HAVING EMBARKED ON THEIR own marathon run — except this one was over 42 games rather than 42 kilometres — Arsenal were having a Paula Radcliffe moment yesterday as they trailed 3-1 at home to Middlesbrough. In 15 unbeaten months in the Premiership, they had not faced a bigger threat to their extraordinary streak of domestic invincibility.
Their response to the crisis was a breathtaking barrage of goals and an extravagant victory that saw Arsène Wenger’s side equal Nottingham Forest’s run of 42 games without defeat set 26 years ago. Brian Clough’s side twice lifted the European Cup, but they never played with the panache that saw Wenger’s men destroy Middlesbrough in the space of 35 minutes.
That whirlwind of attacking from Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, José Antonio Reyes and Francesc Fabregas was a reminder that nothing in sport beats the sight of a great team chasing a match; the spectacle becomes even more compelling when that side is on the threshold of sporting history.
“We were on the ropes and it could have gone either way at 3-1,” Wenger said. He blamed the heat, early-season lethargy and the round of midweek internationals for sapping his players’ concentration. Whatever the cause — and the continued absence of Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira because of injury left the defence exposed — they responded so emphatically that the match at home to Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday will surely see Arsenal extend their run to match No 43.
Arsenal’s 50th match, if they can keep the run going, is a trip to Manchester United and Steve McClaren, the Middlesbrough manager, cannot see the champions losing for a while. “If you had met them six or eight months ago, you would have had a real chance at 3-1, but there is a certain invincibility after 42 games unbeaten,” he said. “They have such a range of attacking options that you are never safe.” Not even, it appears, when you have recovered from a goal down to take the lead with three goals in less than ten minutes.
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It was an extraordinary afternoon in the Highbury sunshine. Arsenal should have established an unassailable lead in the first half, but had only Henry’s goal to show for their domination. Reyes, nominally a left winger but floating menacingly across the front line, picked out the France striker with a 60-yard pass from deep in his own half. As Mark Schwarzer advanced to meet Henry, he was beaten with a delicate lob.
It was so easy for Arsenal that their greatest enemy was complacency. Reyes had struck the post, the side-netting and also forced a wonderful save from Schwarzer, while Henry hit the crossbar with a dipping 30-yard free kick. Middlesbrough had offered almost nothing in response and there was stunned silence when they equalised a minute before the interval. Franck Queudrue skipped past three challenges and, after playing a one-two with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, slipped the ball to Joseph-Desiré Job, whose left-foot shot flew past Jens Lehmann.
Arsenal’s defence had been found wanting the first time they had come under pressure and, during the interval, McClaren urged his team to exploit the weaknesses in Pascal Cygan that make him an unconvincing deputy for Campbell.
It was advice that was to pay dividends five minutes after the restart, when Ashley Cole left the Frenchman to deal with a through-ball and the centre half missed it completely. Hasselbaink, who had spent most of the game moaning and waving his arms around, seized his opportunity.
It was the first of five goals in 15 minutes and the next was to give Middlesbrough a 3-1 lead. Queudrue’s 30-yard shot must have been more in hope than expectation, but Lehmann was easily beaten.
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At this point, the record books were quickly checked to establish that Forest had lost their unbeaten run in 1978 to Liverpool, soon to become champions of England. Still a match short of equalling the record, Arsenal were about to surrender their sequence to a team that had been outclassed for 44 minutes and has no chance of winning the league.
If that was the expectation of many inside Highbury, it was not long before those supporters were made to feel ashamed for doubting their heroes. Bergkamp began the comeback with a 20-yard shot as the Middlesbrough defence retreated. Pires had been on the bench for an hour but, within four minutes of replacing Fredrik Ljungberg, he brought Arsenal back to 3-3 after a run from the superb Fabregas — an extraordinary talent at 17. Within a minute, Reyes had struck a fierce right-foot shot to put Arsenal ahead and Henry wrapped up the scoring in injury time after unselfish work from Pires.
It was extraordinary, mesmersing football and Arsenal can set about making Forest a footnote in the record books. Blackburn next and who would bet against Arsenal reaching 75 games unbeaten — the opponents, Tottenham Hotspur at Highbury.