Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Arsene Wenger's fury at Sir Alex Ferguson after escalating row and "out of order" blast

Supporters of Manchester United and Arsenal have strong feelings about the October 2004 meeting which saw the Invincibles lose their unbeaten run.

The start of the 2004-05 season saw the last two Premier League champions pitted against one another, with Arsene Wenger's Gunners picking up where they left off after going an entire season without losing a game in the competition. A heated contest seemed inevitable, though, after the previous season had seen late drama around a missed penalty from Ruud van Nistelrooy.

As we all know now, United prevented Arsenal bringing up 50 games unbeaten, and they did so in controversial circumstances. The on-field events don't tell the whole story, though.

Early in the 2003-04 season, United had a golden chance to claim victory over Wenger's team. Van Nistelrooy's late penalty was essentially a game-decider, and the reaction of Arsenal players to his miss wasn't forgotten in Manchester.

The Dutch striker joked about the matter this season when he took on Arsenal as a manager for the first time. "I expect a warm welcome," he joked before he led out his PSV team in north London. "I kept them invincible because of my miss."

Ferguson's stance in 2004 was a little firmer, though. "They got away with murder," the Scot said. "What the Arsenal players did was the worst I have witnessed in sport."

What are your memories of the 2004 game? Have your say in the comments section

Alex Ferguson was vocal before the game and celebrating after it (Press Association)

Ferguson has never been one to shy away from hyperbole, with his later comments about an Ashley Williams incident which "could have killed" Robin van Persie another example. This time, however, Wenger gave as good as he got,

"Maybe it would be better if you have us put up against a wall and shot us all," the Frenchman retorted. "I hope that he will calm down."

If that sounds like Arsenal had a bit of swagger about them, or at least heaps of confidence, there was a reason for that. The reigning champions had won eight of their first nine league games, with Bolton Wanderers denying them a perfect start, and a 50th unbeaten game felt very realistic.

Perhaps they were even confident enough to believe riling up their rivals wouldn't even matter. Rile them up they did, though, and by the end of the afternoon it was United who were celebrating.

Wayne Rooney was at the centre of the drama (Reuters)

"All week Arsenal had been banging on about how great it would be to make it to 50 games unbeaten at Old Trafford," said Wayne Rooney, who was preparing for his first United v Arsenal match-up. "Big mistake.

"They fired us up. Fifty games unbeaten? No way. Not at our place."

Rooney was the man at the centre of things, with some Arsenal supporters still not forgiving the England international. The visitors felt he dived for the penalty from which United opened the scoring - Van Nistelrooy made no mistake this time - and the former Everton man made the points safe with a stoppage-time finish.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored from the penalty spot (Press Association)

"It was a build-up of 12 months because the happenings in the 2003 game were totally out of order with people jumping all over Ruud," United defender Phil Neville would later recal. "But in every game we played back then the tension in the air was incredible.

"It was just so ferocious. It wasn't war, but it was like two heavyweights clashing in a ring. Nobody used to give an inch."

The England international admitted United targeted some Gunners players, with Jose Antonio Reyes taking the brunt of the punishment. It might have taken until the 73rd minute for the deadlock to be broken, but the more important part for United was ensuring Arsenal - who had scored 29 times in their first nine games - were unable to find a way past home goalkeeper Roy Carroll.

Arsene Wenger was fuming after his team's unbeaten run ended (Press Association)

United's approach undoubtedly worked, but there were questions asked of some refereeing decisions. Mike Riley was the man in the middle, and there was a feeling from the Gunners that his failure to show a red card to a United player was a factor in the result.

Rio Ferdinand escaped punishment for a foul on Freddie Ljungberg, while reports at the time made reference to a "hack" on Reyes from Phil Neville's brother Gary. There were also missed chances at both ends, though, and on another day Arsenal might have been able to ride out the injustices they felt had occurred to extend that long run.

"Riley decided the game, like we know he can do at Old Trafford," Wenger said. "We were robbed."

The animosity didn't end at full-time, either, with the 'Pizzagate' row later taking centre-stage. As for the game itself, though, Ferguson won the war of words by virtue of his team's result - the only thing that will have mattered when the dust settled.

Neither team went on to win the title that season, with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea claiming top spot. Still, some 18 years after United's win, it continues to sting for the defeated side.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.