Boxing Day football
hasn’t been good to Arsenal over the years.
We have played 85 games
on 26 December and won 36 of them, a win rate that means fans would be better
off troubling the leftover turkey.
But watching the Gunners
is still the best way to shake off the festive torpor and our trip to Carrow
Road to face struggling Norwich has escaped the clutches of Omicron.
Let’s take a look back
to better times and six of Arsenal’s best Boxing Day triumphs.
2000 - Arsenal 6-1
Leicester City
You couldn’t have scripted this one better - the Foxes came to
Highbury joint-second and left with their tails between their legs.
Thierry Henry scored his first of eight Arsenal hat-tricks on his
50th appearance, the Frenchman leading one of those irresistible attacking
displays we were spoiled with.
Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and even Tony Adams got in on
the act as Arsenal completed a rout and sent the fans home happy.
The Gunners fell two points short of the title in a memorable season
and this was one of the high points.
2001 - Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
A year later and there was no goalfest, instead a satisfying
comeback win over a looming threat from south-west London.
Chelsea weren’t the behemoth they are now but when Frank Lampard
put them in front on the half-hour, there was more than a dash of twitchiness
at the Clock End.
We managed to summon a stirring second-half comeback and Sol
Campbell and Sylvain Wiltord ensured the three points stayed at Highbury.
It was one of a number of
crucial results during that
period that paved the way for a title-winning season.
2006 - Watford 1-2 Arsenal
As the Wenger years slipped by, ugly victories became few and far
between but when they came, they were as satisfying as ever.
Gilberto Silva nodded the Arsenal into the lead but
that lead lasted only four minutes when Tommy Smith - us neither - swept home.
The moment of quality came from Robin van Persie, who drove a
Theo Walcott pass into the far corner to make the short trip north to
Hertfordshire worthwhile.
2013
- West Ham 1-3 Arsenal
This
was a classic from latter-era Wenger. A host
of missed first-half chances and a lack of cutting edge meant festive points
were in peril.
Carlton
Cole fired relegation-threatened West Ham in front 53
seconds into the second half and heads were down.
But Theo Walcott belatedly brought his shooting
boots and bagged a superb brace which, added to Lukas Podolski’s strike, sent
Arsenal top of the league - a title challenge looking more than plausible.
2014 - Arsenal 2-1 QPR
It’s never simple when you’re Arsenal and they went down to ten
men and conceded a second-half penalty seven years ago.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring to ease early nerves, only for
Olivier Giroud to nut Nedum Onouha and be rightly given his marching orders.
Tomas Rosicky doubled the lead but then another twist, when
Mathieu Debuchy brought his man down and allowed Charlie Austin to set up a
nervy finale.
Arsenal held on and stayed in touch with the top four in the
process.
2020 - Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea
You only have to wind back a year for one of Arsenal’s best recent
Boxing Day moments.
We hadn’t won in the league since 1 November and what better time
for it to come than against the Blues.
Sure, they were the final throes of the Frank Lampard era and there
weren’t any fans in the Emirates to share in a memorable day.
But the quality of the
performance couldn’t be disputed, lit up by Granit Xhaka’s superb free-kick
just before half-time to make it two and put the game out of reach of the
visitors.
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