6 years ago this very exact day....

[SoccerHQ]

2 nil at Arsenal for our first win down there in I believe 15 years. Funny thing is even though we've declined from that day we've still won there every other season. Oh for that mentality in Manchester.

Anyway, probably my favourite away game I've been to, just beating the Lowton Stoke game.

We were brilliant from first minute to last and completely dominated a top team which is something you didn't say often even with MON here where there were plenty of smash and grab wins.

Of course we all knew what happen from February 2009 that season but it did really feel a changing of the guard that day with regards the top 4.

The frustration is Arsenal weren't even that great that season, even with their long unbeaten run in the second half of the season a lot of those games were draws, we simply blew it from a very achievable position.

Still top day out and top performance.

[TheTimVilla]

Why didn't Barry take the penalty?

[Axl Rose]

Great days. I remember dancing around the streets of an eastern Taiwanese city called Taitung singing about Villa!

[JD]

Great stuff. Ashley dived about 10 metres before he got near the ball.

Wish Gabby still showed that sort of pace.

[Dr Butler]

yes this was a great day, I remember going back to the pub on Highbury corner and ending up in a advanced state of refreshment.

UTV
The Doc

[The Left Side]

I don't remember that game at all!

[Dr Butler]

I don't remember that game at all!

not great quality...

[Monty]

Thoughts watching that:

 - we looked so much better with that 4-3-3 with Barry, Petrov and Sidwell running on. Amazing the lengths to which MON went to revert to a less-good system.
 - Young was terrific at his best. So much menace.
 - Gabby looks like a different person to who he is now.
 - we really were a jammy bunch sometimes. They somehow didn't score any of their chances, our penalty was a total fluke, and the goals were an own goal from a cross from the left when their right-back was down injured and a desperate whacking punt clearance, along with some good Gabby stuff. No wonder everyone hated us.

[The Left Side]

I don't remember that game at all!

not great quality...

Sigh, thanks for posting.

[SoccerHQ]

Thoughts watching that:

 - we looked so much better with that 4-3-3 with Barry, Petrov and Sidwell running on. Amazing the lengths to which MON went to revert to a less-good system.
 - Young was terrific at his best. So much menace.
 - Gabby looks like a different person to who he is now.
 - we really were a jammy bunch sometimes. They somehow didn't score any of their chances, our penalty was a total fluke, and the goals were an own goal from a cross from the left when their right-back was down injured and a desperate whacking punt clearance, along with some good Gabby stuff. No wonder everyone hated us.

Despite the highlights, it wasn't a smash and grab, that was arguably our most convincing possession performance against a big 4 team in the MON era.

Pretty sure a few tarquin type Arsenal fans invaded this place after the game saying we were a disgrace or was that when we were signing about Eduardo?

The Heskey signing was the beginning of the end that season, as you say we went back to 4-4-2 and the results started to decline.

[Pat McMahon]

Monty, My recollection is that we got a fair bit of love and respect from other fans. People saw us as a welcome break from the usual suspects and we had a reasonable number of British players, which pleased many in the media.

Living in London I lost count of the number of times people congratulated me when chatting about football or watching our games in pubs. No I literally struggle to find anybody who will even look at our game for more than a minute.

[Monty]

I think we were seen as a breath of fresh air by people who I know who don't particularly care about style of play, but people I know who do care thought we were extremely annoying. I didn't mind being annoying while we were winning, but you can see how this reliance on luck undid us when the luck ran out. SHQ, if that was one of our better possession matches, then that's all the problem. Just look at the number of highlights which begin with the ball about 50 feet in the air.

[Holte L2]

Absolutely fantastic away day.  We were superb.  I thought we were really going places when MON accidently fell into this system.

I also won £250.00.  I had a bet on a Villa win about 20 minutes before kick-off walking up to the ground.

[SoccerHQ]

Bump.

7 years ago.

Man what a different feeling we had back then. Pace, experience, quality, Gabby looked a great young prospect back then.

One of my favourite away days of all time that, we played Arsenal off the pitch and really should've knocked them out of the top 4 that season. The boxing day game we battered them aswell.

Such a different feeling nowadays. Wonder what state we'll be in on Nov 15th 2022, that awful Qatar World cup will be on then won't it?

[peter w]

Thoughts watching that:

 - we looked so much better with that 4-3-3 with Barry, Petrov and Sidwell running on. Amazing the lengths to which MON went to revert to a less-good system.
 - Young was terrific at his best. So much menace.
 - Gabby looks like a different person to who he is now.
 - we really were a jammy bunch sometimes. They somehow didn't score any of their chances, our penalty was a total fluke, and the goals were an own goal from a cross from the left when their right-back was down injured and a desperate whacking punt clearance, along with some good Gabby stuff. No wonder everyone hated us.

They started well but it was mostly Villa until they brought Adebayor on and they got a foothold again. i remember walking out after the game and getting a train to holborn and all Arsenal fans were talking about how good we were. no luck at all.