Encounters between Manchester United and Arsenal have produced some pretty volatile matches over the years.
After all, who can forget the Battle of Old Trafford on September 23, 2003?
That match produced eight yellow cards – including two for Gunners captain Patrick Viera – and also featured the famous Martin Keown-Ruud van Nistlerooy bust-up.
Ahead of this weekend’s showdown between the bitter rivals, let’s take a quick look at the 5 most controversial Manchester United vs Arsenal matches.
Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United – Premier League, November 26, 1994
George Graham was still in charge of Arsenal for this match. His side had fallen behind the pace in the Premier League era and eventually finished 12th in 1994-95, just behind 11th placed Chelsea.
Six players were shown yellow cards including Arsenal’s Paul Dickov, and United’s Keith Gillespie.
Mark Hughes received two, being sent off 11 minutes from time.
Manchester United 4-0 Arsenal – FA Cup, February 16, 2008
Arsenal were three-nil down at half-time in this match. The Gunners therefore can’t complain that the loss was down to Emmanuel Eboue being shown a straight red. The Ivorian was sent off early in the second half for his challenge on Patrice Evra.
The six yellows that were shown in this match all came in the second half too.
Manchester United 0-0 Arsenal – Premier League, September 21, 2003
This is the one that everybody remembers – the Battle of Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy smashed a contentious injury-time penalty against the crossbar, sparking a now infamous outpouring of joy from the Arsenal players, and in particular Martin Keown. The scenes typified what had been an extremely volatile match which saw seven bookings and one second yellow for Patrick Vieira.
Four Arsenal players were eventually suspended for their actions in this game with Lauren being banned for four matches, Keown three and Ray Parlour and Patrick Vieira one each.
Manchester United 1-2 Arsenal – FA Cup, March 9, 2015
Tempers didn’t flare up in this game as much as they did in the infamous Battle of Old Trafford, but it wasn’t without incident and saw as many cards handed out as in any match between the two sides.
Danny Welbeck’s 61st-minute goal put his former club 2-1 down and facing a Sixth Round exit.
With United chasing the game their then record signing, Angel Di Maria, went down a little too easily for referee Michael Oliver’s liking and was duly booked. In his protests Di Maria tugged on Oliver’s shirt. A second yellow was shown and Di Maria, who had set-up United’s only goal of the game, was given his marching orders.
Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal – Premier League, November 3, 2012
Jack Wilshere was the player to see red this time after receiving a second yellow for an overzealous challenge on Patrice Evra.
The Gunners were already two-nil down at the time and had to play out the last 20 minutes of the match with just 10 men.
Robin van Persie had given United an early lead in what was his first game against his former club after leaving them for Old Trafford.
Check out this video to know more about the ill-tempered moments, the dirty sides of Manchester United vs Arsenal clashes.