Much Edu about nothing

By Fernando Duarte & Adrian Clarke

United victory
A controversial penalty, scored by Ruud van Nistelrooij, and a late Wayne Rooney strike gave United a 2-0 win, ending Arsenal's record 49-game unbeaten run in the Premiership. But tempers flared at the final whistle for the second year running, with Arsenal players expressing fury at referee Mike Riley, as well as the United players for their aggressive tackling throughout the 90 minutes.

The better team
Brazilian midfielder Edu was in the Arsenal side on Sunday, and he felt the Gunners were harshly treated at Old Trafford. "I think we played better than United on the day," he told uefa.com. "We had more possession than them throughout, but perhaps we did not make as many chances as we usually create. However, the referee's decisions decided the match."

Angry incidents
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger's criticism of what he saw as United's 'rough' treatment of his players has landed him in trouble with the Football Association, while Van Nistelrooij has already collected a three-match ban for serious foul play in the match, after making a dangerous challenge on England left-back Ashley Cole that was missed by the match officials.

Edu quibbles
Edu said: "I think we were a lot fairer in the tackles than United. José Antonio Reyes was being kicked all over the park - they were beating up the boy. And Gary Neville was tackling in such a way that he should have been sent off. I also thought Rio Ferdinand was fortunate to remain on the pitch after his challenge on Freddie Ljungberg as the last defender in the first half.

Intense competition
"The way both teams played showed that neither team wanted to give in and, of course, every time we meet it's going to be like that," Edu admitted. "It shows the intensity of the fight for dominance between us and that is good for the sport and the Premier League. The games are played with a lot of energy but I think some of the United players were malicious last Sunday."

Food fight
In the minutes that followed the final whistle at Old Trafford it has also been alleged that an unnamed Arsenal player threw pizza and soup at United's manager during a post-match row. However, Edu insists he did not witness anything being thrown at the United boss.

Soup thrown
"Afterwards, as we went down the tunnel, I saw people being pulled apart, people pushing, pointing and shouting," he claimed. "The United players were shouting at us and trying to wind us up about the result. But I didn't see any soup being thrown at anyone. To be honest, there was nothing I that haven't seen in the Brazilian derbies. Derby matches in Brazil are worse. I like to play in games like this with this intense rivalry."

Long-running rivalry