Throwback Thursday | Thierry Henry’s moment of pure magic revives a flatlining season at Highbury

It’s April 9th 2004 and we’re at Highbury as the clock ticks into the 50th minute. The stadium has been silent for most of the first half, especially with their beloved Arsenal struggling and had only just found their voice again as Robert Pires picked up the ball. This was, after all, their 32nd Premier League game of the season and with everything on the line, the next 40, plus added time, minutes were immense for the North London side.

It’s like Highbury knew something special was about to happen as Henry ignored the Viera pass option and instead looked right back at the ten defenders. Time has now stopped, which allows us a moment to take a breather and roll back the dice to figure out how exactly we got here in the first place.  Because as luck would have it, this is not what those Arsenal fans at Highbury expected from their side.

What makes it even worse is the fact that the Reds had endured a topsy-turvy season. They challenged for the league title the season prior before falling off the trail half-way into the season where the Reds eventually finished fifth.  That’s behind both Chelsea and Newcastle United and that form affected Gerard Houllier’s side going into the 2003/04 season. It meant that their fans were subjected to watching their beloved team battle mid-table mediocrity for the first half of the season before they eventually found their rhythm.

That allowed them, shockingly, to make a run for a Champions League place with the Reds walking into the game against Arsenal with just two losses in their last fifteen league games.  They had won half that tally and with the Gunner reeling, Liverpool believed they had a chance. You see, Jens Lehmann had called it an “idiot schedule” with the North London side pitted against three of the Premier League’s big boys across three different competitions.

It meant that since their win over Bolton Wanderers on the 20th of March, Arsenal had won a grand total of nothing across three different competitions. Which is exactly how Liverpool wanted to face the Gunners, at their worst and with even their talisman striker Thierry Henry struggling, it made Liverpool’s job easier. The Frenchman had scored 22 league goals going into the game against Liverpool but had scored just the one during Arsenal’s “idiot schedule” which came against Manchester United in the league.

Unfortunately, for him, his header was right across goal and it fell for Sami Hyypia who sent it into the net via a diving chest. Scrappy finish but it was a lead that Liverpool would take all day long. Especially since they managed to nick it within the opening five minutes. Just the start they wanted and it was exactly what Arsenal didn’t but they continued to hassle the Reds by dominating the ball.

It worked out in the hosts’ favour in the end as Robert Pires, from just inside the Liverpool half, scooped a lovely 40-yard pass towards Thierry Henry inside the area. That is despite being surrounded by three defenders and Henry, despite his form, made no mistake whatsoever. The Frenchman produced a sumptuous first touch to pluck the ball from the sky with his first move and then guided the ball between Dudek’s legs and into the goal.

On the brink of half time, with literally minutes left on the clock, Gerrard collected the ball just inside the Arsenal half. The entire Gunners’ team, for some absurd reason, sat off the midfielder and allowed him so much time and space, that he could have done anything. Instead, with one utterly majestic 40-yard pass all Gerrard did was bisect the entire Arsenal team and found Owen inside the box.

The pass was perfect and since this was Ballon d’Or winning Michael Owen, he was never going to miss from all of seven yards out. Jens Lehmann stood no chance as the ball flew past him and into the net and the Reds celebrated their lead. It meant that the nearly 20 points behind Liverpool were ahead against an Arsenal side that many pegged to be favourites to lift a treble not even two weeks ago.

It meant that with the game on level pegging, the next goal would prove to be immense. Yet, Liverpool proceeded to lose the ball about 30 seconds after the restart and handed it right back to Arsenal near the half-line. The Gunners had everything on the line and needed no invitation to attack as Robert Pires flew forward, looking for something. He had Patrick Viera towards his right with Thierry Henry right in front of him on his left but Ashley Cole was the furthest forward, making a run at the Liverpool defense.

That seemed the best option for Pires who found the left-back with a decent ball to his feet but a poor first-touch saw the ball loop into the sky and fall kindly for a man in Liverpool white. But with Viera, Ljungberg, Pires and Cole all pressing high up the field, Carragher had no issues thwacking the ball downfield with the hope that it finds Michael Owen. The Englishman had been the lone man up top for the better part of the last five minutes and that wouldn’t change as Gilberto Silva stuck out a long paw and nicked the ball away.

They had been buzzing with excitement since the Pires’ equaliser was scored not even a minute ago but with Henry on the ball and ten defenders ahead of him something special was on the cards. That is not to say that the Frenchman didn’t have options for the pass with Lauren waving frantically down the right, hoping for the ball. Patrick Viera had adjusted his run as well and moved into space to be able to receive the pass with Pires playing off the shoulder of the last defender. But Henry only had one idea in his mind.

Welcome to a moment in history….