Thierry Henry powered a brilliant header home deep into the injury time as Arsenal capped a late comeback with a dramatic 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Manchester United. United looked on their way to hand Arsenal their first defeat at the Emirates Stadium when they held on to a one-goal lead courtesy to a Wayne Rooney headed shot in the 52nd minute. But substitute Robin van Persie pinned into the roof of the net in the 83rd minute to ease the pressure before Henry's goal 11 minutes later sent the packed stadium into ecstasy and gave Arsenal their second win over Alex Ferguson's side this season. The defeat left United in first place with 57 points, six ahead of title holders Chelsea. Arsenal, meanwhile, raised their tally to 45 points, just one behind third-placed Liverpool, who sank The Blues 2-0 on Saturday. The hosts played without suspended deputy captain Gilberto Silva and coach Arsene Wenger opted to keep Van Persie on the sidelines as the Dutchman was still recovering from injury. Emanuel Adebayor was fielded alongside Henry and the duo combined to launch Arsenal's first threat on target in the 33rd minute. Lehmann to the rescue The Togo international raced down the right before crossing to Henry, who headed poorly into Edwin van der Sar's hands. Five minutes later, Henry sidestepped Garry Neville inside the area before the England right-back clipped him but the referee waved the play on.
Rooney United were sparked back to life in the last stages of the first period, forcing two brilliant saves from Jens Lehmann. The Germany goalie tipped a Ryan Giggs bullet over the bar before clearing Henrik Larsson's header off the line just before the interval. United started the second-half in style and managed to break the deadlock seven minutes from re-start. Patrice Evra's cross from the left wasn't completely cleared by Kolo Toure to fall into the path of Rooney who headed past the stranded Lehmann. Super Van Wenger threw Van Persie and Brazilian forward Julio Baptista into the fray, replacing Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini. The gamble reaped the reward seven minutes from time when the Dutch international hammered past his compatriot Van der Sar to notch the equalizer. Cesc Fabregas released Tomas Rosicky down the right and the Czech international crossed on the floor for Henry, who flicked it on to the unchallenged Van Persie for a stylish finish. Ferguson seemed satisfied with the result as he took off Cristiano Ronaldo and fielded Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze to support Evra down the left but it was Arsenal who scored again from the very same flank. Emmanuel Eboue darted past the duo on the right before swinging a trademark cross for the anticipating captain, who towered to head into the top corner for the thrilling winner.
