Arsenals greatest English top-flight defeat in history

Just Arsenal News

·9 aprile 2025

Arsenals greatest English top-flight defeat in history

Within weeks of the 2011/12 Premier League season commencing Arsenal were blasted with their most severe lost in the history of English-top flight football.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, the current reigning Premier League Champions at the time, completely broke The Gunners morale 8-2 on August 28th 2011 at Old Trafford devastatingly.

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The last time Arsenal had ever conceded eight goals in a game was over 100 years beforehand when Loughborough trounced The Gunners 8-0 in the Second Division on Saturday 12th December 1896, not long after then Woolwich Arsenal were formed. This remains their worse English Football League beating to date!

Here was the side and manager who turned out for that sorrow occasion at Old Trafford in 2011:

Manager

Arsene Wenger

Wenger is Arsenal’s most successful and longest reigning manager in history of 22 years from 1996 to 2018. He clinched the Gunners three league titles including a golden one in 2004 when Arsenal went the whole season undefeated as Invincible’s. He also heralded The North Londoner’s a record breaking seven FA Cups- the most claimed by a coach in the English game. On top of that he guided The Gunners to their only Champions League final in 2006 which they lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the final stages after taking the lead in the first half.

Defenders

Laurent Koscielny

The Frenchman formed a crucial part of Arsenals backline during the 2010’s constructing a formidable partnership at centre back with Per Mertesacker. He won three FA Cups and two Community Shields. He once claimed “I don’t believe any French player would have refused to come and play for Arsenal.”

Carl Jenkinson

The Englishman brought for a mere one million pounds from Charlton Athletic struggled to find his feet at Arsenal from 2011 to 2019, being plagued by injury and loaned out multiple times to West Ham twice and Birmingham City before leaving for Nottingham Forest. However he did leave The Emirates with a 2014 FA Cup Winner’s medal!

Johan Djourou

The Swiss spent a decade at Arsenal where during his spell in North London he witnessed The Gunners move from Highbury to The Emirates. Up until leaving in 2014 he made almost 100 appearances for Wenger and unfortunately departed Arsenal with no winners medals, only runner up twice in the League Cup in 2007 and 2011 devastatingly.

Armand Traore

He spent five years at Arsenal playing only 13 times being loaned out twice to Portsmouth and Juventus before being sold to QPR in 2011 where he produced nearly 90 appearances at Loftus Road and even scoring twice.

Midfielders

Aaron Ramsey

The Welshman was a midfield dynamo at Arsenal when not injured. He sealed the FA Cup three times scoring the winner on two occasions in 2014 (Arsenal 3-2 Hull City) and 2017 (Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea).

Francis Coquelin

After a tricky first few seasons at The Emirates the Frenchman broke into the side during the 2014/15 campaign and was a strong and reliable defensive midfielder for The Gunners for the next couple of years before then dropping off and leaving for Spanish side Valencia in 2018.

Tomas Rosicky

During his decade long tenure at Arsenal the skilful Czech midfielder ramped up nearly 200 games witnessing him lift the 2014 FA Cup and Community Shield. He is fondly remembered for scoring a screamer early on against Tottenham at the old White Hart Lane in 2014, which won Arsenal the game 1-0 during the title race that year which The Gunners would eventually lose.

Attackers

Theo Walcott

The forward was a fan favourite during his 12 year spell at Arsenal scoring more than 100 times for The Gunners lifting the FA Cup twice in 2015 and 2017 and scoring the opener in the first during a 4-0 walk in the park against Aston Villa.

Robin Van Persie

The “Flying Dutch” became Arsenals eighth top goalscorer in history ironically within that number of years in North London amassing 132 strikes in 278 games, although it did take him over 200 matches to bag his 100th. He was pivotal to Arsenals attack in the early 2010s and was Wenger’s top talisman for two years on the trot and the Premier Leagues in 2011/12 season. He was then sold to Manchester United where he finally won the title in 2013 seeing Van Persie claim a second Golden Boot on the trot.

Andrey Arshavin

The Russian started off strongly with Arsenal but quickly petered out within his four year stay at The Gunners. He is most well known for astonishingly scoring four goals against Liverpool at Anfield during a 4-4 draw in 2009 in one of the greatest Premier League games of all-time!

This is how the destruction of Arsenal that day unfolded…

There was a new face on the field in the name of Francis Coquelin who was handed his Premier League debut after having been on loan at French team Lorient the previous season.

Future Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck headed The Red Devil’s into the lead inside the 22nd minute.

Within six minutes Wenger’s army were two nil down following a curling effort sneaked into the back of Wojciech Szczesny’s goal from Ashley Young.

After 41 minutes Wayne Rooney belted in the third into the top corner from outside the box mesmerizingly.

Moments later Theo Walcott pulled one back for The Gunners from close range in the attempt of handing Arsenal a potential lifeline in the game (1-3).

Arsenal would embark upon an even more catastrophic second half dishing out five goals to Manchester United on a golden lined plate.

Just after the hour mark Rooney forced in a free-kick from outside the 25-yard area with apparent ease.

After some poor defending from The Gunners Nani charged into the box chipping Szczesny who’d come off his line in a moment of madness summing up Arsenals display in one move (1-5).

This was traumatising for millions of Gooner’s to watch around the world, yet alone UK and things weren’t going to get much better for them.

On the 70th minute mark Pak Ji-Sung rocketed in the sixth from the left hand side of the box finding the bottom right corner of goal.

With nearly three quarters of the game gone and 6-1 down, the chances of snatching even a mere point looked beyond hopeless. However Robin Van Persi who’d leave for The Red Devils at the end of the campaign, grabbed a second and final goal for Arsenal with a half volley from in front of goal.

With eight minutes to go Rooney wrapped up his hat-trick from the penalty spot wrong footing Szczesny on his line, seven it was.

It looked as if all the damage which Ferguson’s side could do had been completed but that was not the case in added time of the second half. Ashley Young flew in a second and painful eighth with a belter from just within the box finding the far side of goal.

The worse Premier League game in Arsenal folklore had just been finalised!

An embarrassed Wenger said after the capitulation to BBC Sport:” Of course you feel humiliated when you concede eight goals, it was a terrible day.”

He further explained whilst emotionally shattered inside:” I try to make the right decisions and the two players we sold (Fabregas and Nasri), I brought them to the club. In 15 years I have brought some good players.

“You know me, so you should give me some more time to see if I have got it completely wrong.”

The memory of that tantalizing day lives on in the memory of many Gooner’s to this day.

LIAM HARDING

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