Robert Pires

vs Aston Villa, Premier League, 2002

As the 2001-02 Premier League season neared its final straight, Arsenal headed to Aston Villa in mid-march needing a win to keep pace with Manchester United. The north Londoners soon went ahead at Villa Park through Edu, but the lead was under threat until Robert Pires intervened on the hour mark.

Pires had initially struggled to adapt to the physical demands of the league after arriving from Marseille in 2000. But after a season of acclimatising to roughhouse tactics, the French playmaker had started to spot defenders’ flying studs as if he was Neo deciphering the Matrix code – as the Villans discovered.

“It’s one of the best goals that I scored for Arsenal,” Pires explains to FFT. “I’d received a long ball from Freddie Ljungberg, and my first touch gave me a very good feeling.”

Ljungberg’s searching diagonal hit the muddy Villa Park surface and bounced up awkwardly, forcing the Frenchman to slam on the brakes as George Boateng came hurtling in. Then, in a moment of brilliant inspiration, Arsenal’s No.7 flicked the ball over the Dutchman’s head to put him one-on-one with Peter Schmeichel. With his next touch, Pires nonchalantly lifted the ball over the imposing 6ft 3in goalkeeper – who was standing barely five yards off his line – and into the back of Villa’s net. “Once I had put the ball past Boateng, I told myself that I had a good chance of scoring,” Pires remembers. “It was a surprise for Schmeichel as he didn’t expect me to send the ball over him. “I ran straight over to the Arsenal fans to celebrate a special moment. I scored a lot of important goals in my career, but for pure technique this one was the best.” Even though his campaign was cut short by a bad knee injury six days after scoring against Villa, Pires went on to be named FWA Footballer of the Year as the Gunners sealed a Premier League and FA Cup Double.