The Arsenal-Manchester United feud rolls on.
Two days after Man U’s 2-0 win at Old Trafford, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger accused the Red Devils of betraying the ”spirit” of the game and marring English soccer’s image around the globe.
Sunday’s match, which ended Arsenal’s record unbeaten streak of 49 games in the Premier League, was overshadowed by accusations of vicious fouls, cheating, refereeing mistakes and a disputed penalty.
”This game has been watched in 75 countries and English football had the opportunity to let football talk on the pitch,” Wenger said on Tuesday. ”When football is not played in the right spirit, you cannot agree with it.”
Wenger claimed he didn’t see the scuffles between opposing players and coaches in the stadium tunnel after the match.
Man U manager Alex Ferguson reportedly had soup, sandwiches and pizza thrown over him — which was used to explain why he had changed out of a suit into a tracksuit for a post-match television interview.
Newspapers reported on Tuesday that Wenger sparked the melee by screaming obscenities at Ferguson.
”It’s a long story — nothing happened so there’s no story,” Wenger said. ”I don’t know about food throwing. I did not see if something was thrown — you’ll have to ask someone else because I don’t know.”
Wenger said only Ferguson could say what happened in the tunnel.
”Why should I know what happened to Alex Ferguson’s shirt?” he said. ”Ferguson should know and he should say so.”
Wenger criticised Manchester United’s rough tactics on the pitch and said referee Mike Riley failed to control the game.
Wenger accused United striker Wayne Rooney of ”diving” to get the second-half penalty that changed the game. Arsenal defender Sol Campbell stuck out his left leg but video replays showed he made little, if any, contact with Rooney. Ruud van Nistelrooy converted the penalty kick. Rooney added the second goal in injury time.
Wenger said Arsenal’s Jose Antonio Reyes was ”kicked off the park” by United tacklers.
”I respect Manchester United and the referee — but on this occasion I feel they did not like playing the game with the spirit we tried to play,” Wenger said.
”I don’t want to accuse the referee — he did the job as well as he could — but I think the game should be played in the right spirit.”
Also on Tuesday, Van Nistelrooy pleaded guilty to ”serious foul play” for digging his cleats into the knee of Arsenal’s Ashley Cole. The Dutch forward accepted a three-match ban from the Football Association (FA) and apologised to Cole, who was not seriously injured.
”Throughout my 10-year career I believe my disciplinary record is very good, not only for Manchester United but at all my previous clubs,” Van Nistelrooy said. ”I accept the charge brought by the FA and I take full responsibility for this incident.
”However, there was no deliberate intent to harm Ashley Cole and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to him.”
The FA is also investigating the tunnel scuffle dubbed ”Soupgate” and the ”Battle of the Buffet” by the British media.
”There is no strict time frame for this kind of issue,” FA spokesperson Andrin Cooper said. ”We are looking to gather information from different sources and will see whether we are able to put together a picture of what happened in the tunnel after the game.”
Wenger has until Monday to clarify to the FA the remarks he made about Riley and Van Nistelrooy.
”I don’t think I have said anything wrong,” he said.
Arsenal still lead the Premier League, holding a two-point advantage over Chelsea and an eight-point cushion over fifth-place United. — Sapa-AP