Thierry Henry v Leeds Utd .... Thierry Henry made the perfect return to the Mighty Arsenal when he emerged as a substitute to score a late winner in the FA Cup third round tie against Leeds United. Henry back in Arsenal colours for the first time since he left for Barcelona in 2007 scored his 227th goal for the club with 12 minutes remaining amid emotional scenes at Emirates Stadium. The 34 year old back at the club where he was recently honoured with a statue is on a two month loan from New York Red Bulls. He had been on for only 10 minutes when the magical moment arrived. Henry took a pass from Alex Song in his stride in the area before steering a composed, angled, right footed finish tantalisingly out of the reach of Leeds United keeper Andy Lonergan. It finally broke the stubborn resistance of Leeds and was the signal for an outpouring of emotion as Henry pumped his chest in celebration after racing to hug his mentor Arsene Wenger on the touchline. Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny raced the length of the field to join the celebrations while Henry later indulged in a spot of impromptu cheerleading as he urged the supporters who worship him to even greater backing for Arsenal in the closing stages. With leading scorer and captain Robin van Persie rested, attacking duties fell to Andrey Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh, the pair combining in the opening moments only for the Russian to fire wildly over the top. Sebastien Squillaci then headed narrowly wide and Aaron Ramsey was unable to navigate a way around Lonergan after he was played into the area by Arshavin. Leeds Uniteds big chance, in a half they spent mainly on the retreat, came when Luciano Becchio found space in the box but shot wastefully off target. Arsenals defensive resources have thinned out in the face of mounting injuries and they were depleted further before the interval when Francis Coquelin pulled up with a hamstring problem and was replaced by Nico Yennaris. The momentum remained with Arsenal after the break as Lonergan saved well low to his left from Mikel Arteta after the Spaniard was set up by Chamakh, and Arshavin fired across the face of goal after picking up Zac Thompsons misplaced pass. Henrys increasingly energetic sprinting along the touchline drew a loud reaction from Arsenals fans and he was finally introduced with 22 minutes left, replacing Chamakh. Theo Walcott also came on for Alex Chamberlain. Henry was given a heros welcome as he set about the business of attempting to break down a Leeds side proving as stubborn as they had been here at the same stage of the FA Cup last season. And the moment Arsenal had been waiting for came with 12 minutes left as Henry gathered Songs pass in his stride before sparking scenes of ecstasy on and off the pitch with a perfect finish to set up a fourth round tie at home against Aston Villa. Leeds refused to be distracted by the euphoria and almost snatched a replay in the closing stages as Szczesny saved well from substitute Mikael Forssell. This however was Thierry Henrys night and Thierry Henrys story. Now The Mighty Arsenals fans will hope he can write fresh chapters before returning to the United States........ @mr thierry you are a legend of superstar qualities ....
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 13:33:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015