25 January 2024 , 09:05
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Gary Neville claims his former England team-mate Ashley Cole swore in his face during Manchester United's memorable victory against Arsenal in February 2005.
It's almost 19 years since the Red Devils won 4-2 at Highbury, Arsenal's former ground, in one of the Premier League's greatest games. United and the Gunners were the two biggest clubs in England at the time, having shared the last nine league titles between them.
The match is remembered for a famous pre-match tunnel bust-up between United captain Roy Keane and Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira, in which Keane said to his opposite number while pointing: "See you out there. Shut your mouth, you."
Tensions were high between the two clubs after their previous meeting at Old Trafford in October 2004, which is remembered as the 'Battle of the Buffet' or 'Pizzagate' after food was launched at United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in the tunnel at full-time. Ferguson's side won that game 2-0 to end Arsenal's record-breaking unbeaten run of 49 league games.
United then completed a double over Arsenal in their Highbury meeting. Vieira, having shrugged off his pre-match row with Keane, nodded the hosts into the lead. Ryan Giggs equalised for the visitors before Dennis Bergkamp made it 2-1 to Arsenal at half-time.
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Yet United rallied after the break. Cristiano Ronaldo, in just his second season in England, equalised before completing his brace to give United the lead. Then, to cap off the victory, John O'Shea chipped Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to make it 4-2.
United legend Neville recalled his team's win at Highbury in the latest episode of Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet. He claims that Arsenal defender Cole screamed in his face after Arsenal took the lead, despite the pair being international team-mates.
"The tunnel game at Arsenal - they were so fired up before the game," said Neville. "Arsenal scored the first goal - it was 4-2, we (United) won in the end.
"I’m literally sat next to Ashley Cole in the dressing room for England, for six, seven, eight years, and Ash comes up to me screaming in my face, 'you f******', after they score the first goal. Cole - the most placid, brilliant lad - I’m like, 'What the f***?' A couple of weeks later, you’re literally sat there next to him shaking hands. There was so much going on!"
Neville claims Cole screamed in his face (Stick to Football)Do you remember Manchester United's 4-2 win against Arsenal in February 2005? Let us know in the comments below!
That memorable game cropped into the conversation when Neville - sitting alongside Keane, Jill Scott, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Frank Lampard - discussed why England never won silverware under Sven-Goran Eriksson between 2001 and 2006.
Eriksson, who recently announced he is battling terminal cancer, boasted one of the best international teams in the world at the time, which included the likes of Neville, Cole, Carragher, Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen.
Eriksson's side were dubbed England's 'Golden Generation', but they never got beyond the quarter-finals. One of the reasons why the Three Lions always struggled was due to their club loyalties, as players struggled to forget about their league rivalries when reporting for international duty.
Carragher explained: "Within that rivalry, if you thought of Chelsea at that time, it was you (Lampard) and John (Terry). It wasn’t just like you were in the team - so Liverpool was me and Stevie (Gerrard), Neville was like the 'Class of ’92' (at United). So it wasn’t just the teams who were against each other, it was the big figures within those teams."