page_title: 2005 FA Cup Final
section_title: Pre-match
hierarchical_section_title: 2005 FA Cup Final / Pre-match
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
context_page_description: The 2005 FA Cup Final was a football match played between Arsenal and Manchester United on 21 May 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. It was the final match of the 2004–05 FA Cup, the 124th season of English football’s primary cup competition, the FA Cup. Arsenal became the first team to win the FA Cup via a penalty shoot-out, despite being outplayed throughout the game, after neither side managed to score in the initial 90 minutes or in 30 minutes of extra time. The shoot-out finished 5–4 to Arsenal, with Patrick Vieira scoring the winning penalty after Paul Scholes' shot was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
  As both teams were in the highest tier of English football, the Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester United entered the competition in the third round. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis, with a replay taking place if the match ended in a draw. Both clubs only needed one replay along the way to the final; Arsenal's tie against Sheffield United in the fifth round was decided by a penalty shootout, whereas Manchester United overcame non-league Exeter City in the third round, after the original tie ended goalless.
context_section_description: The final marked the fifth meeting between the two clubs in the 2004–05 season. Despite finishing six points ahead of Manchester United in the league, Arsenal had lost both league fixtures between the clubs, as well as a League Cup fifth-round tie, which was played out by the clubs' fringe and reserve team players. Arsenal had won the season's first encounter in the FA Community Shield, also at the Millennium Stadium, by a 3–1 scoreline.
  The clubs had met in an FA Cup final before – in 1979, when Arsenal won 3–2. Manchester United were appearing in their 17th FA Cup Final, their second in as many years, and had won the FA Cup on 11 of their previous 16 appearances (including beating Milwall in the 2004 final). Two of these victories had yielded a domestic double (in 1994 and 1996) and in 1999 they had won the FA Cup as part of a unique Treble, consisting of the cup, the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal were also appearing in their 17th Cup final – their fourth in five years. They had won the cup nine times previously, most recently in 2003, when they beat Southampton in the final.
  Meetings between Arsenal and Manchester United were keenly contested during the 2000s and highly publicised by the media; the cup final this season had added significance as neither club won the league after a decade of dominance, and it was their only chance of silverware. The emergence of Chelsea, who were crowned league champions in April, had presented a long-term threat to Arsenal and Manchester United's duopoly on English football, as they were financed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Chelsea were accused of "tapping-up" Arsenal defender Ashley Cole in January, and were linked to Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand.
  Wenger welcomed Chelsea's emergence, describing them as the "third force" in English football, but he raised concerns over their conduct and what he perceived as artificial growth. Asked whether Chelsea could dominate for the foreseeable, Wenger said: "I feel yes, because they are a financially doped club.  They have enhancement of performances through financial resources which are unlimited. For me, it's a kind of doping because it's not in any way linked to their resources." Despite the absence of Thierry Henry, ruled out through injury, and Arsenal's poor recent record against Manchester United, Wenger believed his team were more than capable of winning the match: "What is good in football is that it is not predictable. […] You act now like it is a decade that we haven’t beaten Manchester United – it's not true. It's two games." It was reported on the eve of the final that Philippe Senderos would start ahead of first-teamer Sol Campbell.
  Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson dismissed suggestions that his team had been over physical in previous meetings against Arsenal. Referring back to the league fixture in October 2004, he told reporters: "We committed three fouls on Reyes, for instance, but that hardly constitutes The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, does it? There were six by them on Cristiano Ronaldo." He questioned the character of Arsenal's players after they lost their unbeaten record, and likened their protest to propaganda, as a way to disguise their crisis – "...it was convenient for them to say they were kicked off the park." United had struggled to score goals in the lead up to the final, and Ferguson stressed the importance of his team taking their chances. "Big games are usually decided that way. They are so close so that whoever gets in front has an advantage," he said.
caption: The match was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the fifth year in a row.
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