Battle of the Buffet

The "Battle of the Buffet" is a name used by the British press to refer to a memorable Premier League match played on Sunday, 24 October 2004 between Manchester United and Arsenal. Originally this fixture was known as "The Battle of Old Trafford II", in reference to a previous fixture which gained the name, but this quickly fell out of common use before it became better known at the time of the match as the "Battle of the buffet".

Background

The equivalent fixture the previous season was a goalless draw, notable for Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy missing a last-minute penalty before a confrontation involving himself and several Arsenal players, especially Martin Keown. The ill feeling was originally sparked by an incident between Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Vieira; having been fouled by van Nistelrooy, Vieira aimed a kick in retaliation, although did not make contact, he was still sent off for a second bookable offence. Van Nistelrooy was accused by both Vieira and Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, of feigning contact to get Vieira sent off, while United manager Alex Ferguson defended his player and denied he had dived. In the wake of the match, four Arsenal players received bans after the incident and were given fines totalling £275,000 by the FA. Two Manchester United players were also fined for improper conduct, with a third warned...
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