Temperatures boiled over before a ball was kicked when Arsenal hosted Manchester United in February 2005
(Image: Sky Sports Retro/Youtube)
Manchester United against Arsenal is a game steeped in Premier League history.
From Pizzagate to Keown vs Van Nistelrooy, from Arsene Wenger standing on an Old Trafford wall to United's famous FA Cup win on their way to the Treble. But few can forget the heated Highbury battle on a winter's night in 2005. Just like they will this week, the two sides went head to head under the lights in a midweek match for the ages.
And while the football was engrossing and entertaining in equal measure, the drama started before the teams even entered the pitch. The infamous footage of Roy Keane shouting at Patrick Viera and suggesting the Frenchman picks on someone his own size after the Arsenal man clashed with Gary Neville. Referee Graham Poll calmed the situation and it set the tone for a match full of intensity.
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For Wayne Rooney, standing a few players behind Keane in the line and then just 20 and playing in his first match at Arsenal for United, it was a moment that showed the ferocity of the rivalry but also prompted a smirk.
The now Plymouth manager recalled the incident in The Times in 2022, saying: "Arsenal’s players had targeted Gary Neville for whatever reason and it started in the warm-up. I think Vieira and someone else chased Gary down the tunnel. He’s not a fighter, Gary — not off the pitch — and he ran into our dressing room. “What’s up with you?” we said.
"He told us what happened and when the teams lined up to go out, Roy went straight to Vieira. “If you’re going to pick on someone, try me,” he said. You can see on the footage that I’m laughing because it was quite funny — though, inside, I was thinking: “Roy, don’t do anything silly here, don’t get sent off.”
"As it happened, Roy had a magnificent game — as did Vieira. Tackles went in and the match boiled over. There’s footage of me arguing with Pires and stroking my cheek — people thought I was making fun of his beard, but actually I was asking where he got his make up from.
"Graham Poll was the referee and at another point I think I swore at him about 50 times in a minute. Vieira scored from a corner, Ryan Giggs equalised, Bergkamp scored and then Ronaldo scored twice as we kept hitting them on the break. Then Mikael Silvestre got sent off for headbutting Ljungberg. The tackles kept flying in. It was a mad game."