Wayne Rooney makes brutal dig at ‘lazy’ Sol Campbell for infamous penalty that ended Arsenal Invincibles run
Wayne Rooney had a cheeky dig at Sol Campbell about THAT moment that ended Arsenal’s Invincibles run.
Manchester United stopped the Gunners’ unbeaten run at 49 games in what was a controversial clash at Old Trafford back in 2004.
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There were accusations that Rooney dived to win a penalty after Campbell had dangled a leg out, meanwhile, the Man United players were criticised for their physicality, especially against then-Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes.
The forward scored that day as United won 2-0 and stopped Arsenal from reaching the half century of unbeaten Premier League matches. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the controversial penalty.
Rooney was asked about that on Sky Sports ahead of Man United vs Arsenal on Sunday.
Host Dave Jones said: "Twenty years on, are we sure that VAR wouldn’t have checked that first one?”
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Rooney said: “No, Sol was lazy wasn’t he, he hung his leg out.”
Roy Keane added: “You were like Tom Daley.”
Rooney continued: “You get taught, if a defender hangs his leg out then he gives you the opportunity to go down.”
Jones said: “There’s only two people who knows if there was contact, you and Sol Campbell. So was there contact?”
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Rooney replied: “I think there’s one who definitely knows if there was contact. That was Sol.”
That game at Old Trafford in 2004 was also infamous for the scenes that happened in the tunnel.
It became known as 'Pizza-gate’ as a slice of pizza was thrown at Sir Alex Ferguson, which it later turned out to be a 17-year-old Cesc Fabregas.
Rooney had a strong record against Arsenal in his career, and no other Man United player has scored more (9) than him in the Premier League era.
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He added: “I used to love playing against Arsenal and scored quite a few goals against them.
“They were big games and Arsenal were always good teams, who moved the ball well. You had to be organised.
“The amount of times we hit them on the break, because they were so organised. I enjoyed playing against them and scored a few.”