The 2004–05 season was Arsenal Football Club's 13th season in the Premier League and their 79th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. The club ended the campaign as FA Cup winners, but failed to retain their Premier League title as they finished second to Chelsea. In the UEFA Champions League, Arsenal made an exit in the first knockout round to Bayern Munich.
In the transfer window Arsenal purchased goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, who initially served a backup to Jens Lehmann, and midfielder Mathieu Flamini. The club kept hold of its captain Patrick Vieira after much transfer speculation over his expected move to Real Madrid. Several players left Arsenal before the campaign got under way; defender Martin Keown left to play for Leicester City, Ray Parlour joined Middlesbrough while Sylvain Wiltord signed for Lyon.
Arsenal began the season in good form and equalled Nottingham Forest's unbeaten league run of 42 matches against Middlesbrough. The team set a new English division record and went a further seven games unbeaten before losing to Manchester United in controversial circumstances. Arsenal's form suffered as a result and defensive shortcomings became more apparent; two draws and a defeat in November reinforced Chelsea's position at the top of the table, where they remained for the rest of the season. At home to Crystal Palace in February 2005, Wenger named an Arsenal squad with no English players – a first in the club's history which attracted criticism from the media. The team ended the season strongly, with a run of eight wins from nine games ensuring a second-place finish. 32 different players represented the club in five competitions and there were 15 different goalscorers. Arsenal's top goalscorer was Thierry Henry, who scored 30 goals in 42 games.
Background
Arsenal ended the previous season as league champions, becoming the first side since Preston North End 115 years earlier to do so undefeated. They completed their historic league campaign with 26 wins, 12 draws and 90 points.
By the end of January 2004, Arsenal were still in the hunt for all four trophies, but suffered setbacks in each of the cup competitions; they were unable to retain the FA Cup, losing out to eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-finals and days later were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Chelsea in the quarter-finals. They exited the League Cup after a defeat to Middlesbrough in early February.
Transfers In No.PositionPlayerTransferred fromFeeDateRef11FWRobin van PersieFeyenoord£2,750,0001 July 200424GKManuel AlmuniaCelta VigoUndisclosed14 July 200416MFMathieu FlaminiMarseilleUndisclosed22 July 200427DFEmmanuel EbouéBeveren£1,500,0007 January 2005
Out No.PositionPlayerTransferred toFeeDateRef5DFMartin KeownLeicester CityFree 20 July 200415MFRay ParlourMiddlesbroughFree 23 July 200425FWNwankwo KanuWest Bromwich AlbionFree 30 July 200429FWFrancis JeffersCharlton Athletic£2,600,00010 August 200411FWSylvain WiltordLyonFree 31 August 2004MFJohn SpicerAFC Bournemouth£10,00017 December 2004DFDominic ShimminQueens Park RangersUndisclosed24 March 2005GKChris WrightBoston UnitedUndisclosed29 May 2005
Pre-season
FA Community Shield
The 2004 edition of the FA Community Shield, was contested between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium on 8 August. Cesc Fàbregas started alongside Gilberto Silva in midfield for Arsenal as Vieira was absent, while Thierry Henry partnered Dennis Bergkamp up front. After a goalless first half, Arsenal took the lead when Gilberto scored in the 50th minute. Manchester United equalised through Alan Smith five minutes after, but José Antonio Reyes restored Arsenal's advantage two minutes before the hour mark. Mikaël Silvestre scored an own goal 11 minutes before the end to give Arsenal a 3–1 victory. Wenger praised Fàbregas's performance after the match, describing the midfielder as a "complete player" and reiterated his desire to keep Vieira.
Premier League
A total of 20 teams competed in the Premier League in the 2004–05 season. Each team played 38 matches; two against every other team and one match at each club's stadium. Three points were awarded for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. At the end of the season the top two teams qualified for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League; teams in third and fourth needed to play a qualifier. The provisional fixture list was released on 24 June 2004, but was subject to change in the event of clashes with other competitions, international football, inclement weather, or matches being selected for television coverage.
August–October
Arsenal began their defence of the league title against Everton on 15 August 2004. Fàbregas was named in the first eleven; at 17 years 103 days he became the club's youngest ever Premier League player. It was Bergkamp on his 500th league appearance who opened the scoring for Arsenal and Reyes made it 2–0, heading the ball in from Freddie Ljungberg's cross. Ljungberg added a third goal in the second half and in spite of the team conceding moments after, Robert Pires scored Arsenal's fourth in the 83rd minute. Shortly before the kick-off at home to Middlesbrough the following weekend, the club was presented a golden replica of the Premier League trophy, to commemorate their unbeaten season. In the match, Henry gave Arsenal the lead, which was cancelled out before half time by Joseph-Désiré Job's goal-bound effort. Four minutes after the interval, Franck Queudrue exploited an error from defender Pascal Cygan and in turn passed the ball to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who "finish[ed] with perfect brutality". Queudrue scored to put Middlesbrough 3–1 up in the 53rd minute, but Bergkamp replied with a goal for Arsenal a minute later. The home team completed the comeback with further goals by Reyes, Pires and Henry. Wenger afterwards admitted Arsenal's defending was poor, but said their attacking threat made up for their deficiencies. The 5–3 win meant Arsenal equalled Nottingham Forest's record of 42 league matches undefeated. Three days later, the team beat Blackburn Rovers 3–0 to set a new record. Arsenal at the end of the month travelled to Norwich City, where three first half goals set the team on the way to a 4–1 victory. The win ended Norwich's eight-month undefeated record at Carrow Road.
Due to international fixtures, Arsenal did not play another game for two weeks. On the resumption of club football, they travelled across London to face Fulham. Vieira made his return to the first team in place of Fàbregas. Fulham was awarded a penalty in the first half, after Ashley Cole brought down striker Andy Cole in the penalty area. Referee Mark Halsey however changed his mind after protests from the Arsenal players and a consultation with his assistant; the game was restarted with a dropped-ball. Arsenal scored three times in the second half and ended the weekend of 6 September 2004 top of the league table, two points clear of second place Chelsea. The league champions dropped their first points of the season at home to Bolton Wanderers. At the City of Manchester Stadium on 25 September 2004, a goal by Cole earned Arsenal a 1–0 win against Manchester City. Journalist Russell Thomas, writing for The Guardian, commented on Arsenal's fatigue during the second half and opined that the team needed to keep their focus against sterner opposition.
Arsenal beat Charlton Athletic in early October to extend their unbeaten run to 48 league matches. Charlton manager Alan Curbishley said of his opponents: "The gulf between Arsenal and the rest of the Premier League means that the rest have got it all to do to try and stop them, and I'm including the big three or four." Two goals from Pires and one from Henry ensured a 3–1 win against Aston Villa, who had led the game early on. Attention soon turned to Arsenal's trip to face Manchester United. The champions were looking to go half a century of league games unbeaten, whereas the home team – in transition, attempted to push on for a title challenge. The game saw many late aggressive tackles made by United players go unpunished and later in the match, an attempted challenge by Sol Campbell on Wayne Rooney earned Manchester United a controversial penalty, converted by Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 73rd minute. Rooney then scored United's second goal of the match to end Arsenal's unbeaten run on 49 games. Tempers boiled over in the players' tunnel, where pizza was thrown at Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. When speaking to the media, a distraught Wenger told reporters that Rooney dived to win the penalty and criticised the refereeing performance of Mike Riley. He was later found guilty of insinuating that Van Nistelrooy was a cheat, and fined £15,000 by the FA.
The final match of October was against Southampton at Highbury. Henry who missed a penalty early on, scored to put Arsenal in front in the 67th minute. Southampton replied with two goals from Rory Delap, but Van Persie in stoppage time equalised for the home team with a curling shot. The draw meant Arsenal stood in first position and had accumulated 26 points. The team were level on points with Chelsea, with a marginally better goal difference.
November–December For the second league game in succession, Arsenal dropped two points. The team drew 1–1 at Crystal Palace on 6 November 2004, which meant Chelsea overtook them in first position. Wenger rued Arsenal's inability to hold onto leads in matches and admitted the fluency had disappeared in their football, possibly because of the manner in which they lost the unbeaten record. A week later Arsenal faced Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. It was Tottenham who began the match the better of the two teams and took the lead after 36 minutes when Noureddine Naybet scored. Henry equalised for Arsenal moments before half-time, and the champions went in front after Lauren converted a penalty. Vieira scored on the hour mark to make it 3–1, before Jermain Defoe replied for Tottenham instantly with a "wonderful, dipping finish into the top corner". Fàbregas created Arsenal's fourth goal, scored by Ljungberg. In the final 16 minutes Tottenham scored twice and Arsenal once; the final score was 5–4, making it the highest scoring North London derby. Arsenal's defending was ridiculed by Chelsea manager José Mourinho, who told reporters, "Five-four is a hockey score, not a football score."
Arsenal only managed a draw against West Bromwich Albion on 20 November 2004; Robert Earnshaw's goal with 11 minutes remaining of normal time cancelled out Pires' opener. Arsenal lost their final match of November, away to Liverpool at Anfield. Vieira finished off a one-touch move to equalise for Arsenal – who were behind in the first half – but Neil Mellor scored the winning goal of the game, shooting from long range. Football pundit Alan Hansen in his analysis on Match of the Day criticised the temperament of Arsenal's players and questioned their desire: "When you have success, sometimes it isn't there and you have to dig in with great determination and hard work, and at the moment they are not doing that. When you look at their two big players, Henry and Vieira, [you think they] must do better in future." Arsenal ended the month in second, five points behind leaders Chelsea.