At the opening of 1999, Manchester City avoided what would have been one of the biggest FA Cup upsets of modern times and defeated Rushden & Diamonds. Not only that, one of the first Premier League games of the year included City's 2–1 away win over Arsenal.
In the same round of fixtures, Manchester United clinched a 2–0 victory at home against Everton. Ferguson must have been raising a toast to Manchester City for taking down their current stalkers, Arsenal. As a result, United extended their lead over the Gunners to five points, while Arsenal dropped from second place to third, overtaken by Chelsea.
Everyone saw a similar scenario unfold around the same time last year between City and Arsenal; however, this time the positions of United, Arsenal, and Chelsea were switched, making the situation even tighter.
