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Arsenal defeated Manchester United 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in November 2008 — a wildly exciting match remembered for the Gunners’ second scored by the match-winning Frenchman.
Despite the diminished nature of Arsenal’s rivalry with Manchester United, games involving both clubs have intermittently produced high-quality moments since the 2000s.
The fierceness of the friction had dipped when both sides faced off in November 2008, with Arsene Wenger’s team no longer Sir Alex Ferguson’s main competitors for the Premier League title.
Chelsea’s back-to-back league triumphs in 2005 and 2006 ended the Gunners and United's eight-title winning run after Wenger’s October 1996 arrival in England, with Ferguson claiming five.
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Arsenal ended 15 points clear of Man Utd in 2003-04, and six points separated both clubs in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign the following season. But the subsequent years saw Ferguson’s men aim to topple Jose Mourinho’s side as Wenger’s Gunners fell away.
Despite ending second to the Blues in 2006-07, United finished 16 points clear of the fourth-placed North London club. In the ensuing year, when they supplanted Chelsea, there was a 21-point difference between both sides (89-68).
Admittedly, Arsenal did compete for the 2007-08 title but ultimately ended third on 83 points behind Chelsea (85) and the Red Devils (87). However, the broad gap between the clubs was growing by the year.
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Criticism received by Wenger before November 2008’s encounter
Arsenal had to endure fierce denigration before hosting the Premier League’s defending champions seeking a third consecutive league crown.
Wenger’s team had contrived to lose a 4-2 lead in the game’s final minutes against Tottenham Hotspur to draw 4-4 in the North London derby and were egregious in a 2-1 loss at Stoke City less than a week later.
The Stoke loss was calamitous for several reasons: the Gunners conceded twice from Rory Delap’s long throws, they lost Emmanuel Adebayor and a young Theo Walcott to injury — the latter needing to be stretchered off after injuring his shoulder — and Robin van Persie was sent off in minute 76, just 10 minutes after his introduction.
Arsenal were to be shorn of Adebayor, the Dutchman and possibly the budding prodigy against the Red Devils.
Perhaps surprisingly, Walcott started the game against United a week later, and the forward was to play a vital part in the game’s winning goal.
How Nasri lifted the pressure off Arsenal and Wenger
Even though they had picked up one point from a possible six heading into that gameweek 12 encounter, Arsenal were only six points off first-placed Chelsea and a point adrift of the side they hosted at the Emirates, having played a game more.
Despite starting slowly, the Gunners gained a foothold in spite of the absences of Adebayor and Van Persie — although Ferguson’s men could have gone in front after 17 minutes, only for Wayne Rooney to blaze over after being teed up by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Samir Nasri punished the Red Devils five minutes later, even if a Gary Neville deflection helped to take the Frenchman’s tame effort past Edwin van der Sar after a Cesc Fabregas free-kick was half-cleared by Dimitar Berbatov.
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It stayed that way until the interlude, despite Fabregas and Walcott threatening for the hosts and Ji-Sung Park going close for the away side, until Nasri scored “that goal”.
Arsenal’s passing sequence before Nasri’s match-winning strike
Nasri doubled the home side’s advantage just three minutes after halftime.
The Frenchman was the first to a Fabregas corner that evaded everyone in the box, and he exchanged passes with countryman Mikael Silvestre down the left flank.
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Nasri passed to Denilson, who had pulled over to that side to provide support, before sending the ball back to Gael Clichy — Arsenal’s deepest player inside the centre circle just inside the United half.
Clichy passed to Bacary Sagna. The inverted Sagna sent the ball to Walcott on the right flank. The Englishman played a short pass to Fabregas, who gave possession back to the French right-back in his zone just inside the Arsenal half.
The ball soon found its way to Abou Diaby in central midfield, and the gangly midfielder played a forward pass to Nicklas Bendtner, who dropped deep to get involved.
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After a sideways carry, the Dane passed to Sagna before the ball was played to Diaby just inside the United half.
The Frenchman carried the ball forward and passed to Nasri, who played a first-time pass to Denilson.
Fabregas dropped into space to receive the Brazilian’s forward pass, even if he and Nasri almost got in each other's way just as United right-back Rafael engaged the Spaniard.
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However, Fabregas had the awareness and ingenuity to twist infield to lose the full-back...
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and pick out Nasri to finish with aplomb with a powered shot across the Red Devils goalkeeper.
The Frenchman’s goal was aided by Walcott, whose run briefly dragged Nemanja Vidic out of position for Nasri to run into that space vacated by the centre-back.
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Vidic desperately threw himself to block the shot but failed to prevent the game’s winning goal.
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The goal came about 58 seconds from Fabregas’s corner and 53 seconds after Nasri picked up the ball from the Spaniard’s overhit delivery.
There were 16 passes involving nine of Arsenal’s 11 players, with William Gallas the only outfield member of the home side not to touch the ball in that sequence.
In truth, United did not look in imminent danger until the end of the move when Fabregas moved into that pocket of space and spun past Rafael. Walcott’s contribution, despite not touching the ball, deserves some acclaim.
United rallied afterwards, missing a chance to pull one back through Ronaldo before Rafael halved the deficit in minute 90.
But Arsenal held on, and Nasri was the encounter’s match-winner. It was a goal worthy of winning any game.
The aftermath
That win took Arsenal two clear of Ferguson’s side, but the Gunners fell away due to an inordinate number of draws in the second half of the season.
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The North London side’s 12 draws outdid all but Newcastle United (13), whose 18th-placed finish saw the Magpies suffer the ignominy of Premier League relegation.
Wenger’s men ended the 2008-09 campaign 18 points adrift of Ferguson’s side — who claimed a third consecutive title — and were eliminated in that season's Champions League by the Red Devils, further underscoring the chasm between both clubs.
It may have been another forgettable year for Arsenal, but the team’s passing sequence and eventual finish from Nasri live long in the memory.
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