The 2006–07 season was Arsenal Football Club's 15th season in the Premier League and their 81st consecutive season in the top flight of English football. It was the first season in which home matches were played at the over-60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium; the club's former ground Highbury was to be redeveloped as a residential development. Arsenal ended their Premier League campaign in fourth, level on points with third-placed Liverpool but with a marginally lower goal difference. In the League Cup, a competition which offered manager Arsène Wenger the chance to play his younger players, Arsenal reached the final but lost to a relatively experienced Chelsea side. The defeat was followed by exits in the FA Cup to Blackburn Rovers and in the UEFA Champions League to PSV Eindhoven.
Twenty-eight players represented Arsenal in four competitions and there were 18 goalscorers. Arsenal's top goalscorer was Robin van Persie, who scored 13 goals in 31 appearances.
Transfers
In
Out
Club
Coaching staff
Kit Supplier: Nike / Sponsor: Fly Emirates
Kit information All of the new Arsenal kit this season was featured with new sponsor, Fly Emirates. Replaced with previous sponsor, O2.
Home: The new home kit returned to a solid iconic Arsenal red shirt with white sleeves, white shorts and white socks, the colours Arsenal are well known for, after the last season saw a redcurrant 'anniversary' kit in final season at Highbury. The new features added to the home kit was a red band appearing on the sleeves and socks, while the golden trimmings appeared on the side of the shirt. The home was usually worn with white socks, however red socks were worn in some away games in order to prevent confusion. Away: The yellow and dark grey away kit from last season was unchanged, albeit with new sponsor. Third: Arsenal's blue 2004–05 away kit was retained as a third kit yet again, albeit with new sponsor. This kit did not end up being used. Keeper: The goalkeeper kit were based on Nike's Harlequin template, which was basically a strip split into subtle halves in two tones of one colour. The main kit was green, but the black and yellow kit were available should they be required.
Other information
Premier League
August–October
Arsenal's league season began with their first-ever match at the new Emirates Stadium, against an Aston Villa side who had struggled with relegation threats the previous season. However, the Gunners` performance did not match the pre-game expectations; the sides drew 1-1, Gilberto Silva scoring a late equaliser after Olof Mellberg put Villa ahead; a bright spark for Arsenal was youngster Theo Walcott, who had helped create the goal with a fine run after making his debut as a substitute. The Gunners then disappointingly lost 1–0 to Manchester City to a Joey Barton penalty just before the break, having dominated the match and spurned numerous chances.
The Gunners then hosted Middlesbrough in their second league match at the Emirates, and once again were forced to come from behind in a strangely similar game to the Villa one; James Morrison gave Boro the lead, before Thierry Henry opened his account for the season from the penalty spot to salvage a point for Arsenal.
The Gunners finally registed their first win of the season, claiming a magnificent 1–0 victory at Old Trafford against to-be champions Manchester United, thanks to a late Emmanuel Adebayor goal and some heroic defending, including a stunning fingertip save from Jens Lehmann against United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. This was followed by a first-ever league win at the Emirates; second-half goals from William Gallas and Thierry Henry either side of a Phil Jagielka own goal gave the Gunners a comfortable 3–0 victory over Sheffield United. They then were forced to come from behind away to Charlton Athletic; however a Robin van Persie double, including a stunning edge-of-the box flying volley, gave the Gunners a 2–1 victory to close out the month in eighth position. October began with a fine 3–0 win over Watford, Arsenal's second in a row by that scoreline at the Emirates. An own goal from Jordan Stewart and strikes from Henry and Emmanuel Adebayor took the Gunners to fifth position in the league. The Gunners managed to crack the top four for the first time that season thanks to a convincing 4-0 trouncing of Premier League newboys Reading at the Madejski Stadium. Two for Henry, including one from the spot, and further goals for Alexander Hleb and Robin van Persie gave the Gunners a convincing victory. The Gunners then concluded October with more silly dropped points at the Emirates, van Persie's free-kick not enough as the Gunners drew 1–1 with Everton.
November–February
Overall November was a poor month for Arsenal, with just one win and one draw in the five games played. A late goal from Marlon Harewood saw the Gunners sloppily lose 1–0 at West Ham United, before goals from Kolo Toure, William Gallas and Mathieu Flamini gave the Gunners a stunning 3–0 victory against Liverpool. However, a draw with Newcastle at the Emirates, only salvaged by Thierry Henry's late free-kick, was followed by back to back defeats at Bolton and Fulham by scorelines of 3-1 and 2-1 respectively, with Gilberto Silva scoring at Bolton and Robin van Persie in Craven Cottage. December began with the first-ever north London derby at the Emirates Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur, which was decided ultimately by two controversial penalty calls from referee Graham Poll; both were converted by Gilberto Silva either side of half-time to add to Emmanuel Adebayor's opener as Arsenal won 3–0. Another London derby followed, this time at Stamford Bridge against Premier League title-holders Chelsea, where a hotly-contested derby ended 1-1 after Michael Essien responded to Mathieu Flamini's strike late in the match. The Gunners then claimed a dramatic late win at Wigan thanks to Adebayor to move third in the table, before staging a two-goal comeback to draw 2–2 with Portsmouth at the Emirates with Adebayor and stand-in captain Silva on the scoresheet. The Gunners then concluded the first half of the season with a 6-2 dismantling of Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates, claiming their biggest win at the new venue to date. Shabani Nonda actually put Blackburn in front with a penalty just three minutes in, but goals from Gilberto Silva, Alexander Hleb and a penalty from Adebayor gave Arsenal a 3–1 lead before half an hour was up. Nonda pulled one back for Blackburn with his second in the second half, but three goals in the last eight minutes through a brace from van Persie and a third of the season for Mathieu Flamini sealed a big victory. Van Persie scored a late winner at Watford after Tommy Smith had responded to Gilberto Silva's opener, taking the Gunners up to third in the table. However, they ended the year in fifth after a dramatic 1–0 loss at newly promoted and relegation-doomed Sheffield United, with Blades defender Phil Jagielka filling in goals for half an hour, as Arsenal concluded the year with an embarrassing defeat. Arsenal responded to the loss at Bramall Lane with a thumping win over relegation-doomed Charlton Athletic to start the year-a rare goal for Justin Hoyte, a penalty for Thierry Henry and a brace, including one penalty, for Robin van Persie handed the Gunners a 4–0 win to start the year. Captain Henry was particularly impressive on his return from injury after 34 days, delivering an assist as well as his goal and winning the second penalty. He then netted a fine curling effort and delivered another assist in a 2–0 win at Blackburn Rovers, before a big clash at home to Manchester United-after Wayne Rooney gave United the lead, Henry set up van Persie for an equaliser before heading in a 93rd-minute winner, in what was the club's 200th meeting with United to date. Henry was again the hero, netting a late equaliser at Middlesbrough after Yakubu's penalty had put Boro ahead in a 1–1 draw. An own goal from Fritz Hall and a first Premier League goal for Tomas Rosicky in the last ten minutes earned the Gunners a dramatic 2–1 victory over Wigan, closing out the month in fourth place.
March–May
March began with a penalty from Gilberto Silva and a first league goal for the Gunners from Julio Baptista giving them a 2–1 win against Reading. This was followed by a narrow 1-0 success at Aston Villa, thanks to an early Abou Diaby strike, as Arsenal rose to third position. They consolidated this place despite performing poorly in a 1–0 defeat at Everton. Returning to Merseyside nearly a fortnight later, Arsenal were crushed 4-1 by Liverpool, who were inspired by Peter Crouch, who netted a "perfect" hat-trick of left foot, right foot and head; William Gallas scored Arsenal's consolation as they slipped to fourth in the table. A string of fine saves from visiting goalkeeper Robert Green, as well as many missed chances, saw the Gunners beaten 1–0 at the Emirates against West Ham United-their first defeat at the venue. Another lacklustre display saw them draw 0–0 at Newcastle before returning to winning ways against Bolton; after falling behind to Nicolas Anelka's goal, Tomas Rosicky and Cesc Fabregas struck as the Gunners turned it around to win it 2–1 against the ten-men Trotters. Fabregas and Rosicky were both again on the scoresheet, alongside Julio Baptista, as they beat Manchester City 3–1 at the Emirates. In a big north London derby at White Hart Lane, Arsenal fell behind half an hour in before turning it around with Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor; however they were denied a win thanks to a late Jermaine Jenas equaliser. They concluded the month with a league match against struggling Fulham at the Emirates; after Julio Baptista gave the Gunners an early lead, Fulham pegged them back with twelve minutes left before a late strike from Adebayor and a penalty from Gilberto Silva gave the Gunners a 3–1 win. The Gunners began May with a London derby at the Emirates against Chelsea. The champions needed a victory to take their title race with Manchester United to the final day, but a penalty from Gilberto Silva and a red card from Khalid Boulahrouz had them trailing by a goal and a man at the break. Despite eventually drawing the match 1-1, they lost the league to United, whilst Arsenal stayed fourth. The Gunners concluded their season at Portsmouth, drawing 0–0 to finish the season in fourth position.
Matches
Classification
Standings
Results summary
Results by round
UEFA Champions League
Having finished fourth in the Premier League the previous season, Arsenal entered the Champions League at the third qualifying round stage, and were duly drawn against Croatians Dinamo Zagreb. In the first leg in Zagreb, the home side held Arsenal off for over an hour before two goals in a minute for Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie established a 2–0 lead for Arsenal; Fabregas sealed his brace late on as Arsenal took a convincing lead to London. Despite falling behind to a goal after 12 minutes from future Arsenal striker Eduardo, late goals from Invincible Freddie Ljungberg and Mathieu Flamini gave the Gunners their first win at the Emirates and a 5-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were drawn in Group G, alongside Portuguese champions Porto, German outfit Hamburg and Russians CSKA Moscow. A stunning second-half goal from Tomas Rosicky sealed three points in Hamburg before goals from Thierry Henry and Alexander Hleb gave them a 2–0 win over Porto. A disappointing set of results against CSKA Moscow followed; Arsenal lost 1–0 in Russia before being held to a goalless draw at the Emirates, however they bounced back with a 3–1 win over Hamburg before sealing top spot in the group through a goalless draw at Porto.