ROBBED

BY CIARAN SHAW

Most people associate painful football memories with sadness, but the one I want to talk about is an angry one; a moment in Arsenal’s history that filled me with more football rage than I’ve ever experienced. I'm talking about the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in 2004, the game which brought our undefeated run to an end in its 49th game.

Even now when I think about that game, talk about that afternoon or watch any glimpses of the highlights it takes me right back to the moment; the moment when Gary Neville should have been sent off countless times, the moment when I felt nothing but pity for Jose Antonio Reyes for being bullied and assaulted on that pitch and the moment when Wayne Rooney dived like the little, slimy git that he is to finish the game off.

I have never, in my entire football watching life, seen a more one sided display by a referee! (Even writing about it now is making me mad) How almost every decision was wrongly made and that referee still has a job is beyond me (I refuse to write his name).

The aftermath was horrendous as well. People turning on us Gooners, accusing us of being bitter at the end of a run which had lasted nearly two years and saying that we couldn't face the fact that there was a better team than us now. That was not the case!

Had we been outplayed by Manchester United, if Ferguson’s men had proved themselves the better football side on the pitch I’d have tipped my hat at them. That wasn’t the case though and it never will be. It pains me to think how long we could've gone unbeaten and how a truly great achievement could have been even more spectacular.

Oh well, it's not like Rooney is still getting away with stuff like that and United keep getting preferential treatment from referees... oh wait.