 Manchester United began the first half the better of the two teams and led from the eighth minute . Denis Irwin 's cross into Arsenal 's penalty area found Eric Cantona on the right side ; he lobbed the ball in Mark Hughes ' direction , who was surrounded by the Arsenal defenders . Hughes instinctively made a connection with the ball with an overhead shot that beat goalkeeper David Seaman at the near post . United fashioned another chance to score moments after ; Keane fed the ball to Cantona whose shot was blocked by Seaman . Kanchelskis created a further chance for Cantona ; the Frenchman 's effort once more was denied , this time by an Arsenal defender . " These proved costly misses " , opined Patrick Barclay , given United 's tempo weakened , and Arsenal 's John Jensen and Paul Davis started to impose themselves in midfield . United captain Steve Bruce coped well against Campbell and Wright , but the latter striker equalised for Arsenal in the 40th minute . A loose pass from Ryan Giggs was headed @-@ on by Davis and the ball fell to Wright . He , " some 20 yards out " , hit the ball first time , which dipped past the underside of the crossbar . 
