“I’ll see you out there!” Roy Keane threatened Patrick Vieira, the referee standing between the two players after the Arsenal midfielder had hurriedly made his way down the tunnel away from our captain. As the images were broadcast over Sky Sports ahead of the much awaited Arsenal vs United clash at Highbury, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes.
A brilliant match ensued, in which United won 4-2, despite going down to ten men with 20 minutes to play. After the childish Arsenal players threw pizza at our manager following our 2-0 victory earlier that season, there had been much promise of revenge.
“Their defenders should be more frightened of me than I will be of them,” said Jose Reyes, the player who Gunners argued was better than Cristiano Ronaldo, ahead of the Highbury encounter. It was Ronaldo who left with the plaudits though, scoring 2 goals and ensuring The Library lived up to its reputation.
This was just one of many fiery clashes between the clubs, with Keane and Vieira at the centre. However, following France’s exit from Euro 2008, picking up just 1 point and scoring 1 goal in 3 games, Vieira has been involved in a spat with another United player.
Patrice Evra was involved in a fight with Chelsea groundstaff earlier this season during a warming down session on the pitch following United’s defeat at Stamford Bridge. The comments from United players after the match suggested that racist comments had been made to our full back.
Now, he has been involved in a fight with Patrick Vieira in the tunnel in the aftermath of the Holland defeat. Team mates Jean-Alain Boumsong and Franck Ribery are seen pulling away the former Arsenal captain, who tries to go back for seconds.
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