Leeds celebrated with ’10 cases of ale’ when they ended Arsenal’s Premier League title dream and avoided relegation in 2003
Leeds United were absent from the Premier League for 16 years but before they left they pulled off one of the top flight’s biggest upsets.
Arsene Wenger’s iconic Arsenal, who were in pursuit of their second title in a row in the 2002/03 season, saw their dreams ended officially when Peter Reid’s Whites turned up.
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Fast forward to 2023 and the Yorkshire side have the chance to put a dent in Arsenal’s title dreams once again at the Emirates this Saturday.
The Gunners have an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
But with second place Manchester City having a game in hand on them, Mikel Arteta’s side won’t want to slip up.
Meanwhile Leeds – who have been recently reinvigorated by new manager Javi Gracia – will be looking to get as far away from the relegation zone as possible, with them currently only two points off third from bottom West Ham.
It may not be as close to the end of the season as it was in 2002/03, but football fans know every point counts at both ends of the table at this time of year.
Reid’s Leeds travelled to Arsenal’s Highbury needing a win to confirm safety and another season in the Premier League .
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Meanwhile, after throwing away a lead against Bolton last time out and title rivals Manchester United beating Charlton 4-1 the day before, the Gunners also had to secure all three points.
Leeds star Dominic Matteo, though, revealed Reid got them up for the game in his own unique way in James Willoughby’s book Ups And Downs: The Inside Stories From Leeds United’s Biggest Matches.
“I remember me and him going into the referee’s room. I think Vieira must have been captain for Arsenal on that day. [Arsene] Wenger and Vieira go in and me and ‘Reidy’ go in hand our team sheets in and I was thinking, ‘Let’s have a look at their team, gaffer’, sort of thing.”
It was an all-star side with all the trimmings – Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Kolo Toure, Rober Pires, and Sylvain Wiltord – enough to scare the toughest of opponents.
But Reid then went into Leeds’ changing room and said: ‘They’re s****, these [players]. We’ll batter these.'”
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He added: “We went into the dressing room and the whole atmosphere when the gaffer said that, [it] changed a little bit.”
With both teams desperate for a victory, the tie was always going to be feisty, and the game was end-to-end from the get-go.
Leeds’ Harry Kewell took just five minutes to find the net, with the Australian – who was playing in his final season for the club – getting on the end of a perfect ball from Jason Wilcox to fire into the far corner from the edge of the box past David Seaman.
Henry dragged his side level on the half-hour mark, nodding into an empty net after talkSPORT’s own Parlour saw a shot bounce off the crossbar.
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But soon after half-time, Leeds soon went ahead again as left-back Ian Harte scored from a trademark free-kick.
Arsenal were on the back foot in a game they needed to win to keep alive their dream of retaining the title, and although they pulled the game back level through Bergkamp, Leeds had the final say.
Mark Viduka looked offside when he received the ball in the 89th minute, but he pushed on regardless and bent a shot beyond Seaman and into the far corner, leaving the home crowd at Highbury stunned as they accepted the title had returned to Old Trafford.
“That is one of the happiest moments of my football career, definitely,” he said.
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“That goal at the end of that [season], that goal was so satisfying. Not just that goal. Just winning, beating Arsenal at Highbury. Staying up in the Premiership. Seeing the club [survive].”
The Yorkshire side’s shock win had confirmed their survival and it was party time on the way home.
Matteo added: “The coach journey home on that bus, I think we did play Pop Idol or something. The singing contest one with Simon Cowell. We had to go up the back and sing in front of the boys.
“Me and Peter Reid stopped off and got about 10 cases of ale at the off licence, loads of bottles of wine. He [even] came up for a sing-song at the back of the bus!”
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Leeds went down the following season and endured an extended absence from the top-flight, whilst Arsenal brought Premier League glory back to north London and haven’t won the title since.
That match was also Leeds’ last win over Arsenal in the Premier League, with them being unable to secure all three points again them since their return to the league in 2020.
This time around it’s the threat of Man City the Gunners are trying to bat off, rather than Man United, too.
But could Leeds recreate that famous upset this weekend and push themselves towards safety?
Showdown Saturday on talkSPORT
On Saturday 1 April, it's all kicking off on talkSPORT.
12:30pm: Starting the day, Man City host Liverpool in a key Premier League game.
3pm: Crystal Palace vs Leicester sees the return of Roy Hodgson to the Selhurst Park dugout.
7pm: Build-up begins for the heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin as AJ starts his route back to the top.
What. A. Day.
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March 31, 2023 at 03:00PM Premier League Table, Fixtures, News, Results, Opinion - talkSPORT https://talksport.com
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