On This Day: Henry net 1st goal after rejoining Gunners; Arsenal 6-3 Liverpool

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (January 9th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 2012 - Henry Scored 1st Goal After Rejoining Arsenal

On 9 January 2012, Henry scored his first goal from the bench vs Leeds United after rejoining Arsenal.

3 days after that day on 6 January 2012, Arsenal confirmed the return of Gunners' legend Thierry Henry, the club's all-time leading goalscorer and the Monaco manager now, on loan.

He made his first appearance on January 9, coming on as a substitute to score the only goal in a FA Cup win over Leeds United. 

He went on to make another six appearances and scored again in his final match, a 1-2 away win over Sunderland, before returning to New York. Let's have a look at his amazing goal vs Leeds United here:

On This Day in 2007 - Baptista Catches Fire

On 9 January 2007, Liverpool and Arsenal played a 9-goal thriller in the Carling Cup 5th Round, including a missed penalty.

The quarterfinal meeting paired the Premier League's third- and fourth-place teams, with hosts Liverpool sitting one point higher than Arsenal. But the Gunners were confident having beaten Liverpool 1-3 at Anfield in the FA Cup the previous week (they had also won 3-0 in the league back in November).

It was a day to remember for Arsenal striker Julio Baptista, who--after several years of rumors linking him to the club--had finally joined the Londoners at the start of the season on loan from Real Madrid. Despite his reputation as a prolific scorer, he started the day with only one goal to his Arsenal account. That changed in the 40th minute. After a pair of early goals from Arsenal's Jérémie Aliadière and Liverpool's Robbie Fowler, Baptista broke the deadlock with a 25-yard free kick.

Then, after Alex Song put Arsenal ahead 3-1 with what appeared to be a handball off a corner kick in the 45th minute, Baptista quickly struck again before the break, delivering the ball to Aliadière on the wing then receiving it back to tap into an open net. He had a chance for a hat-trick early in the second half when Aliadière earned a penalty, but Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek parried Baptista's shot.

He eventually completed his hat-trick in the 60th minute and added a fourth in the 84th minute, while Liverpool got goals from Steven Gerrard (68') and Sami Hyypia (80') to finish the day at 3-6. Arsenal went on to reach the final, where they lost to Chelsea, while both Baptista and Aliadière moved away from Arsenal at the end of the season. 

Highlights over here, enjoy:

On This Day in 1978 - Gattuso, A Genuine Article

On 9 January 1978, Gennaro Gattuso, the former star midfielder for Italy and Milan, and the coach of AC Milan now, was born in Corigliano Calabro.

He made 28 appearances in his first season for the Rossoneri, though Milan finished third. Although they failed to win any silverware in the next few seasons, they rebounded with a Champions League and Copa d'Italia double in 2002-03, then reclaimed the Scudetto the following season.

Over the course of thirteen seasons in Milan, Gattuso made 468 appearances, adding another league title (2011), two UEFA Super Cups (2003, 2007), and a Club World Cup (2007) to his silverware collection. Along the way, he earned 73 caps for Italy between 2000 and 2010 and won the World Cup in 2006.

Now, even on the edge of being sacked, Gattuso is still trying to make Milan much better, hope him have a happy birthday today!

On This Day in 2001 - Eriksson's Early Arrivederci

On 9 January 2001, the 101st anniversary of Lazio's founding, manager Sven-Göran Eriksson gave the club a surprise present--his resignation.

Arriving in Rome from Serie A rival Sampdoria in 1997, the Swede quickly established himself as one of Lazio's most successful managers by winning the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana in 1998, while taking the club to that season's UEFA Cup Final. Although Lazio lost the final to Inter, Eriksson delivered European glory the following season, winning both the 1999 Cup Winner's Cup and 1999 UEFA Super Cup and finishing as runners-up to Milan in Serie A.

In the 1999-2000 season, Eriksson again brought success, delivering Lazio's second-ever Serie A title as part of a domestic treble that included repeat victories in the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.

In October 2000, England approached Eriksson to replace departing national team manager Kevin Keegan. He agreed, on the condition he could make the switch at the end of the season. But that January, he decided not to wait any longer. He resigned from Lazio on the 9th and that month became the first-ever foreign manager of England.

On This Day in 1930 - Putting The Sportsmanship In Sports

On 9 January 1930, Igor Netto, renowned for one of the most memorable displays of sportsmanship in football, was born in Moscow.

One of the Soviet Union's greatest players, Netto, who played at left-back and in central midfield, spent his entire club career at Spartak Moscow, where he made 368 appearances from 1949 to 1966. Along the way, he won five league titles (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962) and three Soviet Cups (1950, 1958, 1963).

In 1952, he earned his first cap for the Soviet national team and eventually claimed the captain's armband. During his time with the team, they won the gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics, then lifted the trophy at the 1960 European Championship.

But his most famous moment came during the 1962 World Cup in Chile. On 6 June, the Soviets were playing against Uruguay in the group stage with both teams needing a win to guarantee a spot in the knockout rounds. In the 75th minute, with the score level at 1-1, the referee awarded a go-ahead goal to Soviet striker Igor Chislenko, but Netto explained that the ball had entered the goal through a hole in the side netting and convinced the referee to reverse his opinion and disallow the goal (the USSR went on to win anyway with an 89th-minute goal from Valentin Ivanov and advanced, but lost to hosts Chile in the quarterfinals).

After his retirement as a player, Netto managed several teams, including brief spells in charge of Spartak Moscow and the Iranian national team. He passed away in 1999 at the age of 69.