History

GGG27: Ljungberg v Manchester United, 2001

It's time to reveal the Gunners' Greatest 50 Goals - as voted for by Arsenal's fans.

Freddie Ljungberg made a habit of scoring against Manchester United during his nine-year tenure at the club, so perhaps it’s unsurprising that at least one should crop up in our countdown.

This strike is not only notable for its quality but for its importance to Arsenal’s 2001/02 title-winning campaign too.



The Gunners had started the season in rampant fashion but by the time the Red Devils visited Highbury in November, Arsène Wenger’s side were without a win in four Premier League games. Man United, on the other hand, were looking ominous.

Indeed the visitors opened the scoring through Paul Scholes after only 14 minutes however, within three minutes of the restart, Ljungberg struck.



Robert Pires intercepted Gary Neville’s slack pass a good 50 yards from goal and hurtled towards the area. As Kanu drew the two Manchester United central defenders into the middle, the Frenchman picked out Ljungberg creeping in down the right-hand side.



The flame-haired Swede took one touch with his right before gently prodding an arching effort over Fabian Barthez from the edge of the area.



Later, the French goalkeeper would make two memorable mistakes to hand the Gunners a 3-1 victory. But it was Ljungberg’s superb equaliser that provided Arsenal’s platform.