On This Day – 14th January
Arsenal recorded a 7-0 victory over Middlesbrough on this day back in 2006 in their final season at Highbury. It equalled Arsenal’s highest-ever win in the Premier League after they beat Everton by the same scoreline towards the end of the previous campaign.
I was at the game and it was my final game at the old ground before the club moved to the Emirates Stadium. The performance reflected the scoreline as it was a thoroughly one-sided match and Middlesbrough could not keep up with Arsenal.
Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick, with Philippe Senderos, Robert Pires, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb also getting on the scoresheet.
It was Thierry Henry who opened the deadlock with a fine volley from a cross by Freddie Ljungberg after 20 minutes. Swiss defender Philippe Senderos thumped in a bullet header two minutes later from a corner before Henry added his second on the half-hour mark.
There was still enough time for Robert Pires to grab the home side’s fourth goal of the afternoon in first-half stoppage time when he curled the ball around Boro’s Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones.
If the Middlesbrough players thought that Arsenal would go easy on them in the second half, they were mistaken. There was no let-up as they would go on and concede three more, and if truth be told, they should have conceded more.
Gilberto Silva scored Arsenal’s fifth of the afternoon with a header in the 59th minute from a Thierry Henry free kick, before Henry then completed his hat-trick nine minutes later.
Henry’s third equalled Cliff Bastin’s record of 150 league goals for the club and the Frenchman would soon become the club’s all-time highest goalscorer.
The seventh and final goal of the afternoon was scored by Alexander Hleb and it was his first goal for the club. The Belarus international had joined Arsenal in pre-season and would go on to score ten goals for the club before moving to Barcelona.
The result meant that Arsenal were now three points outside the top four, the qualifying positions for Champions League football for the following season. Middlesbrough were left looking nervously over their shoulder at the relegation zone as they were only five points clear of safety.
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