Pizzagate: How Arsenal’s Invincibles were finally beaten by Manchester United
For many Arsenal fans, The Invincibles team of 2003/04 remains the gold standard when it comes to the best Gunners teams of all-time.
Arsene Wenger’s charges went the entire season unbeaten in the Premier League, winning or drawing all 38 games of that season and overall, going 49 unbeaten.
Arsenal, at the time, looked very much like they’d never be beaten until a trip to Old Trafford awaited them on October 24th, 2004. At that point in history, Arsenal v Man United was very much the big fixtures in English football and tempers had already boiled over the season prior.
However, on this occasion, it would prove a bridge too far for Arsenal and ultimately, the unbeaten 49 match run would come to an end in dramatic fashion on and off the pitch.
Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run ended by Manchester United
There was a steely determination about this United side under Sir Alex Ferguson. It was almost as if Ferguson refused to let his big rivals and rival manager get to number 50 on home turf. And so it played out that way.
A Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty from a more than contentious penalty call from a clash between Sol Campbell and Wayne Rooney set United on their way, before Rooney himself converted in the 90th minute to put the Gunners to bed and end things once and for all.
However, the scoreline is really only half the story.
Arsenal felt the entire game was reffed to a poor standard, with Mike Riley under constant pressure from United’s players over the 90 minutes and a number of big calls going against the Gunners. Further, things also boiled over after the game, with one of the most infamous post-match incidents taking place.
Cesc Fabregas and the famous ‘Pizzagate’
There were reports at the time of a huge fracas in the tunnel at Old Trafford, with tempers boiling over and both sides coming to blows.
Naturally, it was the Arsenal squad who came off looking worse, with many suggesting sour grapes.
Of course, the big headline at the time was news of Sir Alex Ferguson being struck by some flying pizza, a story which – for over a decade – seemed to take different turns in terms of who was responsible.
However, eventually, Gunners legend and current FC Como boss Cesc Fabregas admitted that it was indeed him who was guilty.
Yes,” responded on A League of their Own when asked if he did it. “All of a sudden, I heard noises [in the tunnel] and I thought what’s happening? So I go out with my slice of pizza and I saw Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Martin Keown. Everyone pushing each other.”
“I was like I want to get involved but I don’t know how to and I just threw it. Once I saw who it was hitting… well, I didn’t mean it. I apologise Sir Alex, I really didn’t mean to do that!”
Nowadays, it seems unimaginable that we’d see such issues after a game and if there were, the amount of cameras and phones around would capture things.
Still, it’s always worth harking back to this rivalry and remembering just how bitter things got at its peak.