The Beginning of the Greatest Rivalry - Arsenal v Man Utd - 1997-98 Premier League

A new manager. A new philosophy. And the beginning of the greatest rivalry the Premier League has ever seen.

The 1997/98 season was the year Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal went head-to-head with Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United — and English football would never quite be the same again.

In this episode of The Games That Decided the Season, we revisit a title race that appeared to be United’s to lose. The champions had opened up a commanding lead and, with Arsenal seemingly out of contention, another Ferguson title looked inevitable.

Then everything changed.

We look at Arsenal’s remarkable late-season charge, powered by Bergkamp, Overmars, Vieira and a defence inherited from the old Arsenal — and focus on the afternoon at Old Trafford when Marc Overmars scored the goal that transformed the title race.

But was that really where the league was won? Or had the momentum shifted earlier, when Arsenal beat United 3–2 at Highbury? And how did a side that had looked beaten suddenly become champions with games to spare?

Most importantly, this was about more than one title. Wenger had proved Manchester United could be beaten — and Ferguson had finally found an opponent who could challenge him season after season.

This is The Final Countdown — football history and nostalgia, as we look back at the games where an entire season changed.