On This Day – 1st February
It was on this day back in 2005 that Manchester United came to Highbury to beat reigning champions Arsenal 4-2.
United had ended Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten run the previous October in a match that saw United get a lot of decisions go in their favour. The Arsenal players were obviously angry at losing their unbeaten run and felt that United had won the match unfairly. The players brawled in the tunnel after the game in an incident later called ‘Pizzagate’, so-called because some pizza and other pieces of food were thrown by some of the players in the fracas.
The media hyped up the return match at Highbury and this rubbed off on the players. In the narrow tunnel at Highbury, captains Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane had a verbal altercation. Tensions were running high and the match hadn’t even got underway!
Arsenal struck first through Patrick Vieira. The Frenchman powered in a header from close range after Thierry Henry found him with a pinpoint corner with eight minutes gone.
Vieira then gifted United with an equaliser after losing possession 30 yards from goal. Paul Scholes won the ball off Vieira before hitting the ball out wide to Wayne Rooney, whose first-time pass found Ryan Giggs at the edge of the box. The Welshman struck a shot from about 20 yards and it took a deflection off an Arsenal defender and into the back of the net.
Dennis Bergkamp restored Arsenal’s lead after 36 minutes, firing in at the near post. Arsenal went in 2-1 up at half-time but the match was far from over.
Manchester United must have had the ‘hairdryer treatment’ from Sir Alex Ferguson at half-tie as they scored three second half goals to turn the match completely around.
Cristiano Ronaldo levelled the scores after 54 minutes, firing low across Arsenal’s Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to silence the Arsenal fans. Four minutes later he gave United the lead for the first time in the match from less than a yard out after a complete howler from Almunia.
The goalkeeper came racing off his line to get the ball off Ryan Giggs when he should have left it up to his defenders to see away the danger. Instead, Giggs chipped the ball over him and Ronaldo poked the ball home at the far post.
United defender John O’Shea then sealed the win in the 89th minute when Arsenal were trying to grab an equaliser.
United left back Gabriel Heinze took the ball forward down the left wing. The ball ended up at O’Shea’s feet via Louis Saha and an excellent through-ball by Paul Scholes.
Almunia came rushing off his line as O’Shea broke the Arsenal offside trap and the United defender chipped the ball perfectly over his head into the back of the net.
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