Will the FA Cup semi-final decide the Premier League title race? Man United v Arsenal in 1999 revisited
Ahead of the Wembley showdown between Chelsea and Tottenham - one and two in the Premier League - talkSPORT looks at Man United and Arsenal's semi-final battle in 1999 and wonders what impact it could have on the title race.
Chelsea v Tottenham is live on talkSPORT at 17:15 (BST) on Saturday 22 April.
Back then, Man United and Arsenal were battling on all fronts domestically. The former were on the verge of sealing the treble, but the latter were looking to win a second successive League and Cup double.
Both teams were evenly matched throughout the campaign, but in the end United pipped the Gunners to the Premier League crown by a point on the final day of the season.
They also dumped them out of the FA Cup in the semi-final when Arsenal looked certain to book their place at Wembley. United had been reduced to 10 men, with Roy Keane sent off at Villa Park, and then, right at the death, Ray Parlour won a penalty.
However, Peter Schmeichel saved Dennis Bergkamp's spot-kick and the Gunners went on to lose 2-1 in extra-time courtesy of Ryan Giggs’ individual goal. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
“It is tough to take,” Parlour, explained to talkSPORT.com, presumably silently cursing us for reminding him about a game he probably wants to forget.
“Dennis Bergkamp missed a penalty and he didn’t speak for a few days; he was absolutely devastated.
“Whether it affected his form… we did lose the league in the end, but it was a little bit different because it was a lot closer than it is between Chelsea and Spurs.”
True. Four points currently separate the London rivals in the Premier League, while the Gunners trailed United by a point at the time of their semi-final in April.
“Certainly this game between Chelsea and Spurs could be pivotal in that championship race,” he added.
“If Tottenham can win that will put them in good stead for the rest of the season, but the only thing I look at is the run-in,” he said acknowledging that on paper Mauricio Pochettino’s men seem to have the trickier games.
Tottenham’s remaining league games
April 26: Crystal Palace [A]
April 30: Arsenal [H]
May 6: West Ham United [A]
May 13 Man United [H]
May 18 Leicester [A]
May 21: Hull City [A]
Chelsea’s remaining league games
April 25: Southampton [H]
April 30: Everton [A]
May 8: Middlesbrough [H]
May 12: West Brom [A]
May 15: Watford [H]
May 21 Sunderland [H]
A month after the '99 game, United and Arsenal were level on points with two games remaining, but Arsenal lost to Leeds where Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored a late winner to deflate Gooners’ hopes of back-to-back titles. This is despite United dropping two points following their draw at Blackburn.
At the time Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was in no doubt what cost them: “We made a huge tactical error, which is unusual for us to make a mistake like that,” he lamented. “Nelson Vivas was in a very bad position at the far post,” or "ball watching" as Parlour suggests.
There is a belief among Gooners that beating United would have broken them mentally and stopped them from becoming English champions at the very least.
Parlour doesn't go along with that idea, though he admits the momentum was with their bitter rivals.
"There's obviously disappointment and it was a disappointing season in the end, but we were cruising in that game against Leeds,” he points out, as he recalled the agony of losing the title by a point. Parlour insists the injury that forced the reliable Nigel Winterburn off and Vivas on at Elland Road was a definte factor in the loss, before the conversation returned to the heartache of that semi-final.
“It gave [Man United] more momentum going forward because if we had beaten them in that semi-final I think it would have finished them in that season,” he insists.
“But because they beat us it kept them going. We had to try and bounce back as all good teams do, but for Manchester United it was a massive boost, and what a season for them in the end. They ended up winning the treble, didn't they?”
Wenger seems to agree and years later conceded that Giggs’ goal decided things.
“I can still hear the shouts of their team having won,” he said of the semi-final clash. “They couldn’t believe it because they were down to 10 men. And I think that put them on a wave of euphoria and then they won the title - just.”
Chelsea v Tottenham is live here on talkSPORT at 17:15 (BST) on Saturday 22 April.
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