Remembering 'The Invincibles': Opening Day

Thierry Henry scores from the penalty spot

10 years ago today Arsenal Football Club started an incredible journey that culminated in an undefeated league season.

That team and that season will forever be in the history books of not just Arsenal but club football the world over. It was an immense feat of courage, strength, skill, pace and togetherness that may never be matched again. It was the single most incredible achievement that will always give Gooners an enormous amount of pride but in retrospect is also tinged with a slight touch of the bittersweet.

With standards and expectations raised to stratospheric levels it was inevitable that the following 9 years would be difficult to swallow.

But today is not for that. Today is for remembering our invincible heroes and we start with the season opener at Highbury against Everton.

Teams:

Arsenal:Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Touré, Cole, Ljungberg, Gilberto, Vieira, Pires, Henry, Wiltord Subs: Taylor, Keown, Parlour, Jeffers, Bergkamp

Everton:Wright, Watson, Yobo, Unsworth, Stubbs, Pistone, Gravesen, Linderoth, Pembridge, Chadwick, Radzinski Subs: Simonsen, Weir, Li Tie, Naismith, Rooney

The Match:

Starting the season at home is always a bonus but to have Highbury to call home always gave Arsenal that extra advantage. As we had grown accustomed to, Arsenal started the season with the lushest turf and a team full of trophy winners with fire in their bellies.

Arsenal were starting the season without David Seaman for the first time in 13 years however our new signing from Borussia Dortmund, Jens Lehmann, had shown himself to be a quality acquisition in the Community Shield loss to Manchester United and instantly endeared himself to Gooners world over by denying Ruud Van Nistelrooy during the penalty shoot out.

Kolo Touré continued in his new position of centre-back at the expense of Martin Keown who was joined on the bench by Dennis Bergkamp, who lost his place to Sylvain Wiltord, and Francis Jeffers who had been sent off in the Community Shield the week before.

Arsenal were favourites to win against a dogged and hard-working Everton side (plus ça change) and that didn’t change even when Sol Campbell was sent off for fouling Gravesen on the edge of the box. Arsenal supporters were not particularly fussed as in the invincibles era, going down to 10 men was nothing new and often made us play better.

And Arsenal played true to this, scoring within 10 minutes of Campbell’s sending off thanks to a Thierry Henry penalty after Alan Stubbs hand-balled in the area. Thierry immediately whipped his shirt off and ran to the Everton supporters who had been giving him quite a bit of stick. As many teams before and many more would find over the course of the invincible season, you don’t piss Thierry Henry off without facing the consequences.

Just before the hour mark Arsenal made it 2-0 thanks to a Pires burst and shot. It could have been 5 or 6 but Arsenal, even then, had a habit of scoring far fewer goals than the quality of their play dictated they should have.

Everton introduced Rooney shortly before the Pires goal and the young Scouser started to make things happen for Everton. The Everton team ramped it up a little, just as Arsenal started to ease off, and Radzinski brought it back to 2-1 to set up a nervy final few minutes.

Result:2-1 win

Standing:Played 1: Won 1: Drew 0: Lost 0