Arsenal gained sweet revenge for their famous 1999 FA Cup loss to Manchester United on Saturday, stunning the 10-time cup winners with a 2-0 fifth round win at Old Trafford.
The victory, achieved with a deflected 34th minute free kick by Brazilian midfielder Edu and a low shot from French striker Sylvain Wiltord just after the break, banishes the ghost of Ryan Giggs's wonder-goal in the semifinal four years ago.
This time the 67,000 crowd, as well as television viewers in a reported 110 countries, saw Giggs become the villain of the piece with an astonishing miss.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Welsh winger, who in 1999 slalomed through virtually the entire Arsenal side to win the game in extra time, somehow fired over the bar with the net completely unguarded after half an hour.
Within minutes, and with the entire United team still looking shellshocked, Arsenal took the lead, and the Gunners began to take control of the tie.
The match began explosively, with a pair of near-mass brawls and three bookings inside the first 10 minutes.
After Sol Campbell's arm caught Ole Gunnar Solksjaer in the penalty box, Paul Scholes and Patrick Vieira squared up, sparking a spate of pushing and shoving between opposing players which led to Scholes being booked.
Then, with barely a ball kicked, Ruud van Nistelrooy sent Martin Keown flying and the teams jostled again. But just two minutes later, Vieira himself went in the referee's book for dissent. Roy Keane and Vieira were asked to calm down their teammates, but to no effect.
Amid the chaos it took a good 10 minutes before either side began playing football to speak of, and neither side could find much fluency, although Solksjaer skimmed the side of David Seaman's left post.
The match turned on Giggs's astonishing miss, surely the worst of his illustrious career.
Through on goal after Keown missed David Beckham's long ball, Giggs did well to dribble past Seaman and then Campbell.
But with the net completely unguarded, the Welshman somehow blasted the ball over the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area.
Giggs and his teammates looked disbelieving, and their afternoon was about to get worse.
After Keane caught Vieira on the edge of the box, Edu's free kick struck Beckham's shoulder to spin wickedly past the stranded Fabien Barthez.
Arsenal then began to take a grip of the tie, and the Premiership leaders went 2-0 up just seven minutes after half-time.
Edu, breaking down the right, rolled the ball to Wiltord who skipped over Wes Brown's
challenge on the edge of the box and and fired past Barthez.
Soon afterwards Giggs added to his misery, managed to hopelessly miscue a volley from close range, and was substituted soon afterwards.
Even the usually reliable Solksjaer headed just wide after Keane's lovely chipped cross from right, and United were unable to mount one of their famous late fight backs.
With 10 minutes Wiltord could even have bagged a third Arsenal goal after getting free on the break, but Brown's desperate stretching tackle robbed him as he was about to shoot.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
RSS