Edu confirms tunnel fracas took place
Brazil midfielder Edu has admitted there was an altercation between Manchester United and Arsenal players after last Sunday’s controversial Old Trafford encounter.
The Gunners’ 49-game unbeaten Premiership run ended with goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy, who converted a hotly-contested penalty, and Wayne Rooney.
It has since been reported that Alex Ferguson subsequently had soup and pizza thrown at him by a so far unidentified member of the Arsenal squad in the tunnel.
The FA are trying to establish what happened and, although Arsene Wenger has dismissed the incident as “nothing happened”, Edu has shed some light on the matter.
He told www.uefa.com: “Afterwards, as we went down the tunnel, I saw people being pulled apart, people pushing, pointing and shouting.
“The United players were shouting at us and trying to wind us up about the result. But I didn’t see any soup being thrown at anyone.
“To be honest, there was nothing that I haven’t seen in the Brazilian derbies. Derby matches in Brazil are worse. I like to play in games like this with this intense rivalry.”
Arsenal chairman David Dein has reportedly had peace talks with the United board in a bid to put a lid on the bitter dispute which has raged between the two clubs since last weekend.
However, Edu reopened the war of words as he added: “I think we were a lot fairer in the tackles than United. Jose Antonio Reyes was being kicked all over the park – they were beating up the boy. And Gary Neville was tackling in such a way that he should have been sent off.
“I also thought Rio Ferdinand was fortunate to remain on the pitch after his challenge on Freddie Ljungberg as the last defender in the first half.
“The way both teams played showed that neither team wanted to give in and, of course, every time we meet it’s going to be like that.
“It shows the intensity of the fight for dominance between us and that is good for the sport and the Premier League. The games are played with a lot of energy but I think some of the United players were malicious last Sunday.”
Van Nistelrooy has already been banned for three matches for his horror tackle on Ashley Cole while the FA have asked Wenger to explain his post-match comments about the Dutch striker and referee Mike Riley.
Meanwhile, United legend George Best has revealed his disdain for the perpetrators of the food fight.
Best dismissed the antics as “childish” and insisted his generation would have dealt with the situation in a very different manner.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “That’s what children do – throw food. That’s not fighting. We were real men. We’d have chinned them.”
