2005 FA Cup Final: Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United (won 5-4 on penalties)

The footage

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2005

The match report

Arsenal won the 124th FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday 21 May 2005, beating Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out after 120 goalless minutes. It was the first final in the competition's history to be decided from the spot, and it was settled 5-4 when Vieira scored the last kick after Lehmann had saved from Scholes. A crowd of 71,876 watched the fifth consecutive final staged in Cardiff while Wembley was rebuilt; Rob Styles of Hampshire refereed.[1][5][9]

The final caught the defining rivalry of the era at a strange angle. Chelsea had taken the league title in April, so for the first time in years neither of these clubs was champion, and the cup was the only silverware either could still win. The build-up was dominated by Malcolm Glazer's impending takeover of United, though the threatened mass protests in Cardiff came to little. Arsene Wenger, without the injured Thierry Henry, abandoned his long-standing 4-4-2 and sent Arsenal out in a 4-5-1 with Dennis Bergkamp alone up front and Philippe Senderos preferred to Sol Campbell in defence. Sir Alex Ferguson left Ryan Giggs on the bench for Darren Fletcher and picked Roy Carroll over Tim Howard in goal.[5][6][13][10]

United were on top from the start. Scholes headed Ronaldo's cross over with the first chance of the match, and midway through the half United had the ball in the net, Ferdinand turning in the rebound after Lehmann blocked Rooney's shot, only for the offside flag to cut the celebrations short. Rooney, the best player on the pitch, then forced Lehmann into a flying save from Van Nistelrooy's cutback and volleyed over from the corner. Arsenal's only notable moments were the bookings of Cole and Silvestre's opposite number at left-back, and a Bergkamp free-kick hammered into the wall.[2][6][1]

The pattern only hardened after the interval. Lauren was eventually booked for repeatedly fouling Ronaldo, and Rooney came as close as anyone would come to scoring in open play, striking the foot of the post from a narrow angle with Lehmann beaten or beaten-to-it depending on which account you read. Pires volleyed Arsenal's best opening over the bar. In the closing minutes Lehmann missed a corner and Keane's shot was blocked by a wall of bodies, and from the next corner Van Nistelrooy's header was cleared off the line and up onto the bar by Ljungberg. After ninety minutes it was still 0-0.[1][6][2]

Extra time brought the afternoon's strangest statistic. Seven minutes into it Van Persie's free-kick forced a diving save from Carroll - Arsenal's first shot on target of the entire final, arriving in the 97th minute. Lehmann then saved superbly from Scholes on the turn and Van Nistelrooy headed over unmarked. With seconds remaining Reyes, already booked, body-checked Ronaldo and became only the second player ever sent off in an FA Cup final, after Kevin Moran twenty years earlier. The whistle went immediately. Rooney was named man of the match; he finished it on the losing side.[5][2][1]

The shoot-out, the first in a final, was played out in front of the United end. Van Nistelrooy took the first kick and scored, Lauren answered, and then Scholes drilled his penalty towards the corner and Lehmann, diving to his right, pushed it away. It was the only miss. Ljungberg, Van Persie and Cole all scored for Arsenal; Ronaldo, Rooney and Keane all scored for United. That left Vieira, the captain, with one kick to win the cup. Carroll guessed correctly but the shot was beyond him, and Arsenal had their tenth FA Cup, a fourth under Wenger.[2][6][12]

Everyone agreed on what they had seen. Wenger admitted United had been the better side and that Arsenal had ridden their luck, though he pointed out that practising penalties is not what wins them - keeping your nerve is. Roy Keane put the losers' case more bluntly: United had dominated, and the Arsenal players would not be too bothered about that, because they had the winners' medals. Ferguson complained that Vieira enjoyed an immunity from referees and should have been sent off before Reyes was. Mark Lawrenson, co-commentating for the BBC, told John Motson that over the 120 minutes Manchester United had been mugged.[3][4]

The kick that won it was also an ending. Vieira never played for Arsenal again: that summer he was sold to Juventus for a fee reported at around twenty million euros, and the cup win stood as Arsenal's last major trophy for nine years, until the 2014 final. United's defeat fed into a season of upheaval that ended with Keane's departure in November, but they were back at the Millennium Stadium eight months later to win the League Cup. Because both finalists had already qualified for the Champions League, the UEFA Cup place that came with the trophy passed to Bolton Wanderers, sixth in the Premiership.[5][17][15][10][11][16]

How the match unfolded

1. 6'The first chance. Cristiano Ronaldo beats Lauren on the left wing and crosses, but Paul Scholes, unmarked, heads over the bar.[6][1]
2. 16'Ashley Cole becomes the first player booked, for a challenge on Wayne Rooney.[2][8]
3. 21'Mikael Silvestre is booked for a foul on Dennis Bergkamp.[2][8]
4. 27'Manchester United have the ball in the net. Jens Lehmann blocks Rooney's shot and Rio Ferdinand turns in the rebound, but the assistant referee flags Ferdinand offside. The BBC's own match report times this at 21 minutes; its clockwatch and both Guardian accounts say the 27th.[2][1][6]
5. 30'Ruud van Nistelrooy cuts the ball back to Rooney, whose first-time drive is turned over the bar by Lehmann. From the corner that follows, Rooney volleys just over.[6][2]
6. 45'Rooney beats Cole, Senderos and Vieira on a run before Senderos brings him down on the edge of the area. Rooney takes the free-kick himself and curls it over, and the half-time whistle goes with the game scoreless.[6][2]
7. 59'Lauren is finally booked for persistent fouling on Ronaldo, who has tormented him all afternoon. Ronaldo's free-kick dips just over the bar.[6][1][8]
8. 65'Arsenal make the first change: Freddie Ljungberg replaces the isolated Bergkamp.[1][8]
9. 67'The closest either side comes to a goal in open play. Rooney spots Lehmann off his line and shoots from a narrow angle; the ball comes back off the foot of the post and Darren Fletcher thrashes the rebound wide.[2][6][1]
10. 76'Jose Antonio Reyes is booked for a late tackle on Silvestre. Quinton Fortune replaces John O'Shea, who has been struggling with a calf problem.[2][6][8]
11. 84'United twice come within inches of winning it. From a corner, Roy Keane's effort is blocked by a crowd of Arsenal bodies. From the next corner Lehmann misses the ball entirely and Van Nistelrooy heads goalwards, but Ljungberg, on the line, heads it up onto the crossbar and away.[6][1][2]
12. 86'Robin van Persie replaces Cesc Fabregas.[1][8]
13. 91'Ryan Giggs comes on for Fletcher at the start of extra time. Tim Howard, United's substitute goalkeeper, is later seen warming up behind the goal, apparently in case of a shoot-out substitution that never comes.[1][2][9]
14. 97'Arsenal finally register their first shot on target: Van Persie's free-kick, won off Silvestre, forces a diving save from Roy Carroll - the first save the United goalkeeper has had to make all afternoon.[5][2]
15. 105'Lehmann saves well from Scholes on the turn, and Van Nistelrooy heads over unmarked from the corner. Edu replaces Robert Pires at the end of the first period of extra time.[1][6][8]
16. 112'Scholes is booked for a late foul on Reyes.[2][8]
17. 118'Vieira is booked for tripping Ronaldo. Sir Alex Ferguson will argue after the match that the Arsenal captain should already have been off.[2][4][8]
18. 120'With seconds left, Reyes body-checks the breaking Ronaldo and Rob Styles shows a second yellow card. Reyes becomes only the second player sent off in an FA Cup final, after Manchester United's Kevin Moran in 1985. The whistle follows immediately: 0-0, and the FA Cup final goes to a penalty shoot-out for the first time.[2][5][9]
19. Shoot-outUnited take first, in front of their own supporters. Van Nistelrooy scores, Lauren scores, and then Lehmann dives to his right and saves from Scholes. Ljungberg, Ronaldo, Van Persie, Rooney, Cole and Keane all convert, which leaves Vieira one kick to win the cup. Carroll guesses the right way but cannot reach it. Arsenal 5-4.[2][6][12]

The shoot-out

Arsenal won 5-4 on penalties.[2][6][12]

Match facts

Date

Saturday 21 May 2005

Venue

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Attendance

71,876Printed in the BBC's contemporary match report and carried independently, with the same figure, by 11v11 and RSSSF. No governing-body or stadium document we could reach prints a figure for this final.[1][8]

Referee

Rob Styles (Hampshire FA)[1][8]

Half-time

0-0

Competition

2004-05 FA Cup

Where they played

Both sides as they lined up. Choose any player to read what they did in this final.

Select a shirt for that player's note.

Route to the final

Line-ups

Trivia and detail

• Rain poured down on Cardiff as the teams prepared for kick-off, but the Millennium Stadium roof remained closed throughout the final.[2]
• Jose Antonio Reyes was only the second player ever sent off in an FA Cup final. The first was also playing for Manchester United's opponents' opposition: Kevin Moran, dismissed for United against Everton in 1985. Reyes' red card came with the last action of the match.[5][19]
• This was Roy Keane's seventh FA Cup final as a player - 1991 with Nottingham Forest, then 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2004 with United before this one - which at the time was the most by any player in the post-war period.[19]
• As extra time wound down, United's substitute goalkeeper Tim Howard warmed up behind the goal, fuelling talk that he would be sent on for Roy Carroll specifically for the shoot-out. The substitution never came.[2]
• Arsenal had already survived one penalty shoot-out in this cup run: their fifth-round replay at Sheffield United finished goalless, and Manuel Almunia saved two kicks to put Arsenal through.[18][9]
• BBC One's coverage of the final peaked at 12.8 million viewers, the second-largest British sporting television audience of 2005. Only ITV's broadcast of the Liverpool against Milan Champions League final, four days later, drew more.[7][14]
• Arsenal supporters taunted United over the Glazer takeover by waving Stars and Stripes flags and chanting 'U-S-A'. The mass anti-Glazer demonstration that had been trailed beforehand amounted to around 100 singing protesters, and police reported no trouble.[5][13]
• Both semi-finals were played at the Millennium Stadium that season, so neither finalist had to leave Cardiff to reach Cardiff: Arsenal beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 there and United beat Newcastle United 4-1.[9]
• Thierry Henry, Arsenal's top scorer, missed the final through injury. Sir Alex Ferguson had predicted in the build-up that Wenger was bluffing about Henry's fitness. He was not.[5][6]

How well do you know the 2005 final?

Five questions. Every answer is sourced from the material on this page.

1. How was the 2005 FA Cup final decided?

   By the first penalty shoot-out in FA Cup final historyBy a golden goal in extra timeBy a replay at Villa ParkBy a single goal in normal time
   Answer

   By the first penalty shoot-out in FA Cup final history. The match finished 0-0 after extra time, and Arsenal won the shoot-out 5-4. No previous final had gone to penalties.[1][5]

2. Whose penalty did Jens Lehmann save in the shoot-out?

   Paul ScholesWayne RooneyRuud van NistelrooyCristiano Ronaldo
   Answer

   Paul Scholes. Scholes took United's second kick and Lehmann dived to his right to save it. It was the only one of the ten kicks not scored.[2][6]

3. Who scored the penalty that won the cup for Arsenal?

   Patrick VieiraAshley ColeRobin van PersieFreddie Ljungberg
   Answer

   Patrick Vieira. The captain converted the tenth and final kick, beyond Roy Carroll's dive. It was his last act as an Arsenal player before his sale to Juventus.[2][12]

4. When did Arsenal manage their first shot on target?

   In the 97th minute, seven minutes into extra timeMidway through the first halfIn the opening five minutesIn the last minute of normal time
   Answer

   In the 97th minute, seven minutes into extra time. Robin van Persie's free-kick forced Roy Carroll's first save of the match seven minutes into extra time. Arsenal did not test him once in the first 90 minutes.[5][2]

5. What made Jose Antonio Reyes' dismissal notable?

   He became only the second player ever sent off in an FA Cup finalHe was the first substitute sent off in a finalHe was sent off before the match startedHe was the first player sent off twice in one final
   Answer

   He became only the second player ever sent off in an FA Cup final. Reyes body-checked Ronaldo in the final seconds of extra time and collected a second yellow card. The only previous final dismissal was Kevin Moran's, twenty years earlier.[5][2]

What is not settled

Honesty matters more than tidiness. These details are contested or unrecorded, and we have not guessed at them:

• The minute of Rio Ferdinand's disallowed goal is contested by the same organisation. The BBC's match report says it came after 21 minutes; the BBC's own clockwatch logs it at 15:27, the 27th minute, and both Guardian accounts agree with 27. We publish 27 and show the disagreement.
• Booking and substitution minutes differ by a minute or two between the BBC's match report, the Guardian's live report, 11v11's card log and RSSSF's line-ups: Lauren's booking is given as 59, 61 and 62, Ashley Cole's as 16 and 17, Silvestre's as 21 and 22, Scholes' as 112 and 113, Edu's introduction as 105 and 106, and Giggs' as 90 and 91. We follow the BBC match report's figures in the record and note the variance here.
• Whether Lehmann got a touch on Rooney's shot that came back off the post is not agreed. The BBC's report says the goalkeeper recovered and got a slight touch on to the upright; both Guardian accounts describe the ball striking the woodwork with no mention of a touch.
• Scholes' saved penalty is described as drilled towards the corner by the BBC's clockwatch and as struck too central, at a good height for the keeper, by the Guardian's live report. Both agree Lehmann went to his right and saved it; the placement is not settled.
• No governing-body or stadium document we could reach prints an attendance for this final. 71,876 appears in the BBC's contemporary match report and is carried independently, with exactly the same figure, by 11v11 and RSSSF, so we treat it as settled while noting the absence of an official document.
• No footage has been verified for this final yet, so the television shows no signal rather than an unchecked embed.
• The television figures conflict. The Guardian's year-end media report has BBC One's coverage peaking at 12.8 million, the second-largest British sporting audience of 2005 behind ITV's Champions League final. The BBC's own contemporary news story claims a peak of 13.7 million across the BBC and Sky and calls it the biggest sporting peak audience of the year. The two are probably measuring different things - a single channel against combined audiences - but we have not reconciled them.

How we know

Every claim on this page is tied to a numbered source below. These are the contemporary records behind it, each one fetched and matched word for word before publication rather than taken on trust:

• Amy Lawrence's match report from the stadium, The Observer, 22 May 2005 · The Observer
• Paul Doyle's minute-by-minute report, 21 May 2005 · The Guardian
• Owen Gibson, 22 December 2005, the year's sports television audience figures · The Guardian

Where a primary record and a modern account disagree, we show both rather than choosing the tidier number.

Sources

1. Arsenal 0-0 Man Utd (aet) · BBC Sport
2. Clockwatch: 2005 FA Cup final · BBC Sport
3. Wenger proud of players after win · BBC Sport
4. Ferguson accuses Arsenal's Vieira · BBC Sport
5. Vieira holds his nerve to claim historic penalty prize for Arsenal · The Observer
6. Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0 (Arsenal win 5-4 on pens) · The Guardian
7. ITV tops 2005 sports ratings with Champions League final · The Guardian
8. Arsenal v Manchester United, 21 May 2005 · 11v11.com
9. England FA Challenge Cup 2004-2005 · RSSSF
10. England 2004/05 · RSSSF
11. England 2013/14 · RSSSF
12. Arsenal 0-0 Man United (21 May, 2005) Final Score · ESPN
13. Rainy FA Cup final dampens demos · BBC News
14. Huge TV audience for FA Cup final · BBC Sport
15. Ferguson ends silence over Keane · BBC Sport
16. Manchester United v Wigan Athletic, 26 February 2006 · 11v11.com
17. Inter complete Vieira signing · World Soccer
18. The Archive: March 2005 · When Saturday Comes
19. 2005 FA Cup final · Wikipedia

Elsewhere in the encyclopedia

These two clubs have met in a final before

• 1979 Arsenal 3-2 Manchester United

Other finals involving these clubs

• 1971 Arsenal: Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool
• 2003 Arsenal: Arsenal 1-0 Southampton
• 2004 Manchester United: Manchester United 3-0 Millwall
• 2007 Manchester United: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
• 2014 Arsenal: Arsenal 3-2 Hull City
• 2015 Arsenal: Arsenal 4-0 Aston Villa

Other finals at Millennium Stadium

• 2003 Arsenal 1-0 Southampton
• 2004 Manchester United 3-0 Millwall
• 2006 Liverpool 3-3 West Ham United

Elsewhere on WhatChan