Chelsea

This game took place at Highbury, on Saturday 8th March at 5.15pm. Attendance was 38,015.

Final result was 2-2. Arsenal's goalscorers were Francis Jeffers (37') & Thierry Henry (47')

Here's the official report from Arsenal.com: "A pulsating FA Cup sixth round tie ended 2-2 after Chelsea's Frank Lampard grabbed an equaliser with seven minutes left. Arsenal fans thought they were already in the semi-final before the former West Ham midfielder stabbed home after a goal-mouth melee. It means both teams will do it again on Tuesday, March 25 at Stamford Bridge and, if it is anything like this game, it will be an absolute pleasure to watch. The first half was a wonderful rollercoaster ride of emotions. A bitter-sweet drama played out in 45 minutes on an evening of high emotions at this amphitheatre of football. Chelsea stole the lead in the fourth minute when an unmarked John Terry nodded in at the far post. Arsenal responded well with vigour only to see Carlo Cudicni save Thierry Henry's penalty a quarter of an hour later. However, they recovered from that psychological blow with some style. Jeffers swept Arsenal level on 36 minutes then Henry added another seconds before the interval. The second half was a quieter affair. Arsenal seemed to containing the visitors but, succumbed to their pressure with seven minutes. Arsene Wenger made a couple changes to the side that beat Charlton last Sunday. Lauren and Patrick Vieira were back from suspension so Kolo Toure and, somewhat surprisingly, Robert Pires dropped to the bench. Chelsea were the quicker of their blocks. Gianfranco Zola scampered clear after Martin Keown's slip but David Seaman blocked the Italian's shot with his body. Emmanuel Petit played the corner short to Jesper Gronkjaer who swung it to the back post when Terry, who had been overlooked as the Arsenal defence pushed up, picked his spot with a looping header. Arsenal were stunned and it took them 10 minutes to respond. Thierry Henry outmuscled William Gallas on the left flank and drove into the area along the byline. Cuicini blocked his stabbed shot but Freddie Ljungberg hooked the ball back into the area where Ray Parlour nodded narrowly over. Then came the penalty. Patrick Vieira threaded a long, low pass through to Jeffers. He touched the ball past Cudicini but tumbled under the keeper's challenge. The Italian only saw yellow and then thrust out a hand to turn aside Henry's forceful penalty. Chelsea nearly capitalised five minutes later. Zola fooled two Arsenal defenders on the right and crossed for Morris at the far post. His shot was bobbling but it was good enough to beat Seaman, until Martin Keown fly-kicked the ball away from under his own bar. Arsenal quickly regained the impetus. Giovanni van Bronckhorst saw a free-kick save by Cudicini when it was headed for the top corner. Then Jeffers grabbed the equaliser. He swept home a shot after Celestine Babayaro trod on the ball after Cudicini had half-saved Henry's shot. Seconds later, the Frenchman sprinted clear on to Campbell's clearance and touched his shot past the onrushing keeper. The ball trickled against the post and back to Ljungberg but the Chelsea defence snuffed out the danger. But Henry put Arsenal ahead with the virtually last kick of the half. He controlled a high ball forward from Vieira, turned the onrushing Cudicini on the edge of the area and stabbed the ball into the empty net. An incredible end to an incredible half of football. Not surprisingly the pace of the game dropped after break. It would have been physically impossible to maintain such a high tempo for 90 minutes. As in first half, Seaman was forced into an early save. In the 54th minute, Petit prodded the ball away from Edu just outside the area. The ball turned into an inviting pass for Hasselbaink, whose powerful shot was blocked by the keeper. Edu enacted swift revenge by robbing Petit in midfield, exchanging passes with Henry then sending a shot just wide. Wenger threw on substitutes Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires just past the hour, it gave the home side extra impetus. Vieira troubled Cudicini with a header and then released Pires on the right, who hacked a shot way over the bar. Had he been on the field a few minutes more, it may have been 3-0. On the whole, Arsenal were containing the Chelsea threat. But Claudio Ranieri's side are not chasing the Champions League qualification for nothing. An unmarked Gallas thumped a header just over the bar from Hasselbaink's free-kick in the 75th minute. Chelsea continued to push forward in the final few stages and got their reward with seven minutes left. Keown deflected Hasselbaink's shot for a corner. Substitute Boudewijn Zenden sent it low into the area and Lampard ended a few seconds of pinball in the six-yard box by crashing home a close-range shot. Both sides seemed to have finally settled for the draw after that. Until Van Bronckhorst thumped a free kick toward goal in dying seconds, Cudicini again blocked the effort. An incredible end to an incredible game."