On This Day – 13th December
League leaders Aston Villa hosted Arsenal on this day in 1998 and came back from a two-goal deficit to beat the League Champions 3-2.
Arsenal had won the League and Cup Double the previous season but had started their season slowly. They sat in sixth place in the table going into the match at Villa Park. Hosts Aston Villa were exceeding all expectations, sitting top of the table after 16 games.
The match itself was a real classic. As much as I hate using cliches, this game would be described as ‘a real game of two halves’. A double from Dennis Bergkamp gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead at the interval, but Villa came out like a completely different team in the second half.
Julian Joachim scored Villa’s first after 62 minutes, jabbing the ball past David Seaman with the outside of his foot after a lay-off from Alan Thompson.
Three minutes later, Dion Dublin stretched out a leg to direct the ball past Seaman to give Villa an equaliser. He then added his second and Villa’s third in the 83rd minute to give Villa all three points.
Aston Villa’s form took a real dip in the second half of the season, losing 11 of their last 19 games. Arsenal had a real resurgence after the Aston Villa game and would only lose one league game. They finished runners up, a point behind Manchester United.
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