Man City (1-0) - 22nd October 2005

When you leave games like this you know one thing - this is a game that is going to be remembered for a long time but not because it was a 4-4 thriller! We arrived to see Thierry Henry embrace Ian Wright and be presented with an award for becoming the greatest goalscorer in Arsenal's history - greatest player ever, we shall see? The game showed how Stuart Pearce has got his team organised and why they have reached a lofty position this year. They didn't threaten but they easily stifled our limp display. Not exactly a lot to be remembered so far, huh?

Suddenly Mike Riley sprang into life, correctly (despite some city fans observations) awarded a penalty for a foul on Henry by James, up steps Pires and 1-0 - a penalty efficiently taken. 10 minutes later another foul on Bergkamp leads to another penalty and so the game will be forever enshrined in the memory for all the wrong (or funniest) reasons. Our 2 illustrious frenchmen have a chat and Bob steps up again and the strangest sight I've seen at Highbury takes place. Bob drags his foot over the top of the ball (just touching it), Thierry runs past and a Man City player boots it clear - Riley blows for a free-kick. What happened - well it seems that Bob / Tel were trying to recreate the Cruyff/Olsen goal from 1982 (see here) and cocked it up. We weren't 4-0 up and at best it was stupid but in reality it was downright unprofessional. Vassel's disallowed goal a few minutes later was a lucky reprieve for the two players. Afterwards TH admitted it was wrong and promised to take all future penalties.