2001 FA Cup Final

The 2001 FA Cup Final was the 120th final of the FA Cup. It took place on Saturday 12 May 2001 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, and was contested between Arsenal and Liverpool.
Liverpool came from behind to win 2–1, thus winning the FA Cup for the sixth time. It was the second trophy of their treble-winning season of 2000–01: they had won the Football League Cup in late February and would win the UEFA Cup four days later.
As well as being the first FA Cup Final to be staged outside of England, it was also the first in which the managers of both teams were from outside the British Isles – Liverpool's Gérard Houllier and Arsenal's Arsène Wenger both coming from France.
The match had an attendance of 72,500, while live coverage on ITV was watched by an average of around five million viewers.
==Road to Cardiff==
=== Arsenal ===
Third Round: Carlisle United 0–1 Arsenal
Fourth Round: Queens Park Rangers 0–6 Arsenal 
Fifth Round: Arsenal 3–1 Chelsea
Sixth Round: Arsenal 3–0 Blackburn Rovers
Semi-final: Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 Arsenal 
=== Liverpool ===
Third Round: Liverpool 3–0 Rotherham United
Fourth Round: Leeds United 0–2 Liverpool 
Fifth Round: Liverpool 4–2 Manchester City
Sixth Round: Tranmere Rovers 2–4 Liverpool
Semi-final: Liverpool 2–1 Wycombe Wanderers
== 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.
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. 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.
== 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.
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.
==Match details==
	
{| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	
GK 	1 	David Seaman 	 	
RB 	2 	Lee Dixon 	 	
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 	 	
CF 	11 	Sylvain Wiltord 	 	
CF 	14 	Thierry Henry 	 	
Substitutes: 	Substitutes: 	Substitutes: 	Substitutes: 	
GK 	13 	Alexander Manninger	 	
DF 	12 	Lauren 	 	
MF 	15 	Ray Parlour 	 	
FW 	10 	Dennis Bergkamp 	 	
FW 	25 	Nwankwo Kanu 	 	
Manager: 	Manager: 	Manager: 	Manager: 	
Arsène Wenger	Arsène Wenger	Arsène Wenger 	Arsène Wenger	
Match rules
*90 minutes.
*30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
*Penalty shootout if scores still level.
*Five named substitutes
*Maximum of 3 substitutions.
==See also==
* 2000–01 FA Cup
* 2000–01 in English football
==Footnotes==
==External links==
* The FA Match Report (Archived)
* 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
FA Cup Final
Category:FA Cup Finals
Category:2000–01 FA Cup