'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
“You’ve always got a chance when you’ve got Thierry Henry in your team.”
Football is a team sport, of that there is no doubt. But sometimes, just sometimes, one man can change the course of an entire game. For Arsenal, it was Thierry Henry and every time they needed their King to shine, he did.
Whether it was his hat-trick against Liverpool in the Invincibles season, a simply sensational volley goal against Manchester United, or even coming back to Arsenal and scoring a vital goal against Leeds in 2012, Henry managed to outdo anyone's expectations in even the biggest of big games. But this time, the King and Arsenal was out for revenge.
Inter Milan were considered as one of the finest sides in football when Arsene Wenger’s squad made the 800-mile journey in 2003. Nobody expected the Gunners to come away with a win, especially after the beating they got in the home leg.
The hosts had thrashed the Gunners 3-0 at Highbury. Italian football back then included few of the best teams in Europe, and despite that, Italian teams were built to choke the life out of the game, especially if they didn’t concede, and beating them was easier said than done.
Yet on 25 November 2003, Arsenal had their hosts at their mercy as they cut, sliced and prodded the famed Inter defence at will. At the centre of it all, there was only going to be one man that Arsenal looked towards in their time of need; as usual, Thierry Henry stepped up and did so with swagger.
However, the Frenchman hadn’t scored since he put two past Leeds United at the start of November and with a host of Arsenal players out, including the likes of Patrick Vieira, Sylvain Wiltord, and Lauren, everything fell upon the then 24-year-old striker’s shoulders. It never bothered Henry, the kind of pressure that was put upon him as he orchestrated attack after attack on the Inter half, especially since he always expected more of himself every time he stepped on the pitch.
The Beginning of Act 1
Inter had a host of chances in the first half with both Christian Vieri and Marco Materazzi missing free kicks, although Arsenal did threaten the Inter goal once through Kanu, who tried his best to threaten Toldo from range. The opener was brilliant, which included an incredible passing move that was finished with a deftly taken goal, the perfect definition of Arsene Wenger’s 20 odd years at Arsenal.
The San Siro crowd boos grew in volume, Ashley Cole paid no attention whatsoever and cut inside, slipping it to Henry – via Robert Pires - and then the Frenchman slotted it home with perfection. It was an instinctive finish from Henry but it was the pass and off the ball movement that epitomised Arsenal so well.
That was the first time in the match that Arsenal had even managed to string together more than a few passes together and gain some ground in the Inter half. Probably the only time they would create a move like that in the first half and they made the most of it.
(Video Courtesy: JustFootball YouTube Channel)
A perfect one-touch finish, preceded by brilliant one touch passing between the three while the movement off the ball was simply exquisite. There was going to be no better goal in Europe that night, that was until the second half arrived.
His finish broke the deadlock in the 25th minute and despite the fact that the hosts drew level eight minutes later via Christian Vieri, Arsenal was soon in charge again. The goals changed the game and it became a much more open and an end to end as time carried on.
Arsenal's play changed after the goal and became desperate with Pires volleying it over via a ridiculous scissor kick, and it could have been much worse if not for Ray Parlour. The ‘Romford Pele’ was the stand-in captain for the day, in place of the injured Patrick Vieira, and managed to calm their apparent nerves with his mere presence on the pitch.
The Chorus
In the second half, when Arsenal walked out, they looked different from the team that started the first half. They were hungrier and sharper and made the second half their own. They had to, especially if the score remained the same with the Gunners losing two of their four group stage games until San Siro, which meant that if they lost at San Siro, that would be the end of their Champions League hopes.
They started the half well, moving effortlessly from wing to wing, before out of nowhere, Henry appeared. The elusive Frenchman collected the ball, before cutting inside. He met resistance from the Inter defence but somehow found Freddie Ljungberg – who had been in brilliant form having scored in his previous two games – and the Swede waited for Toldo to spread himself before firing in the corner for the second goal of the game.
Henry was the provider this time, which was something he did very well throughout his career. Arsenal soon became relentless, attacking the Inter box with purpose and intent, lead by Henry.
However, the Frenchman – despite looking invincible that night – was only human and missed his fair share of chances, including a brilliant chance that would have eventually given him his hat-trick. He was threaded through by Kanu, with a brilliant pass, but the Frenchman, with Toldo in no man's land, squandered the opportunity.
Kanu had been a bright spark throughout the match but was eventually subbed off, and Arsenal switched to a five-man midfield with Henry playing as the lone forward. This allowed Inter to pile on the pressure and with only one man up front for Arsenal, the home side thought they had the game in their pocket.
The Leitmotif and the Finale
“Thierry Henry could take ball in the middle of park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score”— Arsene Wenger
And that’s exactly what he did that night in the Cathedral of Italian football. He took the ball in the middle of the park and proceeded to score an iconic goal and the first of Henry’s goals was nothing when compared to the goal he scored in the second half.
The first was backed by a brilliant passing move, but the second was beautiful. It was all Thierry Henry, from the run to the finish, and was something he had done countless times against Tottenham, against Liverpool, against Real Madrid three years later, and so many times over the years.
Haphazard defending from an Inter Milan corner by Arsenal and somehow Henry had the ball and he ran. He ran like the wind, with Javier Zanetti chasing after him, who struggled to keep up with the Frenchman. Then in front of Inter's goal, he toyed with the Argentinian, stutter stepping before knocking the ball past the exhausted man and slotting it exquisitely past a hapless Toldo.
The King had stamped his mark on the game and with it Milan’s chances of winning.
The game was already over for Inter but there was more on offer for the 3000 odd Arsenal fans at the Cathedral to enjoy as their host’s defence fell to pieces. Henry set up a fourth for Edu before he walked off, head held high and applauding the fans and players alike before taking his place on the bench with the same swagger when he came on the pitch.
