In the Fourth Round of the 2003–04 FA Cup, the tie between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City went to a replay – played at White Hart Lane, London, on the evening of 4 February 2004 – after the original match 10 days earlier finished in a 1–1 draw.

Having already seen their star striker, Nicolas Anelka, limp off with an injury in the 27th minute of the game, the situation was made even worse for City just before the half-time interval when key central midfielder Joey Barton was dismissed by the referee for dissent as both teams and the match officials were leaving the pitch at the end of the first half.

However, after the break, goals from Sylvain Distin, Paul Bosvelt, Shaun Wright-Phillips plus an injury-time strike from Jon Macken sealed a victory described by one journalistic source as "as great a comeback as English football has ever known".

[2] Spurs scored their final goal just before half-time as Christian Ziege took a free-kick caused by a Joey Barton foul on Michael Brown, in the process receiving a yellow card which would become far more relevant very shortly afterwards.

[13] Reserve goalkeeper Arason — who was playing his first game in English football and who manager Kevin Keegan had never even witnessed in full match conditions before — then drew plaudits for a double save following another Ziege free kick.

[13][2] City's victory was immediately heralded as a momentous event, with Kevin Keegan and commentator Alan Hansen both describing it as the greatest cup match they had ever witnessed.

[2] The following day, Guardian journalist Kevin McCarra labelled it "as great a comeback as English football has ever known"[1] and the same publication was inspired to compare the match to previous challengers for the same mantle.