Owen wins battle of the strikers to give Liverpool FA Cup

Mike Collett

The 2001 FA Cup final will be remembered as the story of one striker who took his chances to win the game and one who failed and cost his side victory.

Michael Owen's strikes after 83 and 89 minutes gave Liverpool a 2-1 triumph over an Arsenal side who dominated most of the match but failed to win because Frenchman Thierry Henry wasted three clear-cut scoring chances.

The 21-year-old England international said: "With 10 minutes to go we'd have settled for taking it to extra time.

"To score two goals in the last 10 minutes and then defend as we did right through the game is a great team performance."

Asked how it compared with his memorable display in the 1998 World Cup finals he added: "This is right up there, people say 'What about the World Cup?' but I never won anything at the World Cup."

Henry, so often Arsenal's hero this season with 22 goals in all matches, should have scored three times -- only to be denied by a mixture of poor finishing and good defending.

It was a disappointing display in front of goal from the World Cup and European championship winner and he                                          was inconsolable in defeat afterwards.

STUNNING WINNER
By contrast, Owen, who took his tally to eight goals in his last four games, highlighted the difference with an opportunistic equaliser and a stunning winner.

At the end, all Arsenal had to show for long periods of authority was a 72nd minute strike from Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg and a collection of runners-up medals.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who first worked with Henry when he was a youngster at Monaco a decade ago deflected the blame away from his compatriot.

"You cannot just blame him because we lost," Wenger said.

"We had a lot of chances to score but did not take them and in the end we lost a match we should not have lost. That has happened to us before this season. I am very disappointed."

Henry's first chance came after 17 minutes when, after rounding Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld, he appeared to hesitate when he should have shot at the empty net.

The delay allowed Stephane Henchoz to scramble back onto the goalline and when he did eventually shoot, Henry fired straight at Henchoz, hitting him on the upper arm before the ball bounced away to safety.

Henry's next chance came in the 57th minute, when he seemed to struggle to control the ball instead of blasting it. When he finally did produce his shot, it was saved by Westerveld.

On the third occasion, in the 75th minute, he had a great chance to put Arsenal 2-0 up but fired straight at Westerveld and then wasted a second opportunity by playing the rebound back to him almost like a pass to a team mate.

DIFFERENT STORY
But while Henry was firing blanks, Owen was firing winners.

Though Liverpool failed to test David Seaman in the first half, it was a different story after the break with Emile Heskey forcing the Arsenal keeper into a reflex save from a powerful diving header after 48 minutes.

Owen struck first after Arsenal failed to clear a freekick from substitute Gary McAllister. The ball eventually landed at Owen's feet and he turned to fire Liverpool's equaliser.

Then, with extra time looming, Owen, who turned 21 last November, sped past Lee Dixon, 16 years his senior, and as Arsenal's 35-year-old skipper Tony Adams moved in to block, he fired left-footed past the despairing dive of 37-year-old Seaman to bring Liverpool the Cup.

His goals not only gave Liverpool a dramatic victory, they also helped restore some of the romance lost from the world's oldest knockout competition over the last few years.

Liverpool also became the first side since Tottenham Hotspur beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 10 years ago to come from behind to win the final, and only the second, after from Arsenal in 1993, to win both domestic cups in the same season. They also avenged FA Cup final defeats to Arsenal in 1950 and 1971.

In the process, they kept alive their dream of winning a hat-trick of cups this season. They won the League Cup in Cardiff in February and are strong favourites to beat Alaves of Spain in the UEFA Cup final next Wednesday in Dortmund.