Arsene Wenger is still haunted by the game which was the catalyst for Manchester United’s greatest ever achievement.
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Arsene Wenger is still haunted by the game which was the catalyst for Manchester United’s greatest ever achievement.
It was in 1999, another FA Cup tie, a semi-final. It was at Villa Park, with 90 minutes of a replay having failed to separate the two teams that then dominated English football in that era.
United were down to 10 men and Dennis Bergkamp had missed a penalty for Arsenal in the final minute of normal time with the game locked at 1-1.
Then on 109 minutes, Patrick Vieira misplaced a pass, Ryan Giggs picked up the ball in his own half and set off on a run which would end up in him revealing an alarming amount of chest hair after scoring one of the great goals in the history of the tournament.
In Wenger’s mind, it tipped the balance in the title race and provided the foundation for United to achieve an unprecedented treble of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League.
“I can still hear the shouts of that team, having won,” said Wenger. “They couldn’t believe it because they were down to 10 men. And I think that put them in a state of euphoria. In the same way, they won the title, just.
“I saw that goal again when Giggs retired. I think that goal won them the treble because, if Bergkamp scores, I think the game is over. It was a trauma for us and a positive for them. That goal was certainly what decided their season.”
Wenger still remembers the details of the title run in, saying: “They played at Blackburn and we lost at Leeds in the last minute, when Nigel Winterburn was kicked off [the pitch]. Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink scored at the far post and Kaba Diawara hit the bar twice. After that, they won the Champions League final in the last minutes “1999 was a miracle year for them.”
Bergkamp in his book, Stillness And Speed, said: “I still took the odd [penalty] without problems, without hesitation and without missing. But that miss did bother me for quite a while and next season Thierry Henry became our penalty taker.”
Ray Parlour, who was interviewed for the same book, said: “In those days it was only us and United. Dennis, if he scores that penalty, we win the double because...their heads would have gone down in the league.”
As for tomorrow, Wenger said: “Let’s not consider Man United. Let’s focus on our performance. They play at home where they feel confident. So, to compensate that we have to put more effort in and produce a really top-level performance.” - Mail on Sunday
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