#4 Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool - FA Cup Final, May 2001
The 2001 FA Cup final was played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the first final in the 119-year history of the competition to be played outside England due to the construction work taking place at the usual venue, Wembley Stadium.
This was also the first time that two managers born outside the British Isles would meet in the FA Cup final. Arsene Wenger faced off against his fellow Frenchman Gerard Houllier.
There was controversy in the first half when the referee turned down a penalty appeal from Arsenal. Stephane Henchoz handled the ball in the box to deny Thierry Henry a goalscoring opportunity, but both the referee and his assistants missed it. The Gunners had a few great chances in the second half, but Sami Hyypia made multiple goal line clearances to keep them level.
Arsenal finally took the lead in the 72nd minute when Freddie Ljungberg took the ball around the Liverpool keeper Westerveld and buried the ball in the back of an empty net. Liverpool equalised eleven minutes later through Michael Owen, who pounced on a loose ball in the crowded box and smashed it into the bottom left.
Owen scored again in the 88th minute to give Liverpool the lead. He sped past Arsenal defenders Tony Adams and Lee Dixon to latch onto a long ball and then put a sweet left-footed finish past David Seaman to score what was the winning goal of the game.
The FA Cup win was the second trophy in Liverpool’s treble that year. They had already won the Football League Cup, and would go on to lift the UEFA Cup shortly after.
