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Arsenal won the League, at White Hart Lane, for the second time since Tottenham last won the league which the record books show as being in 1961. The score was Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2 and this was the 34th league game of the unbeaten season.
Jens Lehmann (having conceded a penalty in the 94th minute) failed to return to the pitch to celebrate afterwards. Vieira and Pires got the goals.
The only issue left after winning the title was whether the season would indeed be unbeaten. Sir Alex Ferguson still kept saying it would not be, recalling the day that as a player with Rangers they had tried for the unbeaten season (which of course in Scotland is hardly the same as doing it in England) but had lost on the last match of the season. He proclaimed that he was certain Arsenal would slip up… as if there was any comparison.
Arsenal had no such troubles for having drawn with Tottenham to win the league they played out a goalless draw at home with Birmingham, a 1-1 draw away to Portsmouth, gained a 0-1 away victory over Fulham, and then the final victory 2-1 over Leicester at Highbury.
Of course the media had to celebrate the unique achievement but several papers did make a point that Arsenal were not the first to do this (Preston achieving this in the very short campaign of the first-ever League season) while Arsenal had lost in the various cups in which they played.
It was an extremely churlish response by and large, for a team that was 11 points clear of Chelsea by the end of the campaign and were already on a goal difference of +45.
Liverpool who ended the season in the fourth Champions League place were 30 points behind.
Henry Norris at the Arsenal: There is a full index to the series here.
Arsenal in the 1930s: The most comprehensive series on the decade ever
Arsenal in the 1970s: Every match and every intrigue reviewed in detail.
100 Years: 100 Years in the First Division
