LONDON, 16 May 2004 — Arsenal capped an astonishing league season by becoming the first team in 115 years to remain unbeaten in the English top flight after a 2-1 win over Leicester City yesterday.
The champions matched the achievement of Preston North End, known as the Invincibles, in 1888/89. Preston played 22 matches while Arsenal — two world wars and five monarchs later — have played 38 in the Premier League, winning 26.
Relegated Leicester took a shock first-half lead through Paul Dickov but Thierry Henry, the premier league’s top scorer, equalized from the penalty spot with his 30th of the season. Skipper Patrick Vieira slid home the winner in the 66th minute to take Arsenal’s points tally to 90, 11 clear of second-placed Chelsea who beat relegated Leeds United 1-0.
It is the first time two London clubs have finished first and second in the championship.
Manchester United, the 2003 champions, finished third on 75 points after beating Aston Villa 2-0 despite having midfielders Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo sent off late on. Liverpool sealed fourth place (60pts) with a 1-1 draw at Anfield against Newcastle United, who pipped Villa to fifth place and the remaining UEFA Cup slot on goal difference.
Manchester United and Liverpool must go through the qualifying stages for next season’s Champions League.
The day belonged to Arsenal on a sunlit afternoon in north London, where the champions achieved their unbeaten feat.
Chelsea can also look back on an impressive season after the 200 million dollar spending spree, which followed last July’s takeover by Russian business tycoon Roman Abramovich.
But the second best finish in the club’s history will probably not be enough to save coach Claudio Ranieri, who got a warm ovation from the Stamford Bridge faithful. The dismissals, however, will not rob Ferguson of the two players for the FA Cup final. They will serve their suspensions next season, an FA spokesman said. Leeds, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester are relegated to the first division.
Arsenal are now undefeated in 40 league matches, two short of the English record established by Nottingham Forest in 1977/78. Liverpool were unbeaten when they won the second division title in 1893/94. Kevin Keegan’s Manchester City crushed Everton 5-1 and Nigerian striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored four as Portsmouth also signed off with a 5-1 win over League Cup winners Middlesbrough.
Bayern Lose Again, Stuttgart Close the Gap
In Berlin, VfB Stuttgart beat Bayern Munich 3-1 yesterday to send the outgoing champions to their second defeat in a week and keep alive their hopes of qualifying directly for the Champions League.
At the top, there was a surprise loss for new titleholders Werder Bremen who were thrashed 6-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
Hungary striker Imre Szabics scored twice for VfB against Bayern’s wobbly defense and Kevin Kuranyi beat Oliver Kahn with a poorly hit shot to make it 3-0, prompting the Germany goalkeeper to throw away his gloves in disgust. Peru forward Claudio Pizarro scored a consolation goal for Bayern with 13 minutes left.
Bayern, beaten by Werder Bremen 3-1 at home last week, have 65 points with one match left and remain in second place but are just one point ahead of Stuttgart.
The two top clubs go straight into the Champions League while the third-placed team have to qualify.
Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said this week Stuttgart’s Felix Magath could replace Hitzfeld before his contract runs out at the end of next season. Magath was in no mood to talk about the speculation, although he said his side played superbly for the first 70 minutes and should have scored one or two more goals.
Bremen’s run of 23 league matches without defeat ended in a humiliating loss to fourth-placed Leverkusen, who kept their chances of reaching the Champions League alive and now stand on 62 points.
Bremen nevertheless celebrated their fourth Bundesliga title and first title since 1993 before a sell-out home crowd of 42,500, with captain Frank Baumann taking the championship plate from Germany coach Rudi Voeller.
