Arsenal at the double, Muralitharan raises Test mark
Eighteen years ago today Arsenal beat Manchester United to win the Premier League title. It came a week after the Gunners won the FA Cup, to secure their second “double” in four years.
● May 8 1996: Manchester United great George Best helped launch a life-size version of a Royal Mail stamp featuring former United midfielder Duncan Edwards who was one of 23 people who died in the 1958 Munich Air Disaster. The stamp was to commemorate Euro 96.
Northern Irishman Best was also chosen to appear on a Royal Mail stamp 17 years later to celebrate the FA’s 150th anniversary.
● May 8 1998: Jordan test driver Pedro Martinez de la Rosa drives Juan Manuel Fangio’s legendary Silver Arrow during the first free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Fangio won the World Championship in 1954 and 1955 driving the unique Mercedes car and his 1954 Silver Arrow was auctioned for £20.9m in 2012.
● May 8 2000: A protester surrounded by police buried himself in the sand at Bondi Beach because of the construction of the beach volleyball stadium for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Residents were concerned that access to Sydney’s most famous beach would be restricted during construction of the 10,000-seat stadium. Members of the Bondi Olympic Watch, a local residents’ group, vowed to chain themselves to construction equipment to stop work getting under way.
● May 8 2002: Arsenal win the Premier League title after a 1-0 victory against rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Arsenal, who won the FA Cup a week earlier, completed their second domestic double in four years, with Sylvain Wiltord scoring in his 100th appearance for the north London club.
The victory ensured Arsenal remained unbeaten away in the league that season (14 wins, five draws).
● May 8 2004: Sri Lankan cricketers celebrate with spinner Muttiah Muralitharan after he picked up his 520th Test wicket during a match against Zimbabwe, breaking the record of 519 held by West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh.
Muralitharan dismissed Mluleki Nkala to become the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. He retired in 2010 after picking up a record 800 Test wickets.
● May 8 2007: Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt meets the Harlem Globetrotters in Brussels. The Globetrotters, a US exhibition basketball team that combines theatrical comedy with athleticism, have played over 26,000 exhibition games since being founded in 1926.
● May 8 2008: The Olympic flame is lit on top of Mt Everest as part of the Beijing Olympics torch relay. Five climbers from the 31-strong support team got to the top of the mountain, where they unfurled a Chinese and Olympic flag as well as a Beijing Games banner.
● May 8 2010: Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal celebrates with his team after winning the Bundesliga title for the sixth time in eight seasons. Bayern entered the final game with a vastly superior goal difference to second-placed Schalke 04 and completed the formalities with a 3-1 win against Hertha Berlin.
Bayern won the German Cup a week later but missed out on a treble in Van Gaal’s first season at the helm when they lost 2-0 to Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
● May 8 2019: Tottenham Hotspur forward Lucas Moura scores a hat-trick in a 3-2 win against Ajax in their Champions League semifinal second-leg clash. Spurs lost the first leg 1-0 and first-half goals from Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt and midfielder Hakim Ziyech meant the Spurs trailed overall by three goals at halftime. However, Moura’s second-half treble ensured Spurs progressed on away goals to their first Champions League final.