2005 FA Cup Final

The 2005 FA Cup Final was held at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 21 May 2005 between Arsenal and Manchester United. In a tense but surprisingly one-sided encounter, Arsenal ran out winners after 120 goalless minutes despite being outplayed throughout the game, becoming the first club to win the cup on penalties. It was the first goalless draw in an FA Cup final since 1912.

The match took place for the fifth consecutive year at the Millennium Stadium, due to the ongoing reconstruction of Wembley Stadium, the final's usual venue. The match was refereed by Rob Styles and he was aided by assistant referees Jim Devine, Paul Canadine and fourth official Neale Barry.

Background

The match was the fifth meeting between the two clubs in the 2004–05 season. Despite finishing six points ahead of Manchester United in the league, Arsenal had lost both league fixtures between the clubs, as well as a League Cup quarter-final tie, which was played out by the clubs' fringe and reserve team players. Arsenal had won the season's first encounter, also at the Millennium Stadium, in the FA Community Shield by a 3–1 scoreline.

The clubs had met in an FA Cup final before — in 1979, when Arsenal won 3–2. Manchester United were appearing in their 17th FA Cup Final, their second in as many years, and had won the FA Cup on eleven of their previous sixteen appearances (including beating Milwall in the 2004 final. Two of these victories had yielded a League / FA Cup "double" (in 1994 and 1996) and in 1999 they had won the FA Cup 1998-99 as part of a unique Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. Arsenal had enjoyed a comparable level of success in the competition - this was their 17th final and they had won nine of their previous sixteen.

Planned protests

The buildup to the final had focused upon Manchester United's discontent over their takeover by American businessman and sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer and large demonstrations were planned inside and outside the Millenium Stadium, however the final was played in the rain and only a small group of around 100 supporters held protests and sang anti-Glazer songs. The police were out in force but did not have any trouble to deal with. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4567593.stm |title=Rainy FA Cup final dampens demonstrations |publisher=BBC News |date=21 May 2005]

Match

Team news

Arsenal's Thierry Henry was injured for the match, so manager Arséne Wenger opted for a 4-5-1 strategy, with Dennis Bergkamp playing as a lone striker. Despite Sol Campbell's return from injury, Philippe Senderos's form saw him selected as centre-back ahead of the England international.

Manchester United had regular full-back Gary Neville on the bench, alongside Ryan Giggs and Tim Howard, whose places in the team were taken by Darren Fletcher and Roy Carroll.

ummary

Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy hit the post and the bar while Rio Ferdinand's first-half goal was correctly disallowed for offside. Incredibly, Arsenal's first shot on goal came in extra-time when Robin van Persie's free-kick was superbly saved by Roy Carroll.

Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes received a second yellow card in the last minute of extra-time, to become only the second player ever to be sent off in an FA Cup Final.

Nine penalties out of ten were converted, Paul Scholes missed the only one, seeing it saved by Jens Lehmann. Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira scored the winning penalty; this was also his final club appearance for the Gunners before his transfer to Juventus.

Match details

footballbox
date=2005-05-21
time=15:00 BST
team1=Arsenal
score=0 – 0 (a.e.t.)
(5 – 4 pen.)
report= [http://www.fa-cupfinals.co.uk/2005.htm (Report)]
team2=Manchester United
goals1=
goals2=
stadium=Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
attendance=71,876
referee=Rob Styles (Hampshire)

penshootoutbox
penaltyscore=5 – 4
penalties1=Lauren pengoal
Ljungberg pengoal
van Persie pengoal
Cole pengoal
Vieira pengoal
penalties2=pengoal van Nistelrooy
penmiss|saved Scholes
pengoal Ronaldo
pengoal Rooney
pengoal Keane

References

External links

* [http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=452114 Teams] at soccerbase.com
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4558271.stm BBC FA Cup Final 2005 section]
* [http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2005/04/FACup_Final_MatchReport.htm The FA Match Report]