Van Nistelrooy v Henry: A rivalry for the ages

VAN NISTELROOY V HENRY

The healthy competition between Ruud and Thierry burned intensely for five seasons, driving the goalscoring legends to achieve remarkable statistics across all competitions.

Each of them entered the history books, too. Van Nistelrooy, for example, scored 44 goals across all competitions in 2002/03 and no Premier League player has ever netted more in a single campaign. The Dutchman also scored in 10 consecutive Premier League matches in 2003 and that record stood until 2015, when Ruud was quick to congratulate Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy on reaching 11 successive games.

While Henry won more Golden Boot awards during their incredible rivalry, with four to his name (helped partly by van Nistelrooy’s injury troubles in 2004/05), the real winners were us fans who witnessed greatness each week.

Irrespective of your allegiance, watching both men in action was a genuine treat for all football fans and the standards they set have arguably not been met since.

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