It’s one of the biggest rivalries in English football, so whenever we take on Manchester United there is usually some drama involved with so much at stake.
We’ve recorded some of our most iconic victories of the Premier League era at Old Trafford, clinching championships and keeping us in the hunt for the biggest prizes with huge results at the home of the Red Devils.
Ahead of the latest chapter, take a look at these five memorable victories in the red half of Manchester:
March 14, 1998
Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal
Since the Premier League’s formation in 1992, we had visited United five times previously and never scored, but our first goal there in the competition was worth the wait. We nearly took an early lead when Marc Overmars rounded Peter Schmeichel but dinked an effort from a tight angle wide, who later shot into the side-netting on another burst forward.
Stand-in keeper Alex Manninger made good blocks to deny Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole in an end-to-end opening 45, but the key moment came 11 minutes from time Nicolas Anelka’s flick-on was latched onto by Overmars who slipped the ball under Schmeichel, putting us six points behind our opponents with three games in hand as we pushed for a Double.
May 8, 2002
Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal
A third Double in our history was clinched on enemy territory as we followed up our FA Cup success four days earlier by clinching the points necessary to seal the championship. Despite missing Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams, we began well and Sylvain Wiltord saw a shot deflected away in the first minute.
However the Frenchman’s telling contribution came in the 55th minute when he was perfectly placed to pounce after Fabian Barthez could only push a Freddie Ljungberg shot into his path to mark his 100th Arsenal appearance in style, and spark jubilant scenes post-match as Sir Alex Ferguson’s three-season grasp on the Premier League title ended.
February 15, 2003
Manchester United 0-2 Arsenal
Wiltord was at it again less than a year later when the sides were drawn together in the FA Cup fifth round, but we twice nearly went behind when Ole Gunner Solksjaer hit a post before Ryan Giggs rounded David Seaman and Sol Campbell but somehow put the ball over the bar with the goal gaping.
That mistake was swiftly punished four minutes later as Edu saw a free-kick deflect off the wall and into the net, and after the break Wiltord showed Giggs how it was done when he jinked inside from the left and stroked the ball past his international teammate Barthez as we continued our match towards back-to-back cup wins.
September 17, 2006
Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal
We got our first win of the campaign in this clash against the Red Devils, despite Gilberto seeing a penalty saved by debutant Tomasz Kuszczak during a period of sustained pressure that saw Paul Scholes scramble an Emmanuel Adebayor header off the line and the Polish keeper make a number of decent stops.
At the other end Cristiano Ronaldo shot straight at Jens Lehmann having been given time and space in the box, but with four minutes to go a cute Cesc Fabregas pass saw Adebayor spring behind the defence and prod the ball past Kuszczak, however only a tremendous outstretched save by Lehmann would prevent Solskjaer netting an undeserved equaliser.
March 9, 2015
Manchester United 1-2 Arsenal
Having switched clubs six months previously, Danny Welbeck came back to haunt United and send us into the FA Cup semi-finals on his old stomping ground. A rare Nacho Monreal goal put us in front after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had slalomed his way through the home defence, but four minutes later Wayne Rooney restored parity with a firm header.
But just after the hour-mark, a weak backpass by Antonio Valencia was latched onto by Welbeck who beat David de Gea and tapped into the empty net to regain the lead, which we didn’t let go, helped by Angel di Maria’s red card for a dive and pushing referee Michael Oliver.
Take a look at more brilliant moments at United, including a brilliant David Rocastle goal, the Battle of Old Trafford and our last win there.
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