Manchester United v Arsenal: Great Games No 2 - Arsenal win the league at Old Trafford
Manchester United host Arsenal on Saturday and it promises to be another classic encounter between the two Premier League giants.
The visitors will still be buzzing following their epic 5-7 win over Reading in midweek while United will be be full of confidence given their terrific home record against Arsenal and the fact that they beat Chelsea last weekend at the Bridge to climb to within one point of the leaders.
Yesterday we looked back at Arsenal's 6-1 demolition at Old Trafford, but today we remember a much happier time for Gooners, the day they won the league at Old Trafford.
Ten years ago Arsenal were the top dogs in England. Arsene Wenger had won the Premier League title for the second time and he did it in style, winning it at the home of the then champions Manchester United.
Arsenal went into the game five points clear of Manchester United with two games left to play and had four days earlier beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. United simply had to win or the title race was over. The hosts were the bookies' favourites for the win as Arsenal had only previously won once at Old Trafford - which just happened to be another game where Arsenal went on to be champions.
Four years ago Arsenal strolled into enemy territory and took the title away from Old Trafford. On May 8, 2002, a date etched into every Arsenal fans heart, history repeated itself.
Sir Alex Ferguson shocked Old Trafford by leaving Ruud Van Nistlerooy on the bench, but Arsenal themselves were without Tony Adams, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.
The game started at a frantic pace and United were going to do everything in their power to prevent Arsenal from winning the league at Old Trafford. Paul Scholes and Phil Neville threw their weight around and were fortunate not to be shown a red card for two reckless tackles.
The atmosphere inside the Theatre of Dreams was electric but was in danger of boiling over, especially when Roy Keane flattened his old adversary Patirck Vieira.
United put Arsenal under the cosh but rarely threatened David Seaman, but the hosts kept Arsenal penned into their own half.
After the restart, Arsenal showed more life going forward. Edu narrowly failed to connect with a cross into the box and Wiltord had a shot blocked by his fellow countryman Laurent Blanc.
However, on 55 minutes, Sylvain Wiltord wrote his name in Arsenal folklore with a goal that ultimately clinched them the title. Ray Parlour caught Silvestre napping on the halfway line and played the ball to Wiltord. The Frenchman, who was making his 100th appearance for the club, saw Ljunberg's run and passed it into his feet. Ljunberg got the break of the ball against a United defender and burst into the penalty box. He struck a right foot shot towards Barthez's right hand side but the Frenchman got down to save it. Unfortunately all he could do was parry it right to where Wiltord was running into and he made no mistake
The Arsenal fans, players and officials knew that they had one hand on the title.
Sir Alex Ferguson threw Van Nistlerooy on but the Dutchman could do nothing to pierce Arsenal's solid rearguard. The Gunners had won the league in Manchester and clinched their second Double.
