March 14 – Overmars Rules At Old Trafford

ARSENE Wenger is frequently cited as one of the men ruining English football with his policy of signing gifted young players from abroad and therefore stifling the development of homegrown nippers, but English football actually has a lot to thank the Frenchman for.

In the 1990s Alex Ferguson and Manchester United were threatening to turn the Premiership into a one-horse race (no, that’s not a Ruud Van Nistelrooy joke). After Leeds won the title in 1992, the only club to interrupt United’s winning streak was Blackburn Rovers in 1995.

Then Wenger arrived at Arsenal. No one knew anything about him except that his previous job was managing in the J-League in Japan and he looked like a maths teacher. Surely no threat there to Fergie’s steamrollering of the top-flight? Wrong.

Ferguson and his Red Devils had famously overhauled Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United in the 1996 title race when the Magpies at one point held a 12-point lead over United.

In 1998 the boot was on the other foot for the Old Trafford club. Going into March United had a 13-point lead over Arsenal and it looked like they would once again wrap up the title with ease. Even Ferguson said afterwards: “It was a foregone conclusion until we came to the beginning of March.”

But then injuries began to deplete the team and Ryan Giggs, Gary Pallister, Peter Schmeichel and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were all struck down with one complaint or another.

Then, on this day, Arsenal visited Old Trafford for a match that would have a defining impact on the title race. United started without Nicky Butt, Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs, and were forced to play Paul Scholes even though he was nursing a broken toe.

Arsenal were largely on top during the match, with Keown and Adams strong at the back, while at the other end, Overmars, Bergkamp, Petit, Wreh, and Anelka all caused huge problems for Manchester United.

A tense game was brought to a crescendo with just ten minutes left when the Dutchman Overmars latched on to Anelka’s flick to score past Schmeichel in the bottom corner and send the visiting fans wild.

United pushed for an equaliser and even Schmeichel went up for a corner, but it came to nothing and to make matters worse he tore his hamstring on the run back to his goal.

Arsenal had taken points off their rivals and in their own back yard. As well as the crucial points it was also a huge psychological blow to United, just as it was a boost to Arsenal.

After the match Arsene Wenger still thought United were in the driving seat. “I think United have still got a small advantage, because we have to take the points from the games in hand. But we have closed the gap, and it makes it very interesting for everybody until the end,” he said.

Match-winner Marc Overmars agreed: “We have a few difficult away matches, against Blackburn and Liverpool, but we are going well now. This was a great result for us. But you don’t win the Premier League against Manchester United; you have to beat the other clubs,” he said.

Meanwhile Fergie tried to downplay the result. “They played well today but I don’t think they are as good a football team as us, though they looked strong and determined,” he said. “If they win their games in hand they will go ahead of us, but they will find out they start dropping points towards the end of the season, there’s no question about that.”

But they didn’t. The Gunners continued to win match after match, eventually wrestling the title from United with a home win against Everton in May – with Overmars again scoring the crucial goal. Arsenal won their first title since George Graham was boss back in 1991 and it got even better when they beat Newcastle to win the FA Cup – with Overmars scoring yet again. It was a League and Cup double in Wenger’s first full season in charge, and Fergie now knew he had a serious rival in English football.

Have a peek at some of Overmars’ best moments in an Arsenal shirt below, including the crucial goals in that 1997/98 season. We’ll be back tomorrow as usual, but until then check out what else happened on this day right here.