
Martin Keown has an apology in 2003 to Ruud van Nistelrooy for his 'Shenanigans' in the 'Battle of Old Trafford', prior to the Arsenal match against Leicester on Saturday afternoon.
The former rivals were famous in an incident in September 2003, in a competition between Man United and Arsenal, where Keown was fined for the Standen van Nistelrooy at the back.
The Gunners became second in the Premier League table, with an unbeaten record that stretched until the end of the previous season, while United was in the third behind them.
The affair reached its boiling point when the Red Devils received a last-minute penalty after Keown Diego Forlan polluted. After Van Nistelrooy missed the Spot-Kick, Keown jumped towards him and laughed in his face.
But more than 20 years after the iconic event, Keown and Van Nistelrooy tried to bury the Hatchet on live television. The two exchanged polite features before they reminded awkwardly of the events of that game.
“Good to see,” Van Nistelrooy said, smiling as he extended his arm for a handshake.
“Nice to see you after all these years,” Keown replied. “Apologies for all Shenanigans who went back previous day.”
Van Nistelrooy was cheerful and insisted that antics from the match days of the duo should be left in the past.
'What happens on the field stays on the field. I'm glad I have him in front of me and not behind me. It was a good rivalry, right? “The Leicester -Baas asked Keown.
'Oh, great days. I am happy that you are standing there and not beside me because you used to be stamping on me, “the former Arsenal Center replied.
“I would also like to block you and then fall over,” chuckled Van Nistelrooy.
The tensions during the 'Battle of Old Trafford' were fed by an incident earlier in the match, when Van Nistelrooy collided with Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira, which led to the Frenchman who received a second yellow card and was sent.
Arsenal players felt that Van Nistelrooy exaggerated the contact, while Vieira kicked him out, but actually made no contact.
After Van Nistelrooy had missed his sentence, Keown was the first to confront him and was part of a herd of Arsenal players to taunt him after the full-time whistle.
Lauren, Ray Parlor, Ashley Cole and Kolo Toure all joined the former England defender in the surrounding Van Nistelrooy.
Keown jumped up Van Nistelrooy and seemed to hit the Dutchman with his forearm. Lauren pushed Van Nistelrooy, while Parlor and Cole both offered verbally abuse and also pushed him.
The United Frontman did not respond to the chaos and just walked away, but the situation escalated when players from both teams clashed.
Roy Keane guided Van Nistelrooy away from the situation, but many other united players came to the conflict in his defense.
Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gary Neville, Mikael Silvestre, Quinton Fortune and Rio Ferdinand all bumped with the Arsenal Squad.
The Melee resulted in several forbidden and fines; Keown received a ban from three games and a fine of £ 20,000.
Lauren had four games and had to cough up £ 40,000, while Parlor and Vieira were also accused of incorrect behavior and each missed a competition.
For United, Giggs received a fine of £ 7,500 and Ronaldo a fine of £ 4,000, along with a warning to think in the future.
Arsenal as a club was fined £ 175,000 for 'failing to guarantee the correct behavior of their players'.
In the end, the reimbursement was a minuscule financial setback, when the Gunners were crowned Premier League champions such as the 'Invincibles' in 2003-04, with £ 17.25 million in prize money.
Now Van Nistelrooy has changed the highlights of Vechten for Premier League titles as a player for navigating a fight to survive in the top flight with Leicester.
His side was able to climb out of the relegation zone on Saturday with a victory over Arsenal on Saturday.
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