The 2001 FA Cup Final was a football match held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, 12 May 2001 and was the first final to be played outside of England. The game had an attendance of 72,000. The final was contested between Arsenal and Liverpool, with Liverpool winning 2–1, after Arsenal had led 1–0.

It was the second trophy of Liverpool's treble-winning season of 2000-01. They had won the Football League Cup in late February and would win the UEFA Cup the following week. It was their sixth FA Cup triumph to date, their previous triumph coming nine years earlier.

Arsenal, who had also finished runners-up in the league, were "double runners-up" for the second season running, having been runners-up in the league and the UEFA Cup a year earlier.

[edit] First half

Liverpool were intent on adopting a counter-attacking approach, allowing Arsenal space and possession until they reached the danger area. Arsenal dominated the opening exchanges, but first half ended as a stalemate despite Arsenal's dominance. Liverpool's Emile Heskey was involved in the first contentious moment after six minutes, when he tumbled under a challenge from Gilles Grimandi, but referee Steve Dunn correctly waved away Liverpool's penalty appeals.^[1]

Ten minutes later, Arsenal had a much stronger claim for a penalty kick. Fredrik Ljungberg released Thierry Henry, who broke free of Liverpool's offside trap, skipped around goalkeeper Sander Westerveld and fired a shot which was blocked on the line by the arm of Liverpool defender Stéphane Henchoz.^[2] The officials failed to spot the offence, despite Henry's appeals.

Despite a couple of half-chances for Liverpool (a Michael Owen shot that was closed down by Martin Keown, and a Steven Gerrard effort from long range that went well wide) there were no other major goalmouth incidents of the first half.^[3]

[edit] Second half

Liverpool finally troubled Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman two minutes after the interval; Danny Murphy's free kick was met by Heskey's head, but he was only able to direct his effort straight at Seaman, who pushed it to safety with his left hand.

Arsenal had another serious scoring chance after 56 minutes. Thierry Henry juggled the ball and switched passes with compatriot Robert Pirès, but was denied by Westerveld; Ashley Cole got to the rebound first and fired goalwards, but Liverpool captain Sami Hyypiä cleared off the line. Hyypiä rescued Liverpool again after 67 minutes, when he headed a Ljungberg lob off the line.

With 19 minutes left, Arsenal finally scored. Arsenal latched onto a poor clearance by Westerveld, and Robert Pirès played Ljungberg clean through; the Swede rounded the Dutch goalkeeper and fired home to make it 1–0. Moments later Henry was given a chance to make it 2–0, but was denied by an excellent point-blank save by Westerveld.^[1]

Liverpool survived the Arsenal onslaught, and finally, having made some key attacking substitutions, these including their highest goalscorer Robbie Fowler, found a foothold in the game when Owen equalised with eight minutes left. Arsenal failed to clear substitute Gary McAllister's free kick, and Owen pounced with a right foot finish past Seaman from eight yards. Liverpool's comeback was completed five minutes later in the 88th minute with extra time looming; Owen was released down the left by a terrifically weighted long ball pass from substitute Patrik Berger, with the type of vision which had been earlier missing from their play, and he outpaced both Tony Adams and Lee Dixon before shooting low and accurately past Seaman, beating him at the far post. Liverpool held onto their lead for the few minutes remaining, and won the Cup.

[edit] Match details

12 May 2001 15:00 BST	Arsenal	1 – 2	Liverpool	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 72,500 Referee: Steve Dunn (Gloucestershire)
	Ljungberg  72'	Report	Owen  83', 88'

Arsenal

Liverpool

ARSENAL: GK 1 David Seaman RB 2 Lee Dixon 90' CB 5 Martin Keown CB 6 Tony Adams (c) LB 29 Ashley Cole RM 7 Robert Pirès CM 18 Gilles Grimandi CM 4 Patrick Vieira LM 8 Fredrik Ljungberg 62' 85' CF 11 Sylvain Wiltord 76' CF 14 Thierry Henry Substitutes: GK 13 Alexander Manninger DF 12 Lauren MF 15 Ray Parlour 76' FW 10 Dennis Bergkamp 90' FW 25 Nwankwo Kanu 85' Manager: Arsène Wenger

LIVERPOOL: GK 1 Sander Westerveld RB 6 Markus Babbel CB 2 Stéphane Henchoz CB 12 Sami Hyypiä (c) LB 23 Jamie Carragher RM 13 Danny Murphy 77' CM 17 Steven Gerrard CM 16 Dietmar Hamann 57' 60' LM 7 Vladimír Šmicer 77' CF 8 Emile Heskey CF 10 Michael Owen Substitutes: GK 19 Pegguy Arphexad DF 27 Grégory Vignal MF 15 Patrik Berger 77' MF 21 Gary McAllister 60' FW 9 Robbie Fowler 77' Manager: Gérard Houllier

[edit] Road to Cardiff

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• The FA Match Report
• LFC History Match Report
• Liverpool Route to Final
• Arsenal Route to Final
• Liverpool Player Profiles
• Arsenal Player Profiles
• Gerrard Houllier Reaction
• Cup Final Player Ratings