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Thierry Henry celebrates return to Arsenal by scores winning goal
Soccer super star Thierry Henry celebrates after scoring the winning goal. PHOTO/Matt Dunham/AP
-Lapping up the acclaim of the adoring Arsenal fans, it was as if Thierry Henry had never been away.
With one composed, trademark finish, the Frenchman whose statue stands outside the ground enhanced his legendary status with the 78th-minute winner in a 1-0 FA Cup victory over Leeds on Monday.
“It was like a dream,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “It was a story you would tell young kids if you want to tell them a story about football. Sometimes it happens.”
Back at the club on a two-month loan deal from New York Red Bulls, Henry was thrown on as a second-half substitute to salvage victory in a lifeless FA Cup third-round match.
The 34-year-old club great took 10 minutes to bring the crowd to its feet at the Emirates Stadium and take his club record goal tally to 227.
Rolling back the years, Henry cut in from the left to run onto a through-ball, killed the ball dead and curled an exquisite right-foot finish into the bottom corner.
“The feeling I had when I scored was amazing,” Henry said after his first game for Arsenal in more than 4 1/2 years. “I think I will always remember tonight.”
The celebrations were deafening, as if Arsenal had just won the cup.
