However Arsenal's 6-1 win was to no avail as a series of slips in recent weeks from the Gunners has already handed the title back to the rampant Manchester United. As such, the Saints' visit to Highbury was little more than a dress rehearsal for The FA Cup Final in ten days time...

It could look like Arséne Wenger's side has thrown away their Premiership crown, but in fact the Gunners had lost just one Premiership match in five months before they relinquished the League with Sunday's 3-2 defeat against Leeds United.

However during that same period, United were unstoppable, recently collecting 45 from a possible 51 points available and not giving Arsenal any room in which to breathe and the key to the destination of the championship appears to lie in the fact that every time Arsenal have dropped points this season, Sir Alex Ferguson's men have been right behind them to take advantage to keep up the pressure on their rivals.

TheFA.com looks back at eight key weekends when United made up ground on the reigning Champions.

19th October 2002
Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Fulham 1-1 Man Utd

Everton wonderkid Wayne Rooney, shoots both himself to the front pages of all the Sunday newspapers with a sensational last-minute winner to inflict on the champions their first defeat of the season, and all this after Arsenal took an early lead through Fredrik Ljungberg. Meanwhile in west London, a theme that we were to see many more times throughout the season with the Red Devils, late equalisers, raised its head when Ole Gunnar Solskjær raced through to smash home an undeserved goal from an almost impossible angle for Ferguson's side.

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 1
Standings at full time: AFC P10, Pts23 / MUFC P10, Pts18

26th October 2002
Arsenal 1-2 Blackburn
Man Utd 1-1 Aston Villa

Again United were forced to come from behind after defender Olof Mellberg had headed the visitors into a shock first-half lead, with Diego Forlán's 77th minute equaliser becoming all the more important as the champions lost for the second week in a row, this time at home to Graeme Souness's Blackburn, thanks to a winning goal from former United striker Dwight Yorke coupled with a man-of-the-match display from the Premiership's goalkeeper of the season Brad Friedel.

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 1
Standings at full time: AFC P11, Pts23 / MUFC P11, Pts19



23rd November 2002
Man Utd 5-3 Newcastle United
Southampton 3-2 Arsenal

United began proceedings in the early afternoon kick off by getting the better of high-flying Newcastle in an eight-goal thriller, Ruud van Nistelrooy with a hat-trick, while later on that day Arsenal lose for a third time in six Premiership games, at St Mary's, where soon-to-be England striker James Beattie scores twice, including a stunning long-range free kick.

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 3
Standings at full time: AFC P15, Pts32 / MUFC P15, Pts26

7th December 2002
Man Utd 2-0 Arsenal

A match that will forever be remembered as the game in which Phil Neville out-gunned his opposite number in the visitors engine-room, Patrick Vieira, to win the man-of-the-match award and even Juan Sebastián Verón popped up to score a rare Premiership goal. However more crucial was the fact that Ferguson's side had cut the deficit at the top by another three points.

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 3
Standings at full time: AFC P17, Pts35 / MUFC P17, Pts32

15th March 2003
Aston Villa 0-1 Man Utd
Blackburn 2-0 Arsenal

Again it was a far from convincing display by second-placed United, winning at Villa Park thanks to David Beckham's early strike in the midday kick-off, but again it proved absolutely crucial as hours later Blackburn complete a memorable double over the champions at Ewood Park thanks to goals from Damien Duff and Tugay Kerimoglu in what Ferguson says was "the turning point" in the title race pulling United within two points of the top.

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 3
Standings at full time: AFC P30, Pts63 / MUFC P30, Pts61

5th April 2003
Man Utd 4-0 Liverpool
Aston Villa 1-1 Arsenal

The transformation was now complete, with United taking over from Arsenal as the side playing the one-touch football and finding the back of the net at will, while the Gunners were out of Europe and seemingly out of touch judging by their inept performance at Villa, where Kolo Touré scored a bizarre own goal late on to deny his team a much-needed three points. And that was because earlier that Saturday United had thrashed their big rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford, with Van Nistelrooy netting a brace of penalties against opponents who had been reduced to ten men as early as the fifth minute. Was the tide finally turning United's direction as they moved level on points with the champions, although with an inferior goal difference, for the first time since August 31 2002?

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 2
Standings at full time: AFC P32, Pts67 / MUFC P32, Pts67

26th/27th April 2003
Bolton 2-2 Arsenal
Tottenham 0-2 Man Utd
The coup de grace as far as Arsenal were concerned, letting go of a two-goal lead at relegation-threatened Bolton with little more than 15 minutes remaining and what made it even worse was the fact that the home side's equaliser arrived from the head of an Arsenal player, substitute defender Martin Keown. And, the following day, the Red Devils kept everyone guessing for a frantic 69 minutes before seeing off the challenge of Spurs at White Hart Lane courtesy of strikes from their two in-form goal-getters, Paul Scholes and Van Nistelrooy. The title was now, for the very first time, in United's own hands and they were not about to let go.

Points gained on Arsenal by Utd: 2
Standings at full time: MUFC P36, Pts77 / AFC P35, Pts72

3rd/4th May 2003
Man Utd 4-1 Charlton
Arsenal 2-3 Leeds Utd

Van Nistelrooy's hat-trick on the Saturday meant that the champions needed to win their three remaining games and hope that United dropped points at Goodison Park on the final Sunday of the season, but against a Leeds side fighting for their Premiership lives at Highbury, Wenger's men could not manage it and a 3-2 win for the visitors meant the Old Trafford comeback was complete. From eight points behind on Sunday 2 March, an incredible 16-point swing in United's favour had been completed in the small matter of two months, just as had been the case when United hunted down Kevin Keegan's Newcastle in 1995/96 and when Arsenal had done the same to United to win the Double in 1997/98. Sweet revenge for Ferguson in what he has called his team's "greatest achievement".

Standings at full time: MUFC P37, Pts80 / AFC P36, Pts72

Richard Morgan

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