Class-act Henry gave The Gunners the upper-hand advantage in the early stages of the second-half with an absolutely magnificent swerving shot in a game that had more than its fair share of penalty appeals turned down only for his effort to be shredded up by fellow Frenchman Louis Saha late on in the game.

Roy Carroll continued in-between the sticks for United in a team that saw Eric Djemba-Djemba in midfield and fit again Louis Saha starting on the bench. Spaniard Jose Antonio Reyes started up-front instead of Dennis Bergkamp for The Gunners.

The first chance in this gripping game fell to Paul Scholes who first of all humiliated Kolo Abibi Toure but then humiliated himself by making poor connection with the ball.

Great link-up play from Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg and Thierry Henry presented the Swede with a great opportunity to break the deadlock at Highbury but faultless defending from Wes Brown saved United's blushes.

Jens Lehmann was then finally called into action due to a fantastic turn and volley from Eric Djemba-Djemba that the German had to collect.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Vieria were caught up in a little tussle that turned into something bigger when the duo exchanged words after the Frenchman clipped van Nistelrooy in a battle for the ball.

Moments later, Arsene Wenger's side where rightly denied a penalty when Henry's heavy tap brought him in touching distance of Roy Carroll. Henry then looked for contact so he could fall over but was his appeal was rightfully turned down.

A high tempo first half came to a climax seconds after Roy Keane's shot ended up hitting an advertising banner that really should have hit the back of the net.

      First-Half: Arsenal 0 - Manchester United 0

Just 5 minutes after the interval Thierry Henry broke the deadlock when he saw a gap between the goal-line and Roy Carroll and struck a beauty to fire Arsenal in the lead.

A stone wall penalty appeal from The Red Devils as most presenters put it was turned down after Sol Campbell barged into Ryan Giggs but referee Graham Poll insisted there was not contact made and waved play-on.

Justice was paid in the end. Good work down the wing from Ryan Giggs ended up in a goal when substitute Louis Saha tapped in from close-range.

Arguably the two best strikers in the world, Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy, had clear-cut chances from headers to round the game off in the end when Dutchman van Nistelrooy headed right at Lehmann and Frenchman Henry headed into the crowd. 

      Full time: Arsenal 1 - Manchester United 1
                             Att: 38, 184