Stunned Lazio let Pires in at the death

At first glance, a side that concedes an 88th minute equaliser might appear unlucky, but at the end of the night Italian champions Lazio probably got nothing more than they deserved against Arsenal at the Olympic Stadium last night.

This was a strange game in which Arsenal played the better football in the first half yet conceded a goal to Lazio, and in which Lazio were clearly the better team in a dramatic second half but still conceded a late equaliser.

The Italian champions appeared to have done the business, keeping Arsenal pinned into their half when the English defence finally knocked a long ball up the left wing.

Lazio captain Alessandro Nesta, arguably the side's best defender on the night, misjudged the shot and allowed French substitute Roberto Pires in behind him for a clear run on goal. At the end of a 30-yard run, the Frenchman struck a magnificent equaliser that puts Arsenal on top of Group B.

Lazio had probably been more than a little flattered to go in 1-0 up at half time following a 45-minute period when Arsenal had looked the more assured and balanced side. With Lazio playmaker Juan Veron often shut out of the game by Patrick Vieira and Gilles Grimandi, the Rome club looked

less than inspired going forward, with Chilean Marcelo Salas and Simone Inzaghi having to survive on half rations.

As the half progressed, following the inevitable but short-lived opening period of Lazio pressure, the match seemed headed for a stalemate with the Arsenal midfield in control and content to direct the pace of the game.

Indeed the further the match went, the more it was the Lazio defence which began to look vulnerable as Nwanko Kanu and Thierry Henry found the pedestrian defensive work of such as Paolo Negro and Sinisa Mihajlovic less than irresistible.

More than 23 minutes had gone by and the home team had still failed to get as much as one shot on goal when Lazio finally and somewhat fortuitously broke the ice. Veron for once eluded Vieira to knock a neat little ball forward to Salas on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area. The Chilean striker delivered a first touch square pass to Inzaghi who repeated the gesture to set up a half chance for Czech Republic midfielder Pavel Nedved.

Just as Nedved went to strike the ball, however, his shot was challenged by Brazilian defender Silvinho. From the ensuing tackle, the ball sailed high and irresistibly goalwards leaving Arsenal's substitute goalkeeper, John Lukic, no chance and leaving most of us to wonder whether Nedved really deserved to be credited with the 24th minute goal.

Rather than galvanise the home team, however, that opening goal inspired Arsenal to take a bolder approach and one that almost pulled off an equaliser in the 36th minute when Silvinho, on the left wing, latched onto a pass from Fredrik Ljungberg to dance past the leaden Stankovic and head direct for goal. Only a mixture of good goalkeeping from Angelo Peruzzi and poor finishing from Silvinho denied Arsenal a deserved equaliser.

If Lazio had been frankly disappointing in the first half, their Swedish coach Sven Eriksson did at least try to amend matters at the start of the second half by bringing on one of his two star Argentine strikers, Claudio Lopez, in place of the out of form Stankovic. With Lopez playing out wide on the left and with Nedved switching to the right, Lazio suddenly looked a much more aggressive side.

The change in lineout was matched by a change in attitude which saw Inzaghi set up with a tremendous chance in the opening minute of the second half. As a long ball outwitted the Arsenal defence, Inzaghi timed his run well to go clean through only to shoot wide with just Lukic to beat.

For all that this was Lazio's best period, the worrying thought for the home fans was that Lazio had conspicuously failed to score the second goal that would wrap up the result.

A moment of defensive carelessness and the brilliant finishing of Pires were to confirm the Lazio fans worst fears, but not before a piece of sheer Veron brilliance had almost set up an improbable injury time winner for the home side.

LAZIO: Peruzzi, Negro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Pancaro; Stankovic (Lopez 46), Simeone, Veron, Nedved; S Inzaghi (Crespo 75), Salas.

ARSENAL: Lukic, Luzhny, Dixon, Keown, Silvihino; Grimandi (Lauren 76), Vieira, Parlour (Pires 61), Ljungberg (Wiltford 81); Henry, Kanu.

Referee: H Krug (Ger).