FA Premiership/Arsenal 2 Manchester United 4: A spirited and inexhaustible Manchester United cannot have given hope of the title after this. Their powers of recovery were immense last night as, buoyed by a pair of Cristiano Ronaldo goals, they twice came from behind to beat Arsenal, despite the dismissal of Mikael Silvestre for butting Freddie Ljungberg when 21 minutes still remained.
In the 89th minute, the substitute John O'Shea even scored again with a fine chip to almost certainly end Arsenal's interest in the Premiership title race.
This amount of ill-will could never be squeezed into a paltry 90 minutes, and the tunnel proved to be an overflow area for that animosity prior to kick-off. The respective captains,, Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane, squabbled and had to be separated before the referee Graham Poll lectured them.
United's midfielder seemed to say to his opposite number that he would "see you out there".
The first extended view Keane would have of him, however, featured Vieira wheeling away in celebration. It is rare indeed for Arsenal to score from a corner, but this was an uncommon night and the Frenchman got in front of Gabriel Heinze to head in Thierry Henry's corner after just eight minutes.
Keane's warning to Vieira briefly looked like an embarrassment, but everyone who had spoken heatedly seemed to be in danger of being forced to rue. Campbell, so frank about the yearning for revenge before the match, did inadvertent harm to Arsenal's cause at United's equaliser in the 18th minute.
The determined Paul Scholes charged down his clearance and then picked out Wayne Rooney on the left. The teenager showed a perfection of touch in a first-time cut-back that was swept into the net, with a deflection off Ashley Cole, by the charging Ryan Giggs.
There was a generous helping of disputes, yet the game still contrived to provide equal servings of skill. Rooney, deployed as an out-and-out centre-forward, embodied the divided character of the evening. He showed pace and touch, but was booked for persistent fouling and looked as if he was verging on a red card for dissent.
For Arsenal, Dennis Bergkamp was full of subtlety and enthusiasm from the fourth minute, when he slipped through a pass that Roy Carroll only just blocked with his feet.
When, after 35 minutes, Rio Ferdinand stood off to let Henry take a Vieira pass and turn, Bergkamp charged through on the right to fire home through Carroll's legs from an angle.
Arsenal might also have had a penalty by then since Mikael Silvestre seemed to make contact with Robert Pires as the midfielder ran across him in the 22nd minute, but Arsenal could be content with a first half in which they had enjoyed the better of the contest.
United's squad has a depth of talent to compare with Chelsea's, but Alex Ferguson has still to find a compromise between a sense of security and natural attacking instinct. Knowing how much more effective his team have been since they beat Arsenal in October, though, Ferguson did have the mischievousness to propose that Wenger would share his view that United and Chelsea are the best teams at the moment. The Frenchman, of course, would never offer such grovelling assent.
Wenger's side, however, must be aware that a degree of vulnerability is as inescapable a part of their nature as panache. Their lack of cover on the flanks was to be exposed ruthlessly as Ronaldo quickly scored twice to rush the visitors in the lead.
With Rooney and then Giggs, with impeccable technique, moving the play to the left in the 55th minute, the Portuguese winger charged clear and drove low beyond Manuel Almunia from an angle.
The momentum of United could not readily be checked and, from a short free-kick, Rooney hit the woodwork seconds before Arsenal's resistance was snapped once more.
Pires lost possession after 58 minutes and Keane angled a pass inside Cole. The full back had no hope of catching the sprinting Giggs, but Almunia induced a crisis by bolting out to the wing and once the United winger had clipped a low cross beyond him Ronaldo slipped the ball into the net.
The Portuguese became a luxury after United were reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of Silvestre in the 69th minute. The centre back first threw Bergkamp to the ground and then butted Ljungberg.
Wes Brown then had to be brought on to reinforce the defence, but United, impelled by Keane, scarcely looked discouraged.
This was a gripping contest, yet the ugliness of Silvestre's offence also characterised the occasion.
Guardian Service
ARSENAL: Almunia, Lauren (Fabregas 83), Campbell (Hoyte 79), Cygan, Cole, Ljungberg, Flamini (Reyes 70), Vieira, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry. Subs Not Used: Lehmann, Van Persie. Booked: Pires, Reyes. Goals: Vieira 8, Bergkamp 36.
MAN UTD: Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Fletcher (O'Shea 61), Keane, Scholes, Ronaldo (Brown 70), Rooney, Giggs (Saha 77). Subs Not Used: Howard, Phil Neville. Sent Off: Silvestre (69). Booked: Heinze, Giggs, Rooney, Ronaldo. Goals: Giggs 18, Ronaldo 54, 58, O'Shea 89.
Referee: G Poll (Hertfordshire).
