Man Utd black kit history v Arsenal

That was the night when Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira – the two finest central midfielders of their generation – went head-to-head in the tunnel, as English football’s foremost rivalry threatened to boil over, following years of simmering, bubbling resentment.

What followed was arguably the last truly great clash of the Ferguson and Wenger era.

There were to be eight more seasons of duels between the two managers, but this blood-and-thunder encounter is seen by many as the closing of a chapter, three months before Chelsea broke the United-Arsenal stranglehold on the title.

The Gunners led at half-time, 2-1, and watching the match back you’re struck by how physical it is, with referee Graham Poll letting several challenges go that would surely be contenders for straight reds in the modern game.