Last season, the rivalry which has been developed over the years between United and Arsenal appeared to be disappearing. With two fourth place finishes from Arsenal, they were no longer our title rivals. The players who we’d grown to hate over the years, Vieira, Keown, Ashley Cole and Pires, to name a few, were no longer there. It was hard to remember just how it felt to really hate Arsenal after spending the past couple of seasons focussing on the new team to hate, Chelsea.

When we went to the Emirates there was a strong desire to win, especially considering they had beaten us at Old Trafford earlier in the season. A win could take us nine points clear of Chelsea at the top of the league, taking us one step closer to winning back our title. When Evra played in a great ball to Rooney, which he headered past Lehmann powerfully, it looked as though we would get our wish. However, in the last seven minutes, Arsenal scored two goals, the first by van Persie, the latter by Thierry Henry in injury time. Shit. Three valuable points down the drain after leading until the final few minutes.

Patrice Evra has today revealed the bollocking the team received from Sir Alex Ferguson after the game. “I remember one match we had lost 2-1 to Arsenal in the closing seconds,” he said. “I’ve had my dad shout at me in the past. But when I saw the boss yelling in the dressing room, it was like nothing I had ever seen. Even if you are strong at heart, you’re thinking ‘Ouch!’ You think he’s going to break everything. But another good thing is nobody gets special treatment. Whether he has to scream at Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney or me, he screams at us all in the same way.”