Final
22 May 1999
Wembley Stadium,
London
Referee Peter Jones
Attendance 79,101
Taken at statistical face value, this appeared to be a pretty ordinary year. A semi-final line-up of Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle was a victory for the Cup's old guard. Of the two non-league teams that made it to the third round, Yeovil's presence was virtually taken as read, and Southport's defeat to Leyton Orient failed to hold many back pages. This being the FA Cup, drama was never far below the surface, and the top teams hogged almost all of it for diemselves. It was an uncharacteristically quiet Third Round, with Coventry providing the fireworks by scoring seven against Macclesfield. New kid on the block, Darren Huckerby, was too quick, and scored a hat-trick. The first hint of what was to come arrived with the fourth round draw. Manchester United v Liverpool dwarfed the other fifteen ties. With just a minute to go. United trailed to a goal from Michael Owen, but a late, late show from DwightYorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sent OldTrafford into a frenzy. It would be a fourth consecutive trophy-free year for the Merseysiders. The other big boys made steady progress. Tottenham put Wimbledon away in a replay - for the Dons life amongst the elite was coming to an end; the third tier and Milton Keynes awaited them. Spurs drew a tough one at Leeds in the fifth round. Tim Sherwood's goal forced a replay and Darren Anderton, in a rare spell away from the treatment room, and David Ginola ended the Yorkshire club's interest. Newcastle had been drawn at home in every round — although they only beat Blackburn in a replay at Ewood Park. They were particularly impressive in a 4-1 home win against Everton in the quarter-final; two goals from the excitable Georgian international Temuri Ketsbaia set them on their way.
Arsenal, after victories at Preston and Wolves, faced what looked a straightforward task against Sheffield United at Highbury. With quarter of an hour remaining, the Blades were standing toe to toe with the champions at 1-1. When Lee Morris fell injured, United keeper Alan Kelly kicked the ball into touch for him to receive treatment. Ray Parlour attempted to restart the game in the now customary manner by throwing the ball back to his opponents. Most players had moved towards the Arsenal half, but not Marc Overmars.The Gunners' winger stole the ball, dashed down the wing and squared for the now incoming Kanu to slot home. The match took minutes to restart, while the understandable storm of protest was brought under control. The referee was powerless to disallow the goal, as Arsenal had broken an unwritten code rather than an official rule. Overmars excused himself by claiming not to have known Kelly's kick into touch was deliberate. Curiously, he was in a minority of one. Arsene Wenger's offer to replay the game was sporting, fair and accepted. The sight of Overmars, never likely to be a candidate for Players' Player of the Year at any club, opening the scoring stuck in everyone's throat, but Arsenal repeated their 2-1 victory and the episode finished with almost everyone's honour intact. Kanu managed a less controversial effort in the next round, which was enough to see off Derby and take Arsenal into the last four. Manchester United's quarter-final was a less straightforward affair. They hosted Chelsea who, despite playing a man short for fifty minutes after Di Matteo was sent off, held out for a goalless draw. Scholes evened up the numbers late on with a red card, but the game was niggly rather than full-blooded. Having made life difficult for themselves, United's assured, professional display at Stamford Bridge saw them run out 2-0 winners with both goals coming from Dwight Yorke.
The semi-final draw matched Arsenal and Man United, so Newcastle faced Spurs at Old Trafford with both sensing an opportunity.The tie pitted the wits ofTottenham's David Ginola against his former club, and much was expected of die Frenchman after goals in each of die diree previous rounds. At Old Trafford Alan Shearer proved that flair is no substitute for reliability, striking twice in extra time to send Newcastle into their thirteenth final. The first match between the top two finished scoreless, but was no tepid affair. The Gunners' Nelson Vivas had been sent off after elbowing Nicky Butt. Roy Keane was left cursing his luck after a marginal offside decision had denied him a winner. His misfortune was football's gain as it ensured a scintillating replay. The teams returned to Villa Park only three days later, as United had an appointment in Europe the week after. After a high-octane start, a trademark David Beckham swirler from twenty yards gave Seaman no chance. The goal seemed to redouble both team's efforts, and the game flowed from end to end but without a clear chance worthy of the name. With just over twenty minutes remaining, Arsenal drew level in fortunate circumstances. Dennis Bergkamp's effort was taken away from Peter Schmeichel by a deflection off Dutch international team-mate Jaap Stam. The game had turned in an instant and for the rest of normal time the momentum was with the Gunners. Nicolas Anelka appeared to have put Arsenal in front but his strike was chalked off. On seventy-four minutes Roy Keane was dismissed for a second bookable offence, and the heart looked to have been ripped out of United. In injury time, Ray Parlour's surge into the box was checked by Phil Neville's lunge, and Arsenal had won a penalty.
In retrospect, to choose a Dutchman for such an important spot-kick may have been Arsenal's undoing. Holland's international record in shoot-outs is as woeful as England's. Bergkamp's penalty was by no means appalling, but it lacked pace, height and direction! Schmeichel guessed right and his massive frame easily diverted the ball round his left-hand post. A game that looked to have been moving inexorably into Arsenal's grasp suddenly lurched back towards United. With the game on a knife edge, it looked increasingly likely to be settled either by a mistake or a moment of individual brilliance. On 109 minutes, the moment duly arrived. Vieira's tired pass was horribly misplaced and rolled into the path of Ryan Giggs. Although just in his own half, Giggs' momentum carried him thirty yards before any Arsenal player could react.
Ask any Premiership defender in the last dozen years what confrontation he feared more than any odier, and most would instantly recall the sight of Ryan Giggs bearing down on them at full tilt. Even so, the Welsh winger on this occasion was faced with one of the most settled and parsimonious defences in the country. He weaved through them as if they were a pub team, leaving Tony Adams a prostrate spectator as he fired past Seaman into the roof of die net. If one moment defined the FA Cup in the nineties, this was it. It won United the tie and powered them to a record fifteenth final. Unfortunately for Alan Shearer, United carried on where Arsenal had left off the previous year. Not even the loss of Roy Keane through injury inside ten minutes could turn the match Newcastle's way. Within two minutes of the Irishman's departure, his replacement, Teddy Sheringham put United one-up, and they sealed a comfortable victory eight minutes into the second half. Nikos Dabizas fluffed a clearance and Sheringham's pass set up Paul Scholes to fire past Steve Harper. United's tenth Cup had been won at a canter.
