Top 5 Manchester United vs Arsenal Premier League matches at Old Trafford

This Sunday, November 1st, Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford as the two sides meet competitively for the 233rd time.

The last time this fixture took place was September 2019 – a 1-1 draw played in front of over 73,000 people.

But Sunday’s encounter will be like no other previously played between the two clubs at Old Trafford, as those 73,000 seats lye empty due to COVID-19 restrictions.

But that will not take anything away from the fact that since the late 1990s and early 2000s, United and Arsenal’s rivalry has become one of the fiercest in English football.

Ferguson v Wenger. Keane v Vieira. Clashes between the two clubs over the last 25 years are as infamous for events off the pitch as those on it.

In a 2009 interview, Ferguson revealed that the bitter rivalry was born in January 1987 after United ended Arsenal’s 22-game unbeaten run under George Graham. The Gunners’ frustrations boiled over and David Rocastle was sent off for retaliating to a Norman Whiteside tackle.

Three years later, the fixture’s reputation as a heated encounter gathered momentum after both teams were docked points as punishment for a 21-man brawl following a full-blooded Nigel Winterburn tackle.

The arrival of Wenger at Arsenal in 1996 only intensified the bad blood between the north west and the capital.

Wenger’s second meeting with United in 1997 saw the Frenchman experience how hate-filled the fixture had become.

Ian Wright’s two-footed tackle on Peter Schmeichel left the Dane in a crumpled heap and provoked a furious reaction from Ferguson.

Moving into the 2000s and the face-off between captains Keane and Vieira, and managers Ferguson and Wenger came to a head.

Here are our top five classic Premier League Matches between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford…

5. Manchester United 6-1 Arsenal – February 25, 2001

These two great clubs had played out so many close encounters but, after winning the Premier League in 1999 and 2000, the Red Devils dismantled the Gunners on their way to a third straight top-flight crown in February 2001.

Dwight Yorke netted a hat-trick inside the opening 21 minutes, while further goals from Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham made it a terrible day at the office for Wenger’s side.

The victory took United 16 points clear at the top of the table but – just over 12 months later – you will see that Arsenal won the next battle.

4. Manchester United 0-0 Arsenal – September 21, 2003

While you would be forgiven for questioning a goalless encounter in our top five, this match was so fiercely contested it later became known as the Battle of Old Trafford.

Late in the second-half, Vieira was controversially sent off after kicking out at Van Nistelrooy.

Then, in the 90th minute, the home side were awarded a penalty after Martin Keown dragged down Diego Forlan.

Van Nistelrooy, the recipient of several choice words from the Arsenal players following Vieira’s sending off, smashed the penalty against the bar.

As the final whistle blew, Keown, Parlour, Lauren et al surrounded the disconsolate Van Nistelrooy, who quickly made his way off the pitch.

3. Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal – May 8, 2002

It was at Old Trafford in May 2002 that Arsenal claimed their second Premier League title – the same ground where their hosts had lifted the trophy just a year earlier.

Sylvain Wiltord’s 56th minute strike on his 100th Arsenal performance was enough for the Gunners to complete their second league and FA Cup double under Wenger.

On a historic day in Manchester, Wenger’s side became the first team since Preston North End in 1888-89 to remain unbeaten in their away games in a completed season in the top division, while also setting a club record of eight consecutive away wins.

2. Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal – August 28, 2011

Arsenal suffered their heaviest league loss in 84 years as Wenger and Ferguson met for the 50th time in all competitions.

The Gunners’ search for their first win of the 2011/12 campaign looked a lost cause by half-time, United 4-1 up.

No parallels could be drawn to Arsenal’s title winning squads, packed with leaders such as Tony Adams, Ray Parlour and Kolo Toure, who would never have allowed an 8-2 defeat to Ferguson’s United on their watch.

Wenger described the game as “humiliating”, but the victory was the first of three occasions where Ferguson would get one over his opposite number in the Scot’s final two seasons as United boss.

1. Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal – October 24, 2004

The day United ended Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run, but this game’s result tells only a fraction of the story that day, later to be known as the Battle of the Buffet.

Two second-half goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney sealed the points for the Red Devils during a fiercely contested match at Old Trafford.

As the players, coaching staff and officials made their way down the tunnel after the final whistle, a scuffle broke out which resulted in United boss Ferguson being pelted with a slice of pizza from the Gunners’ dressing room.

The identity of the culprit remained a mystery for more than a decade, before Cesc Fabregas revealed in 2017 that he threw the pizza.