MINUTES 61-75
We pick out a goal from every minute of our Premier League history, including some of the greatest in our history, as well some lesser-remembered strikes.
By Josh James
61
Gervinho
Wigan Athletic 0-4 Arsenal
December 2, 2011
In the end this was a tap in for Ivorian forward Gervinho, but it's included on the list for the incredible build-up – the goal came at the end of a 33-pass move.
In fact the move began with Gervinho, when he picked up possession inside his own half an played a short pass to Laurent Koscielny. Arsenal then kept the ball for more than a minute, pulling the hosts out of position, and switching the play back and forth. It was a demonstration of control and keep ball, against a side already 2-0 down.
Ten of the 11 players were involved in the move, including goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, and when the ball came out to Gervinho again on the right wing, the tempo picked up. Mikel Arteta fired a ball into Robin van Persie outside the area, who played a quick one-two with Alex Song. Van Persie's shot was parried, but there was Gervinho to tuck home right-footed.
It was the longest-passing move preceding a goal all season in the Premier League, and has only recently been surpassed as an Arsenal record (by a 35-pass move against Newcastle in 2020).
62
Carl Jenkinson
Norwich City 0-2 Arsenal
May 11, 2014
A moment that Carl Jenkinson, and indeed the whole Jenkinson family, will never forget. When the lifelong Arsenal supporter joined from Charlton in July 2011 it was already a dream come true, but what he really wanted was to score and celebrate in the famous red and white.
As a dependable right back, goalscoring opportunities were rare, but finally, on his 57th appearance – it came. It was scruffy, but he didn't care at all. Kieran Gibbs' low cross was aimed at Lukas Podolski, but the German could only scuff the ball into the feet of Jenko.
The defender kept his cool, just outside the six-yard-box and stabbed the ball into the bottom corner. The joy on his face was evident, as he ran towards the visiting supporters at Carrow Road, arms outstretched.
"As a kid I'm an Arsenal fan," he said after the game. "I've scored that goal 100 times in my garden and celebrated like I'm celebrating in front of the fans. What can I say, I've done it for real now and it's the best feeling in the world."
It remained the only goal he ever scored for his beloved club, and one that will always have a special place in the heart of his fellow Gooners.
63
GABRIEL MARTINELLI
Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal
JANUARY 21, 2020
The run, the finish and the celebration – three ingredients that make this a truly iconic goal. Down to ten men, and 1-0 behind, Gabriel Martinelli equalised with a fantastic solo effort.
We were defending a corner, when the Brazilian raced on to Shkodran Mustafi's headed clearance outside his own box. Then the afterburners went on. With most of the pitch between him and the Chelsea goal, he put his head down and sprinted. N'golo Kante was the man holding back for the counter attack on the half-way line, but Martinelli took full advantage of his slip to speed past him.
Chelsea had two defenders in pursuit, but the
18 year old would not be caught. Into the area he ran, then had the composure to slip the ball right footed into the bottom corner. It was right in front of the visiting fans, and he soaked up their adulation, standing with folded arms. His arrival in the Premier League had very much announced, and this goal would later be voted Arsenal's Goal of the Season.
64
John Jensen
Arsenal 1-3 QUEENS PARK RANGERS
December 31, 1994
The fact that stall holders around Highbury were doing a roaring trade in tee-shirts emblazoned with ‘I Was There When John Jensen Scored’ should tell you all about how highly this goal was anticipated among the fanbase.
Danish midfielder Jensen had joined us in the summer of 1992, fresh from scoring in his country’s 2-0 win over Germany in the European Championships final. But it was soon evident that George Graham hadn’t bolstered his squad with a natural goalscorer.
He remained goalless in each of his first two seasons in north London (from 80 appearances) and it wasn’t until halfway through his third season – just two games shy of a century for the club – that the Dane troubled the scorers. And what a goal it was, arcing past Tony Roberts into the top corner in front of the North Bank.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop us losing the New Year’s Eve fixture, but it did provide an unforgettable memory for the 32,393 in attendance that day.
65
ANDREY ARSHAVIN
ARSENAL 4-0 BLACKBURN ROVERS
MARCH 14, 2009
Andrey Arshavin's first goal for the Gunners was a taste of what would come in the Russian's Arsenal career.
There appeared to be little danger when he took up possession wide on the left wing, near the byline, with nobody in an Arsenal shirt inside the penalty box. So the diminutive Russian headed towards goal himself, beating his man with a drop of the shoulder, and dribbling in to the six-yard box.
There he was confronted by goalkeeper Paul Robinson guarding his near post, and a seemingly impossible angle for Arshavin. But he moved the ball on to his right foot, and struck a powerful shot over the keeper into the roof of the net.
66
PATRICK VIEIRA
ARSENAL 2-1 Leicester City
MAY 15, 2004
The goal that completed the most remarkable league season in English football history. It was fitting that, just as Tony Adams had done in 1998, captain Patrick Vieira should provide the coup de grace at the end of a title-winning season.
The title of course was already assured by the time Highbury hosted the 38th and final Premier League game of 2003/04, but there was still plenty on the line as Leicester came to London.
If we could avoid defeat, we would become the first side in the modern era to complete a league season without losing a single game. Former Gunner Paul Dickov cast doubt on that ambition when he scored in the 26th minute, and Leicester retained the lead at half-time.
Thierry Henry scored a penalty to level up, and then Vieira stole the show with this winner. Dennis Bergkamp, naturally, played his part too. Midway inside the visitors' half, the Dutchman had possession, with Vieira just to his left.
Leicester were giving Bergkamp time on the ball, and this was Vieira's cue to marking a darting run into the box, safe in the knowledge Bergkamp would find him.
The pass took out five players, straight into Vieira's feet. He touched the ball past Ian Walker, and rolled it home into the North Bank goal. 'We are unbeatable' reverberated around Highbury. History had been made. Immortality assured.
67
AARON RAMSEY
FULHAM 1-5 ARSENAL
OCTOBER 7, 2018
It was Aaron Ramsey who finished the move (and started it, near our own corner flag) but this goal wasn't about just one player – it was a superb team construction from start to finish, with some wonderful technical flourishes along the way.
Ramsey passed in field to Alexandre Lacazette, who held the ball up before returning to the Welshman. Ramsey flicked the ball over a defender but to Lacazette, who in turn passed first time to Hector Bellerin over the halfway line.
The defender didn't let the ball drop, instead backheeling it to Ramsey who had continued his run. Ramsey controlled with his head, then headed again to Henrikh Mkhitaryan as we got deep into Fulham territory. Mkhitaryan's wonderful first-time pass released Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the left flank, just inside the area.
There was another first-time pass from Auba, this time to the edge of the six-yard box, where Ramsey backheeled the ball first time into the net, in front of the visiting fans. The whole sweeping move from one end of the pitch to the other had taken just 20 seconds. It was a worthy winner of the Premier League Goal of the Month award.
68
DENNIS BERGKAMP
Arsenal 4-2 SOuthampton
September 23, 1995
Dennis Bergkamp's long-awaited first goal for Arsenal came in the 17th minute of his eighth game for the club. He didn't have to wait long for the second though, just 51 minutes in fact, and what a belter it was.
Picking up the ball in midfield he ran at the back-peddling Saints defence, then from 25 yards let fly with his right boot. The ball arrowed into the top corner of the North Bank goal, going in off post the post.
"I think the relief of scoring the first goal gave me the freedom to try this," Bergkamp said later "It was quite a long way out, I thought why not have a go? And luckily it worked out. I don’t think it was a goal I would have attempted if I hadn’t already scored that day. My confidence was up to shoot from that distance."
The Dutchman had set the standard that he would continue to live up to over the next 11 seasons, and 120 goals in total.
69
CESC FABREGAS
EVERTON 1-6 Arsenal
AUGUST 15, 2009
A stand out goal from our biggest-ever opening day win. Captain Cesc Fabregas had already scored once to make it 4-0, but his second on 69 minutes was a peach.
Running from deep inside his own half, the midfielder was clearly on a mission, torturing the beleaguered Toffees defence. He continued to stride forward, before – five yards outside the box – taking aim with his right foot, and drilling his shot low into the bottom corner.
It made it 5-0, and by the time the final whistle sounded, the Gunners had set a new club record for the biggest winning margin on the opening day of the season.
70
Robin van Persie
Arsenal 1-0 Everton
December 10, 2011
A sweet, sweet volley fit to celebrate the club's 125th birthday. The afternoon had begun with a parade of club legends to mark the landmark anniversary, and ended with Robin van Persie adding his own chapter to Gunners history, with a remarkable goal.
Locked at 0-0, and with 20 minutes remaining, Alexander Song clipped a lofted pass over the defence, neatly on to the Dutchman's trusty left boot. He cracked away a first-time volley, that flashed in off the far post.
Tim Howard in the Everton goal didn't have time to react and was rooted to the spot. It was van Persie's 33rd Premier League goal of the calendar year, and certainly one of the best.
71
GABRIEL MARTINELLI
Brighton & Hove Albion 2-4 Arsenal
December 26, 2022
A wonderfully worked goal from last season, that owed much to a fantastic assist from Martin Odegaard.
Receiving the ball midway inside his own half, the skipper didn’t need to take a touch, instead he launched an arcing first-time pass perfectly into the stride of the marauding Gabriel Martinelli, who had set off on his run before the ball was even at Odegaard’s feet.
The Brazilian streaked onto it, took a few touches at pace, then squeezed his shot past Robert Sanchez to make it 4-1. A superb piece of vision from Odegaard, coupled with blistering acceleration and a cool finish from Martinelli helped make this a New Year’s Eve to remember.
72
Patrick Vieira
Arsenal 3-1 NEWCASTLE United
April 11, 1998
As we closed in on a first league title for seven years, Patrick Vieira belted home an absolute screamer to send the Highbury crowd wild.
Unbeaten in the league since December, we had built up a real head of steam, and the Arsenal machine was in devastating effect once more against the Magpies, just a week after booking our place in the FA Cup final… against Newcastle.
But this was more than a dress rehearsal for that Wembley showdown, we needed points in the race with Manchester United at the top of the table. And this long-range cracker sealed them.
Nicolas Anelka had already put us two goals to the good, so there was little to lose when Vieira strode forward from just over the halfway line. He took a couple of strides forward before powering home an effort from fully 30 yards, that flashed into the top corner.
Three points secured, and a psychological blow dealt ahead of the cup final. In a strong field, this strike won BBC's Match-of-the-Day Goal of the Month competition for April – a month in which Arsène Wenger's side netted 15 league goals themselves.
73
THEO WALCOTT
Arsenal 7-3 Newcastle United
December 29, 2012
The seventh goal of a ten-goal thriller at the Emirates, and the second of a memorable hat-trick for Theo Walcott.
The forward had started the scoring back in the 20th minute, only for Newcastle to equalise three times, leaving the scored locked at 3-3 as the game entered the final 20 minutes.
We then turned the screw, this strike from Walcott opening the floodgates and laying the platform for three more strikes before time was up.
Kieran Gibbs, inside the box, cut a low cross back to the penalty spot. Walcott controlled, turned shifted possession onto his right foot and with no fewer than seven Newcastle players between him and the goal-line, thrashed his shot powerfully into the roof of the net.
Olivier Giroud then bagged a brace before Walcott claimed the matchball in injury-time, slaloming through defenders from near the corner flag before clipping home our seventh.
74
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE
Arsenal 4-2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
December 2, 2018
A dramatic, topsy-turvy roller-coaster of a north London derby finally started to tilt our way when Alexandre Lacazette arrowed home our third with 16 minutes remaining.
A Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty had put us ahead, in Unai Emery’s first ever meeting with Tottenham. But the visitors came back to take the lead before half-time.
We went into the game unbeaten in our previous 18 matches though, and were in no mood to lay down. Lacazette was introduced at half-time and our tails were up when Auba equalised.
Our persistence paid off. Lacazette picked up possession outside the area, was confronted by two Spurs defenders but shifted the ball onto his left foot and squeezed his shot low into the bottom corner.
75
Samir Nasri
Arsenal 2-1 FULHAM
December 4, 2010
“Beautifully balanced ballet in a football penalty box!” was how commentator Jonathan Pearce described this stunning bit of control and finish from Samir Nasri.
The in-form Frenchman had already given us the lead at home to Fulham, before the west Londoners levelled before the break. This flash of genius though was worthy of winning the game, and restoring our place back at the top of the table.
We moved the ball through midfield, Nasri passed to Andrey Arshavin who in turn found Robin van Persie just on the edge of the box. He held the ball up just long enough for Nasri to continue his run and burst into the box, and he laid the ball into his path.
The Frenchman still had work to do, surrounded by three defenders, but he waltzed past them before rounding the keeper. He had been forced wide, but he managed to create just enough of an angle on his right foot to tuck home. It was his 11th goal of a superb start to the season.
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