10. Arsenal 3-1 Man United, Nov. 25, 2001
"The Fabian Barthez game," as it perhaps should be known. Barthez, one of several who tried to fill the post-Peter Schmeichel, pre-Edwin van der Sar goalkeeping void at United, was an occasionally brilliant but often erratic presence; he displayed the latter quality in this game. With a few minutes remaining of this typically fraught encounter a 1-1 draw looked on, but then Barthez had a wobble.First, he scuffed a clearance directly to the worst player you could scuff a clearance to and Thierry Henry waltzed in to score. Then, he came out to claim a through-pass to the same player, the ball squirted from his grasp and Henry was there to collect the donation again. All Barthez could do was howl in frustration.
9. Man United 6-1 Arsenal, Feb. 25, 2001
Two seasons after his brilliant partnership with Andy Cole helped United to the treble, Dwight Yorke found he'd slipped far down the pecking order. But this was perhaps his last great performance for United, helping himself to a hat trick against an admittedly feeble Arsenal defence that featured Gilles Grimandi and Igors Stepanovs in the middle.United had scored only four goals in their previous six games but matched that total after just 25 minutes here, with Yorke bagging his three and Roy Keane adding another. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham completed the humiliation, which put United 16 points clear at the top of the table.
8. Arsenal 1-2 Man United, April 14, 1999
Musing on the nature of chaos theory in football can send you down a lengthy rabbit hole, but it's worth remembering just how many times Manchester United's treble, perhaps the most remarkable achievement in English football history, could have gone wrong.Perhaps the biggest single example was the 1999 FA Cup semifinal replay in which Schmeichel saved an injury time penalty from Dennis Bergkamp and United were down to 10 men after Keane was sent off. But then in extra time, Ryan Giggs took matters into his own hands and sliced through the Arsenal defence to power a shot home and put United in the final.
"It was a trauma for us and a positive for them," Wenger said recently. "That goal was certainly what decided their season."
7. Man United 8-2 Arsenal, Aug. 28, 2011
The low point of Arsene Wenger's time in England, surely. The match report on the Arsenal website was rather adorably illustrated with a picture of Theo Walcott celebrating what was already a consolation goal even though it was scored in the first half."It must be said that by the time Manchester United took the lead, they had taken on an ominous quality," said that report, and they weren't kidding. It got so bad that even Alex Ferguson, as ruthless a manager as modern football has perhaps seen, didn't want United to keep scoring for fear they would embarrass Arsenal. And yet, when you look at the team Arsenal played, featuring Armand Traore, Johann Djourou, Carl Jenkinson and a pre-career renaissance Francis Coquelin, you almost wonder how they kept the score to just eight.
6. Arsenal 1-2 Man United, Aug. 22, 1999
Perhaps the high point in the great midfield tussle between Keane and Patrick Vieira. The game almost descended into a fight on several occasions after some rambunctious challenges but eventually it settled into a football match, if a spicy one.Fredrik Ljungberg scored what seemed like his then-customary goal against United but a brace after the break from Keane sealed a 2-1 win and ended an unbeaten run at Highbury for Arsenal that stretched back nearly two years. With six minutes remaining that old Keane and Vieira rivalry popped up again, players from both sides piling in after the two had exchanged aggressions. But it was all part of the fun.
5. Arsenal 3-2 Man United, Nov. 9, 1997
Of all the games on this list, this was perhaps the best contest, one that swung back and forth and was eventually settled in dramatic fashion. Arsenal went 2-0 up, with goals from Nicolas Anelka and a thundering strike by Vieira putting them in command. But then United came back, a brace from Teddy Sheringham -- the former Tottenham man playing for United wasn't the most popular with Arsenal fans at the best of times -- levelling things before half-time.After the break, the game oscillated further until seven minutes before time when David Platt, a relative bit-part player that season, looped a header home from a corner and Highbury exploded with joy.
4. Man United 0-1 Arsenal, March 14, 1998
Wenger's first full season at Arsenal looked as if it would be heading for mediocrity. A tough spell of results around November pushed them down to sixth place and 13 points back from United at the top of the table. But then they embarked on a fearful tear, going on a 19-game unbeaten run that featured nine wins in a row, in the middle of which was a trip to Old Trafford.United had just lost to Sheffield Wednesday and drawn with Derby but were still nine points ahead of Arsenal (though they had three games in hand) going into the game. Yet this was the one that would really tip things. With 11 minutes remaining, Anelka flicked a ball on to Marc Overmars, who outstripped the United defence and slipped the ball under Schmeichel.
"They played well today but I don't think they are as good a football team as us," said Ferguson afterwards. The league table at the end of the season disagreed: Arsenal clinched the title with two games to spare.
3. Man United 0-1 Arsenal, May 8, 2002
Sometimes the football gods (or whoever it is that decides the fixture list) smile upon us all. Well, all except Manchester United fans, perhaps. In December 2001, Arsenal lost 3-1 at home to Newcastle, leaving them in third place behind their opponents and Liverpool. That was pretty much the last thing that went wrong that season, as they went 21 games unbeaten, dropping just six points along the way and reached the penultimate game at Old Trafford, knowing a win would secure the title.United's form hadn't been too shoddy either, with a run of brilliant wins around Christmas and the New Year putting them at the top of the league, but they couldn't keep pace with Wenger's side. Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal, Arsenal won 1-0 and they were champions, a few days after they'd beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
2. Man United 2-0 Arsenal, Oct. 24, 2004
United were out for revenge. Not just because Arsenal had won the league the previous season without losing -- 49 games unbeaten had given them a what we'll call a "cocky" aura -- plus in the game between the two that season, Ruud van Nistelrooy was roundly hounded after missing a last-minute penalty.United employed some, shall we say, physical tactics to unsettle the Gunners but eventually got the lead after a rather questionable penalty won by Wayne Rooney, which Van Nistelrooy converted. Rooney added a second and, perhaps not used to losing, Arsenal didn't take it very well: a food fight ensued in the tunnel after the game with pizza thrown, supposedly by Cesc Fabregas, at Ferguson.
1. Arsenal 1-3 Man United, May 5, 2009
This might be the biggest single game between the two sides? In the late 2000s, English teams had a hold on the Champions League, winning it twice and having teams in the final for five years in a row -- in 2009, one of those teams would be Arsenal or United.Leading 1-0 from the first leg, United put in perhaps the perfect away performance at the Emirates, taking an early lead through Park Ji-Sung. A remarkable Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick doubled their advantage and the tie was basically over with 11 minutes gone. It was sealed after the break by the most perfect counter-attack as Ronaldo finished off a move he started.
"It is the most disappointing night of my career," Wenger said after the game. "I felt the fans were really up for a big night and to disappoint people who stand behind the team so much hurts."
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