Liverpool striker Michael Owen managed to snatch glory from the jaws of defeat against Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, in similar fashion to a game from two years previous.
Arsenal went 1-0 up through Freddie Ljungberg in the 72nd minute of the final, but moments later Thierry Henry missed a golden opportunity to put the Gunners 2-0 up and out of sight.
Owen then latched onto a loose ball to level the scores in the 83rd minute, before he won the game five minutes later after being put through by a lofted through ball from Patrik Berger. Blistering past Tony Adams and Lee Dixon, Owen then squeezed the ball in at the far post to hand Liverpool the FA Cup.
Liverpool copied Manchester United in 2001 FA Cup final
Liverpool’s back four that day consisted of Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz and Jamie Carragher, highlighting Gerard Houllier’s though process in Cardiff for the final. Coming up against Henry, Sylvain Wiltord, Ljungberg and Robert Pires, the decision is certainly understandable – as Babbel makes clear.
“FA Cup finals are always special,” Babbel exclusively tells FourFourTwo. “Even in Germany, our cup finals are always special. And an FA Cup final against Arsenal – what a team Arsenal had! Normally, we’d have had no chance, because they were a dream team, but we beat them.
“We did the same thing to Arsenal in the FA Cup final that Manchester United did to us at Bayern.”
Highlighting the 1999 Champions League final in which Manchester United scored twice in stoppage time to snatch the trophy away from Bayern Munich, a game in which Babbel played in for the German side, there’s certainly an element of redemption for the defender when discussing the 2001 FA Cup final.
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“Arsenal put in a top performance, they took the lead and they were on top,” Babbel adds. “We fought back with everything we could, but they were so much better than us. Then in just two moments, we changed the game in our favour.
“That was such a big final for Michael Owen, and I remember Sander Westerveld put in a top performance in goal as well. Sometimes, you need to have a certain amount of luck on your side.”
