Manchester United and Arsenal will reignite their storied rivalry when the two teams take centre stage at the hallowed turf of Old Trafford on Saturday. The rivalry between the two clubs reached its pinnacle at the turn of the century when the Premier League was ruled by these two giants and the titles were shared by the two clubs for 9 consecutive years.
Then it was all about the domination of Sir Alex Ferguson and the defiance of Arsene Wenger. The animosity between the two clubs has mellowed down in recent years, firstly due to the transition of The Gunners from being title contenders to also-rans and then due to the departure of Sir Alex from the Theatre of Dreams.
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However, with the arrival of the Special One and the ascension of The Gunners into title challengers, the rivalry is once again expected to hit fever pitch today – especially considering the ‘substantial past’ that Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger share.
Two of the most successful club in the history of English football will cross paths at Old Trafford for the 224th time and it is the Red Devils of Manchester who have the better head-to-head record having registered 94 wins against the North London outfit as against to the 80 that Arsenal have been victorious in. The remaining 49 matches have seen the two giants share the spoils.
Wenger has never tasted success in the league against Mourinho and in fact, the Frenchman’s only victory over the Special One in 15 encounters came in the Community Shield of 2015. Not only does Mourinho have Wenger's number but he has also been the more successful of the two managers.
The Portuguese does not spare any opportunity to take a jibe at Le Professeur, from ‘voyeur’ to ‘Specialist in Failure’, Mourinho doesn’t believe in holding back, not against Wenger. The hatred is real, the animosity palpable. Wenger is one with enormous resolve and self-restrain but even he doesn’t desist when it comes to the Portuguese, having once famously said- “When you give success to stupid people, it makes them more stupid sometimes and not more intelligent.”
Wenger also resorted to shoving the ‘Special One’ at Stamford Bridge during a tense encounter with Chelsea in October of 2014, when The Blues recorded another win over The Gunners.
Today, once again it is about Wenger’s defiance, a defiance to get one over his nemesis, a defiance to end his horrid run at the Theatre of Dreams, a defiance to once again be counted amongst the elite, while for Mourinho, today is all about beating the ‘Specialist in failure’ – nothing more nothing less.
However, when it comes to these two clubs it is hardly ever restricted to two men. It encompasses hundreds of thousands of fans, millions of emotions, the history and tradition of the two clubs, their hatred, their mutual respect and above all – an unrelenting battle to be the best in England.
This may be Mourinho vs. Wenger version 2.0 but it is still the good old Manchester United vs. Arsenal.
And that’s the thing about great rivalries, they have intriguing and fascinating stats attached with them and here we look at the best of them:
#1 And so it began.... Manchester United 0 – 1 Arsenal (20th October 1990)
Arsenal travelled to Manchester United with one eye on the summit of the league table. The Gunners were second on the league table behind Liverpool were leading at half-time courtesy of a goal from midfielder Anders Limpar. The second half started and near the hour mark Limpar was subject to heavy pressure from United defender Denis Irwin and Arsenal full-back Nigel Winterburn put in a lunging tackle to stop the defender.
This resulted in a melee between the two set of players, wherein all 21 players except Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman were involved. Although the brawl lasted for only 20 seconds the punishment handed out by the FA to the two clubs was unprecedented. It is the only occasion in English football history when a team has been docked points for player misconduct.
The Gunners were docked 2 points while Manchester United were docked only 1 as Arsenal players had been involved in a 19-man brawl against Norwich City just a year before. Although the points deduction did not have much impact on the eventual league table as Arsenal romped to the title suffering only 1 loss during the entire campaign.
#2 Mourinho is the 3rd most successful manager against Wenger, Sir Alex is the first
Sir Alex Ferguson has recorded 15 league victories over the Frenchman during his legendary career as manager of the Red Devils. The Scot has more the twice the number of league victories against Wenger than any other manager has managed so far. Mark Hughes with 6 is at second place while Jose Mourinho with 5 has the opportunity to join Hughes at second place with a win later tonight.
Additionally, Mourinho has crossed paths with Wenger on 15 occasions, 11 times in the league, 2 times in the League Cup and twice in the Community Shield. The Arsenal manager has tasted defeat on 8 of these occasions with 6 of these matches ending in draws. Wenger did win once against Mourinho in the Community Shield of 2015.
#3 The Battle of Old Trafford: FA’s sanction of £175,000 against Arsenal was the largest ever for close to 13 years
It was during the nascent stage of the fabled Invincibles season of Arsenal when they travelled to Old Trafford looking to keep their then 7-match unbeaten run going. The first 80 minutes of the match were ominous to what was to follow. Patrick Vieira was sent off for a second bookable offense in the 80th minute before referee Steve Bennett awarded Manchester United a penalty in the last minute of the game for a foul on Diego Forlan by Martin Keown.
Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped up to take the spot kick as Jens Lehmann tried to put him off. The Dutchman crashed his penalty against the crossbard and all hell broke loose. Arsenal players Martin Keown, Lauren, Kolo Toure, Ray Parlour, and Ashely Cole confronted Van Nistelrooy with Keown jumping in front of him and Lauren pushing him on the back.
Although Van Nistelrooy was escorted away by Manchester United captain Roy Keane, the incident was far from over as other Red Devils players including Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo amongst others joining the melee.
In the aftermath of the incident, four Arsenal players were banned and sanctioned heavy fines, while Arsenal received a £175,000 fine by the FA – the largest ever in the history of the Football Association, until it was surpassed by Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea last season, who were fined £225,000 and £375,000 respectively.
Ashley Cole of Arsenal was also fined but was not suspended while Ronaldo and Giggs of Manchester United also received sanctions.
#4 Wayne Rooney and Arsenal – A love-hate story
Wayne Rooney is the leading scorer in the fixture during the Premier League era having scored 9 league goals against The Gunners – one more than Thierry Henry. The Manchester United captain has managed to score a total of 14 times against The Gunners during his career, his second best against any team after Aston Villa against whom he has bagged 15 goals.
However, that is not the only reason why Rooney loves Arsenal. The former Everton man scored his first ever Premier League goal against the Gunners, while he also scored his first ever league goal for Manchester United against Arsenal – to bring their 49 match unbeaten run to an end in controversial fashion in what has oft been described as ‘The Battle of Buffet’ and which led to the infamous ‘Pizzagate’ scandal.
It does not end here as Rooney also netted his 100th Premier League goal against Arsenal. He is only two shy of equalling Manchester United all-time top scorer Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 249 goals and what better opportunity to reach that landmark than against the Gunners.
#5 There is bad blood but it is far from the bloodiest rivalry in the Premier League
Arsenal and Manchester United have faced each other 48 times in the Premier League and eight players have been sent off in these matches. However, it is not the most feisty encounter – if you go by numbers – as the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton has witnessed 21 dismissals in 48 matches.
In fact, it is not even on the list of top 5 Premier League fixtures which has witnessed the most number of dismissals.
Read my good friend and fellow contributor, Anirudh Menon’s take on the era-defining rivalry between Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane. It rolls back all those years and is the perfect anecdote as we run the clock down for the epic showdown. One of the best things you will read today: SK Retro - The Red Mists of Keane and Vieira: A Tale of Two Captains
#6 The Last One
The last Arsenal player to score a winner against Manchester United in the Premier League was Emmanuel Adebayor in 2006, which was the last time that Arsene Wenger recorded a league win over the Red Devils in their own backyard. Ever since, he has managed to beat them only once, when former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored the winner against his former club in the quarter-final of the 2014/15 FA Cup – which The Gunners eventually won.
The last Arsenal player to score a goal against Jose Mourinho during his two stints as manager of Chelsea was their former captain Gilberto Silva, who scored from the spot kick in a 1-1 draw at The Emirates Stadium on 6th May 2007, which helped Manchester United win their first title since the 2002/03 season.
Arsene Wenger’s side failed to score against Jose Mourinho’s charges during his second spell with The Blues. The onus will be on the Arsenal players to put these two horrendous records to bed and help Wenger end the hoodoo of the Special One.
And some more....
# Arsenal have only ever recorded three wins at Old Trafford in the Premier League in 24 matches. The Gunners have managed to average only 0.63 points per game at the Theatre of Dreams, which is their joint-worst record at any stadium along with Hillsborough of Sheffield Wednesday.
# Arsenal are without a win in their last 9 Premier League visits to Old Trafford, having lost seven of those matches.
# Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Chelsea in 2004 coincides with the ongoing 12-year long league title drought of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal – Mourinho truly is his nemesis.
# Arsenal’s only Premier League away defeat in 2016 came in the 3-2 loss against the Red Devils on 28th February.
