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Wow. Thats the article if you want to read up on it.
MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 on Sunday to end the champions' record run of 49 unbeaten Premier League matches and re-ignite their own title challenge.
Rooney (left) had quite a 19th birthday.
A controversial Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty and a late Wayne Rooney goal secured a priceless victory for United, who became the first team to beat the Gunners in the league since Leeds United on May 4, 2003.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt the penalty, awarded when Rooney tripped over defender Sol Campbell's outstretched leg, had decided the match.
"I don't think there was any contact and I feel today we were a little bit robbed," Wenger told reporters. "They got their usual penalty against us as they did last year and I am not happy about it. I feel we were the better team.
"The penalty was the turning-point in the game but I would rather congratulate my team for going 49 matches unbeaten."
The two Premier League heavyweights had slugged it out toe-to-toe in pouring rain in front of a passionate crowd of almost 68,000 without creating any clear chances until Rooney tripped over his England teammate Campbell with 17 minutes remaining.
Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy, who hit the bar with a penalty in the goalless draw in last season's corresponding fixture, found the target in the 73rd minute by sending goalkeeper Jens Lehmann the wrong way with a low shot to his left.
Rooney completed the win -- and capped a memorable 19th birthday -- with a breakaway goal three minutes into injury time created by substitutes Louis Saha and Alan Smith. The England forward scored with ease from close-range to send Old Trafford into ecstasy.
United manager Alex Ferguson saw the penalty incident differently to Wenger.
"He was brought down in the box wasn't he? That's a penalty," the Scot said.
"It was an important victory. It's a great boost, we've been drawing too many games and, hopefully, we can get on a run now because we need wins to get alongside Arsenal."
Arsenal still lead the league on 25 points from 10 matches, two clear of Chelsea, but United are back in contention on 17 and have not lost in 13 league and cup matches since a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on the season's opening day.
Rooney, coincidentally, had helped end a previous Arsenal unbeaten run when, as an Everton player, he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Arsenal in October 2002 which halted the Gunners' 30-match streak without defeat.
This epic tussle, prematurely hyped as the league championship decider as well as the match of the decade, was certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Tackles flew in, the play flowed from end to end and referee Mike Riley worked overtime to keep temperatures under control. He did well to keep the bookings down to five, though Wenger complained about the harsh treatment received by his Spanish striker Jose Antonio Reyes.
"Reyes was kicked off the park in the first half, I was very disappointed with that," Wenger said.
Arsenal's prolific forwards for once failed to find the net but United deserved the three points to put themselves back in contention to win back the title they have claimed eight times in the past 12 seasons.
It was Arsenal's first defeat in any competition for 22 matches since Chelsea won 2-1 at Highbury in the Champions League quarterfinals last April. The loss also ended Arsenal's astonishing unbeaten away league record of 27 games stretching back to a defeat at Blackburn Rovers in March 2003.
In other EPL action Sunday, Newcastle United secured a last-gasp 4-3 home win over Manchester City, Middlesbrough drew 1-1 with Portsmouth and Southampton versus Birmingham City ended goalless.
It was deja vu time for Kevin Keegan at St James' Park when he saw his Manchester City team suffer an agonizing last-minute defeat at his former club. Newcastle fans were used to seven-goal thrillers under Keegan in the 1990s, usually going the way of the opposition, but this time it was Newcastle that took the points with an 89th-minute winner by villain-turned-hero Craig Bellamy.
Middlesbrough, seeking its third win in eight days, did more than enough to secure it but had to be content with a draw.
Middlesbrough made several good chances, usually to be foiled by goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. But it was the keeper's blunder that eventually let Middlesbrough in as Hislop allowed a low shot by Stewart Downing to squirm through his arms in the 74th minute.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlin...314291&cc=5739
MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 on Sunday to end the champions' record run of 49 unbeaten Premier League matches and re-ignite their own title challenge.
Rooney (left) had quite a 19th birthday.
A controversial Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty and a late Wayne Rooney goal secured a priceless victory for United, who became the first team to beat the Gunners in the league since Leeds United on May 4, 2003.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger felt the penalty, awarded when Rooney tripped over defender Sol Campbell's outstretched leg, had decided the match.
"I don't think there was any contact and I feel today we were a little bit robbed," Wenger told reporters. "They got their usual penalty against us as they did last year and I am not happy about it. I feel we were the better team.
"The penalty was the turning-point in the game but I would rather congratulate my team for going 49 matches unbeaten."
The two Premier League heavyweights had slugged it out toe-to-toe in pouring rain in front of a passionate crowd of almost 68,000 without creating any clear chances until Rooney tripped over his England teammate Campbell with 17 minutes remaining.
Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy, who hit the bar with a penalty in the goalless draw in last season's corresponding fixture, found the target in the 73rd minute by sending goalkeeper Jens Lehmann the wrong way with a low shot to his left.
Rooney completed the win -- and capped a memorable 19th birthday -- with a breakaway goal three minutes into injury time created by substitutes Louis Saha and Alan Smith. The England forward scored with ease from close-range to send Old Trafford into ecstasy.
United manager Alex Ferguson saw the penalty incident differently to Wenger.
"He was brought down in the box wasn't he? That's a penalty," the Scot said.
"It was an important victory. It's a great boost, we've been drawing too many games and, hopefully, we can get on a run now because we need wins to get alongside Arsenal."
Arsenal still lead the league on 25 points from 10 matches, two clear of Chelsea, but United are back in contention on 17 and have not lost in 13 league and cup matches since a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on the season's opening day.
Rooney, coincidentally, had helped end a previous Arsenal unbeaten run when, as an Everton player, he scored the winner in a 2-1 victory over Arsenal in October 2002 which halted the Gunners' 30-match streak without defeat.
This epic tussle, prematurely hyped as the league championship decider as well as the match of the decade, was certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Tackles flew in, the play flowed from end to end and referee Mike Riley worked overtime to keep temperatures under control. He did well to keep the bookings down to five, though Wenger complained about the harsh treatment received by his Spanish striker Jose Antonio Reyes.
"Reyes was kicked off the park in the first half, I was very disappointed with that," Wenger said.
Arsenal's prolific forwards for once failed to find the net but United deserved the three points to put themselves back in contention to win back the title they have claimed eight times in the past 12 seasons.
It was Arsenal's first defeat in any competition for 22 matches since Chelsea won 2-1 at Highbury in the Champions League quarterfinals last April. The loss also ended Arsenal's astonishing unbeaten away league record of 27 games stretching back to a defeat at Blackburn Rovers in March 2003.
In other EPL action Sunday, Newcastle United secured a last-gasp 4-3 home win over Manchester City, Middlesbrough drew 1-1 with Portsmouth and Southampton versus Birmingham City ended goalless.
It was deja vu time for Kevin Keegan at St James' Park when he saw his Manchester City team suffer an agonizing last-minute defeat at his former club. Newcastle fans were used to seven-goal thrillers under Keegan in the 1990s, usually going the way of the opposition, but this time it was Newcastle that took the points with an 89th-minute winner by villain-turned-hero Craig Bellamy.
Middlesbrough, seeking its third win in eight days, did more than enough to secure it but had to be content with a draw.
Middlesbrough made several good chances, usually to be foiled by goalkeeper Shaka Hislop. But it was the keeper's blunder that eventually let Middlesbrough in as Hislop allowed a low shot by Stewart Downing to squirm through his arms in the 74th minute.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlin...314291&cc=5739
I thought i had become mad :P
Good luck trying tho.
its only one loss
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