Glory Days: 1999 FA Cup final

ROUTE TO WEMBLEY

Round three was negotiated with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Middlesbrough, followed by late heroics against Liverpool – United warming up for events five months later in Barcelona – with last-gasp goals from Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to turn a 1-0 reverse into a 2-1 win. Andy Cole’s deflected shot was good enough to defeat Fulham in round five. 

Chelsea parked the bus at Old Trafford in the quarters, but at an eerie, three-sided Stamford Bridge (due to redevelopment), two goals from Dwight Yorke – the second an outrageous 25-yard chip – booked a last-four spot against Arsenal, beaten at the second attempt on an utterly extraordinary night in the Midlands.

KEY MOMENT 

Though Houdini-esque comebacks were now almost the norm, the semi-final replay against Arsenal took place in some strange new universe, seemingly ungoverned by logic. Reduced to 10 men after Roy Keane’s dismissal, Peter Schmeichel beat Dennis Bergkamp’s penalty out to keep the scores level, before Ryan Giggs, intercepting Patrick Vieira’s crossfield pass, set off on a slalom run through Arsenal’s back-pedalling backline before thrashing the ball high past David Seaman. 

STAR MEN

As was the case all season, this was truly a collective success, demonstrated best by the squad reshuffling which reaped rewards in the semi-final replay and final itself.

THE FINAL

After the excitement of the semi, the final itself was strangely muted, Newcastle seemingly shorn of belief that they could overturn a side that had already beaten Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Almost an afterthought for most of the campaign, Teddy Sheringham – on as a substitute after skipper Roy Keane’s withdrawal – opened the scoring on 11 minutes, with Paul Scholes doubling the lead from a Sheringham assist seven minutes after the break.

A week later in Barcelona, another goal from Sheringham helped us clinch the lot.