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Manchester United vs. Arsenal: Top five matches

Sports Mole picks out five of the best Old Trafford matches between Manchester United and Chelsea.

Tomorrow afternoon league leaders Arsenal will travel to champions Manchester United.

It is a fixture that has been littered with goals and incidents aplenty down the years.

With that in mind, Sports Mole has picked out five of the most memorable clashes between the two rivals that have been played at Old Trafford.

1. Man United 0-1 Arsenal, October 1990

Many believe that the fierce rivalry between these clubs was not formed until Arsene Wenger arrived to manage the Gunners in 1996. It did in fact boil over six years earlier when every player (minus David Seaman) was involved in a brawl after Arsenal full-back Nigel Winterburn had gone in late on United's Denis Irwin. Amazingly, no-one was red-carded, but Arsenal were deducted two points, while United lost one. In terms of the football, Anders Limpar scored the only goal of the game when his effort from a narrow angle was adjudged to have crossed the line.

2. Man United 6-1 Arsenal, February 2001

In previous years, Arsenal had been famed for being built on solid foundations. However, they made the trip to Old Trafford on this occasion with a back four that included Oleg Luzhny, Gilles Grimandi and Igor Stepanovs. The hosts took full advantage as Dwight Yorke scored a hat-trick within the opening 22 minutes, while Roy Keane and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer added further goals before the break. Teddy Sheringham rounded off the scoring in the closing stages as Frenchman Thierry Henry bagged Arsenal's goal. The win moved United 16 points clear at the summit.

3. Man United 0-1 Arsenal, May 2002

Just four days after they had won the FA Cup against Chelsea, Arsenal wrapped up their 12th title at the home of the previous season's champions. Some Arsenal supporters had not taken to Sylvain Wiltord, largely because they had expected more from the club's record signing. He made himself a hero on this night, though, as he pounced on a rebound to score the only goal of the game shortly after the restart. It was a triumph that sparked the song from the Arsenal faithful: "We won the league in Manchester".

4. Man United 2-0 Arsenal, October 2004

By this point, there was pure hatred between the two sets of players. The meeting during the previous season had seen numerous players suspended and fined following a clash after the match had finished. Arsenal made the trip this time around having been unbeaten from their last 49 Premier League encounters. The story goes that they actually had '50 not out' T-shirts underneath their match jerseys. That message never saw the light of day, though, as a penalty from Ruud van Nistelrooy and a late strike from Wayne Rooney sealed a 2-0 win for United. Further altercations took place in the dressing rooms, which saw Sir Alex Ferguson splattered with pizza that had allegedly been thrown by Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

5. Man United 8-2 Arsenal, August 2011

Wenger must have believed that it could not have got any worse than the 6-1 defeat from 2001, but it did two years ago. Rooney, who has a habit of scoring against the North Londoners, netted a hat-trick, while a brace from Ashley Young, accompanied by goals scored by Danny Welbeck, Nani and Park Ji-Sung compounded Arsenal's misery. From the away side's point of view, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott found the net, but there was also a red card for young defender Carl Jenkinson.

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Arsenal's French striker Olivier Giroud and German midfielder Mesut Ozil react after Borussia Dortmund score their second goal during the UEFA Champions League Group F football match between Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund at the Emirates Stadium, north Lon
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool29271166214582
2Manchester CityMan City28183768313757
3Leicester CityLeicester29165858283053
4Chelsea29146951391248
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd29129844301445
6Wolverhampton WanderersWolves29101364134743
7Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd28111073025543
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs29118104740741
9Arsenal2891364036440
10Burnley29116123440-639
11Crystal Palace29109102632-639
12Everton29107123746-937
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2998122541-1635
14Southampton29104153552-1734
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton29611123240-829
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2976163550-1527
17Watford2969142744-1727
18Bournemouth2976162947-1827
19Aston Villa2874173456-2225
20Norwich CityNorwich2956182552-2721

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