'I lit the powderkeg,' reveals Vieira of tunnel bust-up with United
Arsenal legend picked on 'weakest link' Gary Neville, says Roy Keane in documentary
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has revealed he started the infamous tunnel row between the Gunners and Manchester United in 2005.
Vieira sparked a hostile exchange between the two bitter rivals at Highbury as the players lined up in the tunnel ahead of kick-off.
The bust-up was partially captured by television cameras, with United’s Roy Keane responding angrily after Vieira exchanged words with Gary Neville.
So I said to him ‘if you touch Robert, I will come after you'
United went on to win the Premier League clash 4-2, with neither side punished for the fracas, and former France star Vieira admitted he caused the tunnel chaos in an ITV documentary, “Keane and Vieira: The Best of Enemies”, to be screened on Tuesday.
“I started it,” Vieira said. “I was cool, I was really calm, I was smiling at him – and then he lost it.
“When we played at Old Trafford his [Gary Neville’s] tackling was flying in on Robert Pires and he was doing it on purpose, and I said ‘listen, we are not at Old Trafford here, this is Highbury’.
“So I said to him ‘if you touch Robert, I will come after you’.”
Keane explained how he joined the assembled players waiting to take the pitch to find Vieira mid-flow with Neville.