On 9 March 2015 the score was Manchester United 1 Arsenal 2 in the sixth round of the cup. It was the second time Arsenal had won in Manchester in the season, and revenge for the defeat by Manchester United in the league at the Arsenal Stadium.
Manchester United received a shocking seven yellow cards, with Di Maria getting two and so departing early. Monreal and Welbeck scored in a game that became famous for Arsenal’s change of tactics.
By winning this FA Cup match Arsenal secured their 28th FA Cup semi-final. The win also secured a place in history for Arsene Wenger. He had already had more semi-finals to his name than any other manager (10) and with this win took his number to 11.
By the time Arsene Wenger left Arsenal he had won the FA Cup seven times which overtook the record of George Ramsey who won the cup six times between 1887-1920. The only other multiple winner as a manager was Sir Alex Ferguson whose three FA Cups seems rather small by comparison. Mr Wenger’s triumphs ran from 1998 to 2017. It is a record very unlikely ever to be overtaken.
Speaking after to the FA Mr Wenger said, “Personally, I’m very proud of the record, because I’m a little French boy coming to England and this competition now exists for 150 years and I’ve won it more than anybody else,” he said.
“Of course, I don’t hide it and I’m very proud of that because it’s not easy and it means when you stay for 22 years, basically every three years I won the FA Cup. I’m very proud of that because it shows a remarkable consistency and that I had a huge respect for this competition as well.“Let’s wait until somebody beats me and even then…I think I was the first foreign manager to win the Premier League and then have the record in the FA Cup so overall I think I didn’t do too badly in the English game.”
“I’ll never forget in ’98 when we won the first double, you walk through Islington to go to the city and you realise the number of people who are there and how happy they are – you want them to feel that again.