Our top 5 clashes between Manchester United and Arsenal

Ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Old Trafford on Monday night to face Manchester United we’ve looked at some of the most intense and important clashes between the 2 clubs when they were part of arguably the biggest rivalry in Premier League history. The list is in no particular order and naturally there will be different opinions, but after looking at the games in general as well as what the results meant in regards to the seasons of each team, these are the 5 games that we’ve gone for.

After Manchester City recorded a huge 5-1 win against Tottenham hours earlier, United needed a big response to their rivals that they meant business this season and did just that with an incredible 8-2 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford. The game had pretty much everything you could want in a football game: a red card, a saved penalty, a scored penalty, 2 goals from free kicks and 25 yard screamers. Goals from Wayne Rooney, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck Nani and Ji-Sung Park put United beyond Arsenal’s reach, with Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott scoring consolations for Arsenal. Despite the high win margin United would finish the season in second place behind Manchester City on goal difference with Arsenal finishing in third place.

The first thing that comes straight to mind when thinking about this game is Ryan Giggs running down the wing waving his shirt over his head showing his hairy chest. With United chasing a historic treble they headed to Villa Park for an FA Cup semi-final replay against Arsenal. David Beckham opened the scoring for United before Denis Bergkamp equalised for Arsenal, with Peter Schmeichel saving Bergkamp’s stoppage time penalty. After a poor pass from Viera, Giggs picked up the ball and dribbled past the Arsenal and scored with a near post finish to send United to the final where they would win the FA Cup and consequently the treble.

Ahead of their visit to Old Trafford in October 2004, Arsenal were enjoying an unbeaten run 49 Premier League games and looking to make it 50 against rivals Manchester United. Unfortunately for Arsenal Wayne Rooney and Ruud Van Nistelrooy had other ideas, with Van Nistelrooy scoring from the penalty spot and Rooney adding a second in stoppage time to end Arsenal’s unbeaten run and keep the record at 49 wins. The tension from the pitch continued into the tunnel with an Arsenal player (who we later found out was Fabregas) throwing pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson. For the first time since the 94/95 season neither United or Arsenal would finish the season as champions as Jose Mourinho lead Chelsea to their first title in 50 years.

Ahead of their trip to Old Trafford in May 2002, Arsenal knew that they only needed 1 point against Manchester United for them to win the league at Old Trafford, as well as White Hart Lane in 1971 and Anfield in 1989. Slyvain Wiltord scored on his 100th appearance for Arsenal handed Arsenal all 3 points at Old Trafford and sealed a famous victory for Arsenal who won the FA Cup 4 days earlier to complete a double for the Gunners.

Manchester United were attempting to become the first team to retain the Champions League after beating Chelsea in Moscow in 2008, whereas Arsenal were looking to make their second Champions League final appearance since 2006 when they were beaten by Barcelona in Paris. After losing 1-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford, Arsenal had it all to do if they wanted to progress to the final, but after goals from Ji-Sung Park and Cristiano Ronaldo, United found themselves winning 3-0 on aggregate after 11 minutes and put the tie to bed. A fantastic counter attack between Park, Rooney and Ronaldo lead to United scoring a third at the Emirates with Van Persie scoring a penalty to give Arsenal a late consolation goal. United progressed to the final where they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in Rome.