The Battle of Old Trafford; 10 Year Anniversary

(Highlights of the match at bottom of the page)

Technique, creativity, genius, skill. These are just some of the attributes that Manchester United and Arsenal players left in the dressing room when the two sides met in an early season crunch match in 2003.
 Four months prior to the distressing events that took place on that sunny September day, United were lifting the Premier League title having played some elegant football all season, with goals flying in off the boots of their star scorer, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Or, 'Rooooooooooooooooooooooooooood', as he was known to United fans. But where there are Premier League winners, there is always a runner-up, and during the 2002-2003 season, that was Arsenal. An Arsenal side that had conquered United the year before that (2001-2002). During the season in question however, Arsenal stormed to league glory in the most emphatic way, undefeated. Not only did they not lose a game, but they won (and drew as Ferguson pointed out) many games with skillful, fast paced, flowing football. Which makes it even harder to believe the ugly events that the Battle of Old Trafford displayed.

Arsenal celebrate 2002 league title victory in Old Trafford, before United strike revenge in 2003

As well as a tug of war between teams for the title, personal rivalries also existed. Van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry went head to head for the golden boot award, Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira battled it out to see whose the scariest central midfielder in the world, and most importantly, arguably the Premier League's greatest rivalry. The rivalry between Wenger and Ferguson, in which either man would relish any given opportunity to effectively 'slag-off' or 'diss' the other manager and his crew like one of those underground rap battles. (Funnily enough there was probably more grown men wearing Nike track suits on the sidelines at Old Trafford than in any rap battle that has ever taken place.) In previous years, Wenger had accused United of bending the F.A's rules to allow them to be successful, whereas Ferguson hit Wenger where it hurt and claimed 'he's the only manager I don't share a drink with after a match.' Ouch.

What started out as an offer of a glass of Rosé...

When all of this tension finally exploded on the pitch, it was an unholy sight. And not just because of the faces of the Neville brothers or even Martin Keown! 8 yellow cards, 2 of them for Arsenal captain Vieira who was sent off, 31 fouls, 1 penalty and 0 goals made this game the ferocious yet ugly game that it was. Yet the highlight of the game is as famous as any. A late, penalty is given to United to the horror of Arsenal players, staff fans who felt they had already been cheated by Vieira's dismissal. Van Nistelrooy placed the ball down on the spot, Jen Lehmann moved from side to side in the Arsenal goal as the likes of Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg stood behind, shouting at him words unlikely to be of encouragement. The usually ice cold Dutchman ran up nervously, and smashed the ball against the cross bar. Then Martin Keown took the starring role...

Keown offering sympathy with Van Nistelrooy after last minute penalty miss

This video sums the game up brilliantly. 

Notice the lack of footballing highlights.

The Battle of Old Trafford, 21st September 2003. 'Lest we forget.'