ULTIMATE PAIN FOR THE LANE
Tottenham Arsenal
Redknapp 61 Vieira 3
Keane 90 pen Pires 34
Premier League, April 25, 2004
Att at White Hart Lane: 36,097
BY
LAST Thursday marked the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest days in Arsenal’s history.
And one of the worst in the history of their north London neighbours.
Defeat for Chelsea at Newcastle United earlier in the day meant the Gunners needed only a point at
White Hart Lane to be crowned Premier League champions.
Arsenal had won the First Division there in 1971, and headed to Spurs confident of a repeat.
They were unbeaten in 33 Premier League games and were soon on course for a 25th victory.
Just three minutes into the match, they led after a slick counter-attack started by Thierry Henry.
He found Dennis Bergkamp and the Dutchman slid his cross towards the edge of the six-yard box.
Patrick Vieira had anticipated all of the above and timed his run perfectly to stretch out his left leg to prod the ball into the bottom corner.
The lead was doubled 11 minutes before the break with a beautifully simple goal. This time, Bergkamp and Vieira teed-up the chance for Robert Pires to nudge the ball past Spurs keeper Kasey Keller.
At half-time, Arsenal had one hand on the trophy, but 16 minutes after the interval, Jamie Redknapp rifled in a right-footer into the net to halve the deficit.
Henry missed a chance to put the match beyond Tottenham and Pires struck the underside of the bar before there was drama in the dying moments of the match.
Gunners keeper Jens Lehmann manhandled Robbie Keane at a
Spurs corner and referee Mark Halsey pointed to the penalty spot.
Keane made no mistake, putting his spot-kick into the top corner of the net.
Spurs’ fans celebrated wildly – but only for a few seconds.
The final whistle confirmed Arsenal as Premier League champions.