Arsenal 7-1 Blackburn Rovers
Barclays Premier League
Saturday, February 04, 2012, 13:00
FreezeFrame: Arsenal 1-1 Blackburn, 1997
ARSENAL 1-1 BLACKBURN
Premier League
Highbury
April 19, 1997
Today's FreezeFrame takes us back to April 1997, just six months after Arsène Wenger had taken over as Arsenal manager.
Early exits from the Uefa Cup, the FA Cup and the League Cup had dented the Frenchman's debut campaign but, by the New Year, his team had found some rhythm and remained in contention for the title as their rivals dropped points.
However, a home defeat to Liverpool at the end of March killed off any lingering hopes of pipping Manchester United to the championship.
Going into the game against Blackburn, Arsenal still had realistic hopes of securing second spot and a Champions League place but they endured another frustrating afternoon at Highbury.
Wenger's side were dominant for much of the first half and they grabbed a deserved lead in the 18th minute when David Platt fired in after Martin Keown's header came back off the post.
It remained a physical, niggly encounter though, and Arsenal were made to pay for failing to put the game to bed when, in the 89th minute, Garry Flitcroft scored a controversial equaliser.
It came about after Patrick Vieira had kicked the ball out of play because Stephen Hughes was down injured. After the Gunners midfielder was stretchered off, Blackburn took the throw in and played it behind Nigel Winterburn.
Chris Sutton chased Winterburn down and won a corner for his troubles, to Arsenal's fury. To add to the controversy, Flitcroft then fired in from the resulting set piece to cap off a disappointing afternoon for Wenger's side.
Today's FreezeFrame image captures the moment Keown gets to grips with Chris Sutton.
Arsenal team: Seaman, Winterburn, Dixon, Keown, Adams, Bould, Hughes (Parlour, 89), Platt, Vieira, Bergkamp, Wright. Subs not used: Lukic, Marshall, Merson, Anelka.
Our FreezeFrame series gives you a classic image ahead of every match. Roll your cursor over the players and click for more information.
[Friday, February 03, 2012]
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