Arsenal's progress was relatively comfortable; after scoring six past Queens Park Rangers, they knocked out holders Chelsea in the fifth round and later came from behind to beat local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final.

Liverpool by contrast made hard work of overcoming lower-league opponents Tranmere Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers in the latter rounds of the competition.

Arsenal had a penalty appeal turned down in the first half, when defender Stéphane Henchoz was judged not to have handled the ball to deny Thierry Henry a goalscoring opportunity.

Henchoz's partner Sami Hyypiä made a series of goalline clearances during the second half, but was helpless to stop Arsenal taking the lead in the 72nd minute.

Liverpool responded by making changes and equalised in the 83rd minute; Arsenal's failure to deal with a free-kick presented Michael Owen the chance to score.

As with league fixtures, FA Cup matches are subject to change in the event of games being selected for television coverage and this often can be influenced by clashes with other competitions.

The visitors' first goal came around the half-hour mark; defender Ashley Cole cleared Peter Crouch's goal-bound header and from that Arsenal launched a counterattack.

Throughout the tie, Arsenal's centre-back partnership of Oleh Luzhnyi and Igors Stepanovs struggled against the pace of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who equalised for Chelsea after Thierry Henry gave the home side the lead.

Andrei Kanchelskis' goal in the 28th minute halved the scoreline, but Šmicer and Markus Babbel each scored in the second half to put Liverpool in a commanding lead.

City persisted and in stoppage time scored their second goal of the match; Shaun Goater's deflected shot did enough to beat goalkeeper Sander Westerveld.

[13] Steve Yates pulled a goal back for Tranmere after half-time, but in the 52nd minute Steven Gerrard headed-in a cross to restore Liverpool's two-goal advantage.

A mistake by Robbie Fowler gifted substitute Wayne Allison the chance to score, but the striker made amends as he converted a penalty kick in the 81st minute.

Goals from Heskey and Fowler and a consolation scored by Wycombe's captain Keith Ryan ensured Liverpool won 2–1 and earnt a place in the final.

[16] Having considered alternative venues such as Twickenham, Murrayfield and Villa Park, the FA announced in January 2001 that the next three Cup finals would be staged at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

"[30] When asked whether reducing the number of teams in the UEFA Champions League would help, Wenger commented it "... would mean less money and no one with the wages we pay can accept a drop in income.

[31] It marked the first time that the two managers of opposing sides were born outside the British Isles, and it was anticipated the final would receive a large overseas audience because of the inclusion of several international players.

[36] Arsenal in their usual home strip of red shirts and white shorts kicked off the match and immediately won a corner, which was dealt with by Westerveld.

[37] Television replays later showed the ball hitting Henchoz's arm before going wide; although Henry appealed for a penalty, it was turned down as the incident was missed by both the referee and his assistant.

A long range effort by Grimandi was easily saved by Westerveld as the final approached the half-hour mark, and a duel between Wiltord and Jamie Carragher on the right side resulted in a Liverpool corner.

[38] Liverpool resumed play and won a free-kick in the 48th minute; Murphy's delivery found Heskey, whose header forced a save from David Seaman.

[38] Henry missed a chance to give Arsenal a two-goal lead in the 74th minute, as his shot was point-blank saved by Westerveld and on the follow-up cleared by Hyypiä.

[42] He nevertheless saw set-pieces as an opportunity to score goals from and felt the equaliser turned the final in his team's favour: "Suddenly the confidence switches to the other camp.

"[43] Houllier revealed he gave a frank assessment of the task facing his players before the match; although in his words Arsenal were "... probably a bit better than us, probably more mature, more experienced, more ability in some areas", dealing with setbacks would make the difference on the day.

[44] Owen, the match winner, felt he answered his critics by scoring left-footed: "It's nice to prove people wrong when they say you haven't got a left foot.

[48] Henry called for changes to Arsenal's forward line and felt the team would benefit from a "fox in the box", a player who would stay in and around the penalty area to score.

Journalists and pundits reviewing the final praised Liverpool's tenacity; radio commentator Alan Green wrote in his News Letter column of 14 May 2001: "Simply, they never give up and when you have a player like Michael Owen within your ranks you believe that any situation can be rescued, as it was in the magnificent Millennium Stadium.

[52] James Lawton's match report in The Independent was not as empathetic; although in praise of Henry's performance his indecision compared to Owen, demonstrated how "effect, not style, is everything" in football.

[46] Clive White of The Herald criticised Henry's lack of end product, using the final and Arsenal's European failure against Valencia to demonstrate how he would never be considered a "natural goalscorer".

[53] Ron Atkinson, writing in his tactics column for The Guardian noted Liverpool's winning goal only came about because of Arsenal's eagerness to attack, which left gaps in defence.

[59] In his autobiography released a few years later, Gerrard reflected that Liverpool were fortunate to win, but was critical of Arsenal's "bitter" reaction: "Wenger and Ljungberg kept complaining about the hand-balls.