1998 FA Charity Shield

Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-0 in the 1998 FA Charity Shield. The match was played at Wembley Stadium, which first hosted the Shield in 1974. Marc Overmars, Nicolas Anelka and Christopher Wreh scored for Arsenal. It was Manchester United’s 18th Charity Shield appearance to Arsenal’s 14th.

About 1998 FA Charity Shield in brief

Summary 1998 FA Charity ShieldArsenal beat Manchester United 3-0 in the 1998 FA Charity Shield. The match was played at Wembley Stadium, which first hosted the Shield in 1974. Marc Overmars, Nicolas Anelka and Christopher Wreh scored for Arsenal. It was Manchester United’s 18th Charity Shield appearance to Arsenal’s 14th. Arsenal’s victory marked United’s first Shield defeat in 13 years. Manchester United finished the league season one point ahead of Arsenal and went on to win the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, thereby completing a treble of trophies in 1998–99 season. Arsenal were the only team in the 1997–98 league to beat United home and away, with the corresponding home fixture ending 3–2. The teams later faced each other in theFA Cup semi-final, which was won by Manchester United in a replay. Arsenal won the match 3–0, their first Charity Shield victory in 14 years. The game was played in front of a crowd of 67,342 at Wembley, with David Beckham booed throughout the match on account of England’s elimination from the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Arsenal employed a traditional 4–4–2 formation: a four-man defence, four midfielders and two centre-forwards. In pitch-side temperatures of 30°C, Manchester United enjoyed their best spell of the match while Arsenal’s pair of Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit fashioned their best chance through David Beckham. The final score was Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United at Wembley on 9 August 1998. Arsenal beat United 2-0 to complete the domestic double in 1998. The team that won the 1997-98 FA Premier League and FA Cup was Arsenal, who won both honours for the first time in the history of the competition. The other Charity Shield place went to Manchester United, who finished runners-up in the league.