All square at the Emirates as Dutchman earns champions a point.
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw at home against newly-crowned champions Manchester United on Sunday afternoon as Robin van Persie returned to north London with a goal against his old club.
Van Persie was making his first appearance back at Arsenal since last year’s £24 million ($37 million, 28 million euros) transfer to United and he was given a hostile reception from home supporters.
But, after Theo Walcott gave Arsenal a second minute lead, the Dutch forward silenced the boo-boys when he fired home from the penalty spot after being fouled by Bacary Sagna in the 44th minute.
United manager Alex Ferguson saluted van Persie for keeping his composure and took a dig at the Arsenal fans in the process.
“It takes bottle to take a penalty when the crowd are booing,” Ferguson said. “We have a great spirit of applauding players when they come back to our club. I expected the booing to be honest with you.
“Walcott apparently was offside for his goal. The referee apologised to (United centre-back) Rio Ferdinand saying he got it wrong.
“It wasn’t his fault, it was the linesman’s. It was an uphill fight for us after losing the first goal.”
With the title already wrapped up, champions United were happy to settle for a draw, but the result was a setback for Arsenal, who dropped down to fourth place following Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Swansea.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: “We gave everything and at the end of the day the regret you have is the way we conceded the goal. Just before half-time that was a serious blow to us.”
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