Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry have joined forces to hail the Liverpool fans after an unprecedented show of fan passion kicked off Saturday's FA Cup clash at Anfield.
The opening six minutes of the tie were played against a backdrop of incessant chanting of "Justice for the 96" as fans on the Kop held up a mosaic spelling 'The Truth' and sang their hearts out in an appeal for the justice they feel those who lost their lives at Hillsborough have never received.
The inspiration for the idea came from the organisers of the newly launched Reclaim The Kop campaign and, while Arsenal may have prevailed on the pitch, the main men at their club were full of respect for the home fans.
Wenger said: "You can only admire the Liverpool fans. They kicked every ball for the team for the whole 90 minutes and were just fabulous. The club has a great support here."
Star striker Henry, who netted the third goal which killed off any chances the Reds had of a late fightback, added: "I'm not sure what the fans were singing at the start of the game but when it stopped the noise they made meant no-one could hear what was going on on the pitch.
"I have such respect for this ground and these supporters. What a place this is to play football."
Too bad we didn't have a fantastic performance from the team to go along with it.
Credit to the fans, truly fantastically done.
on the pitch.
