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Arsenal vs. Manchester United: No Longer Title Rivals

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Fiercest soccer contests are often fueled by the sternest rivalries.

And on February 1, 1958, one of the biggest top-division rivalries in English football was born in Highbury during a memorable league clash between Arsenal and Manchester United. The match that was played just five days before the Munich Air Disaster saw Man United beat Arsenal 5-4. The defeat was narrow and bitter, and Arsenal would wait for 20 years to payback for the home humiliation. So on May 12, 1979, in the FA Cup final, Arsenal took the game to United and got two first half goals through Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton. But the crowd had to wait for late goals from United’s Gordon McQueen (86th minute) and Sammy McIlroy (88th minute) and Arsenal’s Alan Sunderland (89th minute) to see Arsenal take the rivalry to the next level.

 The Notorious Years

While in January 1987, a match between Arsenal and Man United resulted in the sending off of David Rocastle for retaliating against an appalling foul by Norman Whiteside, it is on 19th August 1989 when United’s 4-1 trouncing of Arsenal fired up the rivalry and took it to notorious levels. In fact, subsequent meetings between the two teams became tenser and filthier. For instance, the 1990/91 season had two ill-tempered games, one at Old Trafford (on October 20th) and another at Highbury in the Football League Cup’s fourth round (on November 1990).

When Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal in 1996 and made Arsenal a perennial challenger for the Premier League title, the United-Arsenal rivalry exploded. During Wenger’s first Arsenal-United match at Highbury, United’s Peter Schmeichel and Arsenal’s Ian Right had nasty confrontations both on the pitch and in the tunnel after the game. In April 1997, Wenger commented on Manchester United’s fixture list by saying:

“It’s wrong the program is extended so Manchester United can rest and win everything.”

But Ferguson was quick to dismiss him by saying:

“He has no experience of English football. He has come here from Japan, and now he is telling everyone how to organize our football. He’s a novice and should keep his opinions to Japanese football.”

“Unless you have been in the situation and had the experience then he should keep his mouth shut, firmly shut.”

In fact, the relationship between Ferguson and Wenger boiled to the extent that they never shared drinks after matches, a “tradition” in English Football. When commenting about Wenger’s knowledge, Ferguson said:

“They say he’s an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I’ve got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!”

Rivals for the Titles

Ferguson and Wenger gave everything in the United-Arsenal matches. The atmosphere was always tense, right from pre-match conferences to post-match comments. The players were psyched up to give their best performances in those games. And the teams gave everything to win the titles. Ferguson won four of the first five Premier League editions before Arsenal won the double (league and cup) during Arsene Wenger’s first full season as Arsenal’s manager. The next season, Ferguson won the treble, beating Arsenal to the Premier League title by a point and thrashing Arsenal at the semi-final of the FA cup. Then to compound Wenger’s misery, Ferguson went on to win back-to-back Premier League titles in the 1999/2000 and 2000/01 seasons, becoming the first manager to win three consecutive Premier League titles.

Wenger did not wait for too long to respond to the United’s seeming dominance. He led Arsenal to a double in 2001/02 by having a sweet 1-0 victory over United at Old Trafford. In a late-season encounter between United and Arsenal, Sol Campbell was sent off after elbowing Ole Gunnar Solskjær, as United marched on to win the 2002/03 Premier League title. Arsenal responded the following season by winning the league unbeaten and earning the title “the Invincibles”. But that season saw the notorious “Battle of Old Trafford” in a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford where Patrick Vieira was red-carded in the 80th minute and Manchester United was also awarded a stoppage-time penalty after Diego Forlan was brought down by Arsenal’s Martin Keown. Ruud van Nistelrooy missed the resulting penalty and was confronted by Martin Keown. The ensuing scuffle led to a fracas after the match, resulting in four players from both sides being given yellow cards.

Beyond the Invincibles

When Arsenal met with United again at Highbury, the game ended 1-1 but famous fights and arguments occurred between players, particularly Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira. However, it was the controversial 2-0 defeat of Arsenal at Old Trafford at the “Battle of the Buffet”, which ended their 49 games unbeaten run, that marked the climax of the United-Arsenal rivalry. While there were more Arsenal-United games to enjoy after this climax, Arsenal soon went into a decline while Man United turned its attention towards new contenders Chelsea, which was just newly purchased by Roman Abramovich. In fact, Chelsea quickly dominated the scene in two seasons by winning back-to-back Premier League titles. After Chelsea, Manchester City stepped into the scene, resulting in completely new title rivals for United.

And before he retired, Six Alex Ferguson had already considered Arsenal as “no” rivals anymore. For instance, in December 2010, Ferguson pleaded with United fans to stop singing “sick” chants at Arsene Wenger. Indeed, it was only in 2011 when Arsenal won a Premier League game against Ferguson’s United, since 2008. This was a true signal of the decline in rivalry and the need for United to shift their focus towards more potent rivals than Arsenal; as Arsenal’s decline saw them win no trophies for nine years, only finding an end to their trophy drought with an FA Cup title in 2014. However, before Ferguson could say bye to the rivalry, he treated Arsenal to one of their worst defeats ever when Arsenal lost 8-2 at Old Trafford in August 2011.

Not Fierce Rivals Anymore

When Arsenal faces Manchester United on 22 November 2014, many fans of both the teams will still be looking forward to the game with relish. But they will not be going to the game as fierce rivals. Arsenal is only in for a top four finish and Wenger has already conceded the title.

Manchester United is still under reform with their new coach Luis Van Gal still putting up a team. The two teams will simply be honoring a fixture and hoping to get points. This season’s title will probably not be in the fan’s minds and only memories of the past will probably drive them. It will be a game for respect; a match for retaining that honor which was previously guarded with the fiercest managerial comments, fan jabs and nasty fouls.