Giggs races into folklore

It started in his own half and finished up in folklore. Ryan Giggs dazzled a defence and then a nation with Manchester United's winning goal at Villa Park on Wednesday night, capping an evening of spinning emotions with a whirling-shirt celebration that not only revealed one of the hairiest chests in football but the footballing heart that beats beneath it.

There is already talk of this being one of the greatest goals of all time. The yardsticks have been measured: Ricky Villa at Wembley in 1981, John Barnes in the Maracana '84, Maradona against England in '86, even David Ginola against Barnsley in the previous round of this season's FA Cup.

But subjectivity plays such a large part in these comparisons. One could say that the run of the ball helped Villa, that Barnes' goal came in a friendly, that the memory of his first strike soured the glory of Maradona's second, and that Ginola waltzed through a First Division defence.

In that context Giggs, refreshed after coming off the bench, settled this semi-final replay by beating a tiring defence. But that would be nit-picking. In terms of skill and context his was a goal in a millennium.

Skill first. The key was speed. From the moment he picked up the ball 10 yards inside United's half to the moment he unleashed a shot high into the Arsenal net, Giggs ran 61.5 yards in 10 seconds. Not bad for someone with the ball at his feet and various Arsenal players at his elbows.

The move starts innocuously enough. Three minutes into the second period of extra-time, with the score locked at 1-1, Giggs gathers the ball in the inside-left channel and begins an unbroken sprint that will ultimately take him deep into the Arsenal area.

Ahead of him he spots four sentries in scarlet, but his pace will prove decisive, for it will keep the quartet on the back foot, constantly trying to assess the right time to tackle this weaving, speeding foe and never certain enough of their judgement to act.

David Seaman would have done better had he stood up longer. But Arsenal were too stunned to care, United too elated. Now Newcastle await in the final.

That was the skill. So what of the context? This was the second high-pressured semi-final these heavyweights had slugged out toe to toe in four days and going into extra-time with the scores level the tension was mounting. Two goals already, another disallowed, a sending-off, a missed penalty. It needed a dauntless heart to break the deadlock. Enter Giggs.

Let us also not forget that this was not just any old defence but the much-lauded Dad's Army of Arsenal, the most parsimonious rearguard in the Premiership with just 13 goals conceded in 32 games and none in their previous seven in all competitions. But though age has not withered them, Giggs' run certainly did.

And the upshot of his moment of magic? Universal applause and another ankle injury that leaves him doubtful for next week's more important semi-final in Turin. Given United's yearning to lift the European Cup, it might have been sensible for Ferguson and his aides to leave Giggs on the bench on Wednesday. Thank goodness they did not.