A mouth watering FA Cup Final is upon us as Arsenal and Chelsea battle it out in an all London final for the last piece of domestic silverware this season. Here at We Love Sport we take a trip down memory lane to look at five great FA Cup Final goals.
We have over 300 sports pubs and bars showing the FA Cup Final along with our exclusive pre-match football pub quiz with Clive Tyldesley. Download our app now to find your nearest participating We Love Sport venue.
Eric Cantona, Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool - 1996
Weirdly, Liverpool's bizarre white suits live long in the memory here for all the wrong reasons but it was King Eric who made the headlines. The match was largely unmemorable and heading towards extra time but in the 85th minute a piece of sublime technique won the game for the Red Devils.
On a Manchester United corner David James came out flapping and fumbled the ball to the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. Cantona, almost ballerina like, gracefully readjusted his entire body to hit a half sweet volley through a cluster of white & green shirts whilst also falling slowly backwards.
Ray Parlour, Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea - 2002
Ray Parlour, nicknamed the Romford Pele, was a popular player with Gunners fans but was never renowned for his goal scoring talents.
In a closely fought all London battle Parlour opened the scoring in the 70th minute with a beautifully curled shot from 25 yards out.
Arsenal would go on to win the final 2-0 over their London rivals Chelsea.
Michael Owen, Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool - 2001
Arsenal's name was all but on the trophy in 2001 but Michael Owen decided he was having none of that.
Arsenal shell shocked from a late Liverpool equaliser were at 6's and 7's with 5 minutes of normal time to play. Patrick Berger picked the ball up deep in his own half before striking a 40 yard route 1 ping over the panicking heads of Lee Dixon and Tony Adams.
Michael Owen racing past them like Road Runner just needed two devastating touches to send the Liverpool fans into a state of pandemonium in the Welsh capital.
Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea 2-0 Middlesbrough - 1997
The quickest goal in an FA Cup Final at that time with the game only being 42 seconds old.
Dennis Wise stole the ball deep in his own half before releasing Roberto Di Matteo on a 30 yard run through the heart of Middlesbrough. Just as you thought he was going to lay it wide he lined up a ridiculous thunder bolt of a shot.
Middlesbrough were shell shocked and would go on to lose the final 2-0.
Steven Gerrard, Liverpool 3-3 West Ham United - 2006
The day Steven Gerrard quite literally won the FA Cup on his own.
The then European Champions Liverpool laboured through this entire final with West Ham United doing everything they could to pull off a major cup final upset.
Liverpool were losing the final 3-2 with the game entering injury time before Gerrard hit a ferocious volley from 35 yards into the bottom corner.
Stunning. Another momentous day in Cardiff for Liverpool.
We have over 300 sports pubs and bars showing the FA Cup Final along with our exclusive pre-match football pub quiz with Clive Tyldesley. Download our app now to find your nearest participating We Love Sport venue.
