It was 20 years ago today...
Arsenal face Spurs in the North London Derby this weekend, almost exactly two decades since one of the most historic meetings of the two teams.
On this day in 2004, Arsenal made the short trip to White Hart Lane for the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Gunners needed just a point to be sure of the Premier League title, and were still unbeaten after 33 games. Spurs, meanwhile, were languishing in the bottom half of the table but comfortably clear of relegation. Their only objective was to stop Arsenal from winning the league in their own back yard.
Spurs captain Jamie Redknapp gave a top-notch pep talk beforehand:
“Maybe stopping them winning the title at White Hart Lane will give something back to our fans for the season we’ve had.”
At Highbury in November Arsenal had claimed the bragging rights, coming back from an early Darren Anderton goal to win 2-1, thanks to goals from Robert Pires (who else) and Freddie Ljungberg.
At White Hart Lane on 25 April 2004, the atmosphere is electric. Arsenal fans can be seen clutching inflatable Premier League trophies and celebratory banners in anticipation of success, while Spurs fans are in full voice to both drive their team on and jeer their former captain Sol Campbell at every opportunity.
It takes just three minutes for the league leaders to get their noses in front, Thierry Henry motoring up the field to set up Dennis Bergkamp, who in turn crosses for a simple tap-in for captain Patrick Vieira.
A brilliant passing move on 35 minutes sees Bergkamp again find Vieira in the Spurs box, who this time turns provider to tee up Pires, the scourge of Tottenham, for his customary NLD goal.
It’s 2-0 to the Arsenal, and the championship celebrations begin in earnest in the away end.
Spurs manager David Pleat, taking charge of what will be his last North London Derby, throws on Jermaine Defoe in an effort to rescue something from the game. It’s a good change, too, as Defoe sets up Redknapp on 63 minutes to make it 2-1.
Arsenal are still looking to kill the game off and Pires nearly does with a shot that cannons back off the bar, while Henry goes close too.
Spurs don’t give up and are rewarded deep into injury time. Jens Lehmann in the Arsenal goal gets into a tussle with Spurs’ Robbie Keane and, after some discussion, referee Mark Halsey awards a penalty, which is duly dispatched by Keane to make it 2-2.
The final whistle goes soon after, and Arsenal players are livid at the penalty decision. Until they remember what the score is, and what it means. Then the celebrations really begin.
In a hilarious twist, it turns out that some Spurs players hadn’t done the maths and thought they’d achieved their aim.
“I remember [Mauricio] Tarrico, jumping around and he got a cramp out of it. Celebrating a draw! And I looked at him and said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ And he went, ‘Yeaaaaaah!’ jumping in front of me.
“I said to him: ‘You do realise we just needed a point to be champions at your place.’ […]
“I had to celebrate. They were coming up to me, jumping around like they had won something, so I said, ‘Okay, we were not supposed to celebrate, but now I’m going to celebrate with my fans!’”(Thierry Henry remembers the post-match celebrations, as quoted in Together, the account of the Invincibles season by Andrew Allen and Andrew Mangan.)
