THAT PENALTY MIX-UP

Thierry Henry loved to innovate on the pitch. His flick and lob over Barthez, that back-heel against Norwich, his predilection for no-look passes; he was always on the lookout for a chance to try something new.

In that context, the pre-planned penalty routine he and Robert Pires tried to execute against Manchester City in 2005 wasn’t surprising. The theory goes that they were trying to emulate a penalty taken by Ajax in 1982 when Dutch legend Johan Cruyff exchanged passes with teammate Jesper Olsen before putting the ball in the net. Unfortunately, the Frenchmen seriously fluffed their lines.

Pires, instead of making a pass to Henry, barely made contact with the ball leaving his compatriot with nothing to hit past David James.

That the game was still in the balance exacerbated the reaction to the cock-up. On commentary, Martin Tyler said: "You might do that when you're five or six up but Arsenal are left with egg on their face."

On the pitch, opponent Danny Mills was distinctly unimpressed. "Fucking twat," he screamed in Pires face.

In the end, the Arsenal duo were able to laugh about it. But it was a close-run thing.

An earlier Pires penalty, converted without fuss on 61 minutes, had put the Gunners in charge but they had a late scare when a Darius Vassell header was ruled out for offside. Had the England striker’s effort been allowed to stand, the French duo might never have lived it down.

“Disbelief,” is how Wenger described his immediate reaction when quizzed by Sky Sports, although, ever loyal to his players, he still found a way to defend their actions.

"What is terrible is it will be interpreted as a lack of seriousness and respect but I think it is because he [Pires] is too serious.

"He decided to do that because he was a bit insecure about taking the second penalty because it has never happened to him and he was scared to miss it.”

So what actually happened?

Speaking to the Arsenal official website in 2018, Pires explained: "We practised the day before the game against Manchester City and we scored!

“We scored, but it's easy when you try at the training ground because you don't have anyone around you, but when you try it at Highbury, it's not the same pressure.

"It wasn't my idea, but it was Thierry Henry's idea, but it was my mistake! Just before I arrived to touch the ball it was like, 'I can't do it.'

"It was like a blackout or I was blind, it was very dark and I said no, it's not possible, I don't do this, I don't do this, so that's why I missed the ball.

“And you know what? Finally, we won against Manchester City and I scored the penalty, so it was a funny story. Not for Arsene Wenger, but for me, yes!”