Goal of the Day: L is for Larsson

SIGNING FOR UNITED

Larsson had left Barcelona in the summer of 2006, after helping the Catalans beat Arsenal 2-1 in Paris to claim only the second Champions League triumph in the club’s history. The Swede arrived on the pitch as a second-half substitute, with the 10-man Gunners cradling a 1-0 advantage, and emerged as arguably the game’s decisive player, by setting up goals for Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti.

But he returned to his hometown club, Helsingborg, after that summer’s World Cup, and his career appeared to be winding down. But once the Swedish season closed, late in 2006, he accepted Ferguson’s proposal to join United between 1 January and 12 March 2007, before the football calendar resumed in his home country.

FINEST MOMENT

Larsson’s standout contribution arguably arrived in his very first game for the club, where he opened the scoring for the Reds in a third-round FA Cup tie against Aston Villa – then managed by Martin O’Neill, who had worked with Larsson for many golden years at Celtic. The Villans equalised in the 74th minute through former Liverpool striker Milan Baros, but United would have the last laugh, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer squeezed a last-gasp shot under the Brummies’ goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly.