May 12 – The Five-Minute Final
THERE’S been plenty of drab FA Cup finals in recent years (Chelsea versus Manchester United in 2007 and Arsenal’s win over United in 2005 both spring to mind immediately) where you wish you’d only watched the last five minutes, but when Arsenal and United fought it for the famous old trophy today in 1979, it was all about the last 300 ticks of the refs watch.
For 85 minutes the game had proved to be pretty unremarkable, with Arsenal scoring twice in the first half through Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton. It looked as though a routine win was on the cards, with Liam Brady in a particularly potent mood that afternoon, strutting his stuff on the right of midfield.
When Gordon McQueen bundled the ball home from a set-piece with five minutes to go, it appeared to be merely a consolation, but straight after this Sammy McIlroy went on a mazy run and ended up dispatching his shot past Pat Jennings in the Arsenal goal.
But, as LL Cool J once warned us, don’t call it a comeback.
As half of the 100,000-strong Wembley crowd were in raptures, believing their team had grabbed an extra-time lifeline from the jaws of defeat, Arsenal’s eyes went firmly back on the prize, and Alan Sunderland bagged a last-minute equaliser for the Gunners.
After the most frantic end to a Cup Final Wembley had ever seen, Arsenal were climbing the 39 steps and Pat Rice hoisted up the cup for the fifth time.
Ah, the highs and lows. That’s why we all love the game. See the goals below and read about another Manchester United man having a bad day here, but we don’t expect you to feel too much sympathy for him. See you tomorrow folks…
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