Who would break first? Would the ten men of United have the stubbornness to hold out? The winners of this game could go on to the "Double". An all or nothing season could result for either team, such was this game's psychological importance. In the end it took a moment of sheer brilliance to separate two teams so closely matched, a goal that will go down as one of the greatest ever scored and topping one of the greatest Manchester United performances of all-time.

The game sprung into life when Beckham scored in the 17th minute. The only ingredient missing that season from Beckham's repertoire had been his usually ruthless ability to score from anywhere in and around the penalty area. Played the ball from Sheringham's on the counter-attack, he looked up once before hitting a marvellous 25 yard effort inside the far post past David Seaman.

Arsenal's famed rearguard came under pressure from the incisive running of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, the constant aerial threat of Teddy Sheringham and the mercurial pin-point crosses of David Beckham. And they should have scored again when Solskjaer escaped the offside trap and was through on goal only to drag his shot harmlessly wide.

Sheringham's vision then set up Jesper Blomqvist, who forced Seaman into a fine reaction save, while both Beckham and Solskjaer came close in a series of counter-attacks at lightning speed. Then after keeping Arsenal at bay for 69 minutes Dennis Bergkamp embarked on a looping run 25 yards out after being supplied by Nigel Winterburn and shot towards goal, aided by a huge slice of fortune as the ball took a sizeable deflection off Stam and curled into the far corner of the net.

The match then exploded into bedlam as first Arsenal celebrated a "winner" from Anelka as he capitalised on Schmeichel fumbling a shot from Bergkamp - only for referee David Elleray to spot the raised linesman's flag.United, who had played against 10 men for most of extra-time in the original game following Nelson Vivas' dismissal, quickly regrouped with Paul Scholes on for Sheringham and Solskjaer supported by Giggs and Beckham out wide. They were inevitably being stretched by Arsenal's fresher legs though and Phil Neville's tired tackle on Ray Parlour as the midfielder burst into the penalty area inevitably led to the spot-kick almost two minutes into injury-time.

Although Giggs rightly walked away with the Man of the Match award afterwards, in truth, the bubbly could easily have gone to Schmeichel for his fine parry from Bergkamp's injury-time spot kick. He might have missed three of his previous five penalties but no-one expected the ice-cool Dutch striker to fail this time - with his dream of appearing in a Wembley Cup final at stake.

And so, for the second time in four days, to extra-time as Arsenal pressed forward in ever increasing numbers. Yet once Bergkamp had been foiled, you sensed the game might swing United's way once more. They had been seriously under the cosh for much of the last quarter after the loss of Keane to a second yellow card for a bad tackle on Overmars. A goal for Arsenal would surely kill United off at this point but the 10 men showed amazing powers of resilience and "never say die" spirit. They were determined at all costs to take the game to penalties, this time they were not going to lose to Arsenal, having done so in 4 of the last 5 meetings.

As if that was not enough to keep the live television audience gripped, Welsh winger Ryan Giggs, on as a second half substitute for Alex Ferguson's seriously-shuffled pack, then provided the best goal seen this or any other season. Never mind David Ginola. His effort against Barnsley in the sixth round that season may have looked unbeatable yet now barely comes close to Giggs, who often falls short of the very brilliant, surpassed that category by a mile with this effort.

Tottenham's Gallic import beat three First Division defenders on his way to that goal in March. Giggs, on the other hand, had at least four world class defenders ahead of him when he collected possession inside his own half in the 109th minute following a wayward pass from Patrick Vieira. Not any old four either. After all, before Beckham's brilliant 18th minute, dipping 30-yarder, Arsene Wenger's side had not conceded anything for more than ten hours of action, an incredible run stretching back to early February.

It is surely not stretching reality to suggest that after this epic encounter the teams paths diverged - sending one in a downward decline and the other onto an unassailable plateau. The nature of that divergence was always bound to constitute a lasting trauma for Arsenal. Few football followers struggle to recall that they squandered a perfect opportunity to kill off depleted opponents and were pole-axed by that dazzling solo goal from Ryan Giggs. A game that acted like a threshing machine on the emotions of both sides could not fail to affect the future morale of all who were involved. Ferguson said next day that in the Villa Park dressing room he had felt the camaraderie of his team rising to a new, enduring intensity.

Arsenal scarcely showed instant ill effects, coasting through their next four league matches with an aggregate score of 15-3 in their favour and ultimately only yielding the title to United by a single point. But it is reasonable to suspect that the realisation of how much the shattering night in Birmingham had cost them, and how much it meant to the treble-winners, did eventually erode their faith that it was their destiny to replace United as the dominant force in the Premiership.

There is no doubt that, having completed the double in 1998, Arsenal were confident of maintaining relentless, long-term pressure on Manchester United. It was an optimism that remained justified until the decisive weeks of the 1998-99 season. Then, however, it was suddenly engulfed by the dramatic tide of events that gave United the glory of an unprecedented treble (with the European Cup added to the biggest English prizes) leaving Arsenal empty-handed and mentally shattered.

ARSENAL: Seaman, Adams, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Vieira, Petit (Bould), Parlour (Kanu), Ljungberg (Overmars), Anelka, Bergkamp

Attendance: 30,223
Referee: David Elleray