In homage to the brilliant European Ryder Cup winning team, WTTGT takes a look at some of our own side’s captivating comebacks over the last few years.
Especially since moving to the Emirates, Arsenal have gained a reputation as a team that just will not die, often coming from behind to salvage points in spiritual fashion.
So without further ado, here are three of the best Gunners comebacks in recent times.
Arsenal 2-1 Manchester United
January 21, 2007
This date saw the 200th meeting between the two clubs and the first to take place at Arsenal’s new home, with Manchester United flying high in the Premier League.
The first real talking point of the game came towards the end of the first half, as Thierry Henry was brought down by Gary Neville, only for the Frenchman to be denied a clear penalty by referee Scott Bennett.
The visitors could have gone nine points clear at the top of the table with a win, and they looked like they were going to achieve that after Wayne Rooney headed home Patrice Evra’s drilled cross early in the second half.
However, the Gunners left it late and in the 83rd minute Robin van Persie slotted home Tomas Rosicky’s pass for the equaliser, breaking a bone in his right foot while at it.
And then in the dying moments of the game, Emmanuel Eboue’s one-two with Rosicky ended in a superb cross for Henry, and the captain slammed in the header to complete a remarkable late turnaround at the Emirates.
Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona
February 16, 2011
Having drawn at the Emirates when they met in the Champions League the previous year, Arsenal were looking to go one better this time around as they faced Barcelona.
The Gunners had gone 2-0 behind in their last London encounter before roaring back to salvage a 2-2 draw although going on to get thumped at the Nou Camp.
Again in 2011 it was the Catalan giants who started the stronger with David Villa giving the La Liga champions the lead heading into the break.
Barca had chances to double their advantage in the second half, but Arsenal stood strong and showed great resilience throughout the 90 minutes.
Then with 12 minutes left on the clock, Robin van Persie took the ball to the byline and smashed his effort past Victor Valdes at the near post.
With the Emirates rocking, Arsenal broke downfield five minutes later in a sensational counter-attacking move as Samir Nasri bided his time before laying off Andre Arshavin to curl the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the area to send the Gunners faithful into delirium.
Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur
February 26, 2012
This turned out to be one of Arsenal’s most important comebacks in their history. With Tottenham Hotspur already miles ahead of the Gunners in the race for third, this was a must-win fixture for the red side of North London.
The Emirates was sent into shock though, as Spurs found themselves 2-0 up with just five minutes to go until half time after a Louis Saha deflected effort and an Emmanuel Adebayor penalty had put the visitors 13 points clear of the hosts as things stood.
But the Gunners fought back, as Bacary Sagna powered home a header with five minutes of the half remaining before Robin van Persie turned and fired past Brad Friedel from the edge of the box to send the teams in level at the break.
Arsenal came out for the second half carrying the same momentum they had finished the first 45 minutes with, and it took them just six minutes to complete the turnaround as Tomas Rosicky helped the ball into the Spurs net from a Sagna pass.
The white side of North London were shell-shocked and couldn’t find a response.
The Gunners dominated the proceedings and two goals in three minutes from Theo Walcott gave Arsenal a comfortable advantage with a quarter of the game left to play.
That’s how it finished, as Arsenal had completed a staggering fight back against the old enemy, before going on to snatch third place and Champions League football away from Tottenham at the end of the campaign.
Matt Cotton
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