfielder Angelo Di Livio. 
Ljungberg and Davor Suker followed them into the book after 
the interval but none of the players will miss Arsenal's next 
match against AIK Stockholm. 
After 32 minutes Fiorentina came within inches of their 
first European Cup goal in 30 years when Portuguese midfielder 
Rui Costa swung in a cross from the right.
Arsenal keeper Alex Manninger, deputising for the injured 
David Seaman, pulled off a fine reflex save and Batistuta failed 
to poke home the rebound. 
Arsene Wenger's side were again stronger after the break. 
On 55 minutes captain Tony Adams trapped a corner inside the 
box with the ball control of a centre forward. Unfortunately for 
the visitors, he scooped it over the crossbar like the central 
defender he is.
Fiorentina's three-man forward line of Batistuta, Predrag 
Mijatovic and Enrico Chiesa was confortably contained by the 
experienced Arsenal defence and Vieira and Kanu could both have 
scored before Kanu missed his penalty to gift Fiorentina a point 
before their visit to Barcelona. 

Taken from The Daily Soccer
www.dailysoccer.com