Post by Taxigirl on Nov 1, 2003 13:49:42 GMT
Ruud van Nistelrooy is hopeful Patrick Vieira does not hold any grudges after their infamous tangle at Old Trafford, and admits he did not care about being hounded by a posse of Arsenal players.
The Manchester United striker was partly responsible for Vieira's sending off at Old Trafford in September when the Arsenal captain kicked out after taking exception to van Nistelrooy's clumsy challenge.
Van Nistelrooy later missed a last minute penalty and, at the final whistle, the Dutchman was subjected to an unsavoury assault from a string of Gunners stars.
Martin Keown, Lauren and Ray Parlour were all punished with bans for their ugly attacks on the prolific forward, who also incurred the wrath of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The former PSV Eindhoven ace admits he was bitterly disappointed by Wenger's comments in the aftermath of the fiery contest, after the Frenchman accused van Nistelrooy of winding up his players.
But van Nistelrooy was not concerned by the attack from the opposition as he was too distraught at blasting his spot kick against the crossbar and fluffing the chance of a vital victory for the Premiership champions.
He also revealed he sought Vieira afterwards to discuss their altercation and hopes there will be no bad blood with the Gunners skipper when the pair meet again.
"I was so annoyed with myself to have missed the penalty," van Nistelrooy told L'Equipe Magazine. "When the referee blew the final whistle, I was haunted by that image.
"I felt someone had jostled me but I went on my way. I just realised what happened at the end of the match when I came back home and watched the TV.
"I felt that someone jostled me but I didn't care, the penalty was on my mind. The behaviour of my opponents is not my problem.
"I am not affected by the Arsene Wenger criticism because that didn't translate the truth. I still can't understand why Wenger was so harsh with me.
"About Patrick Vieira, I can understand that he didn't want to have a discussion with me after the match. He had just got a red card and would have been down.
"But I wanted to erase the incident between us. To tell him: 'The match is over, I missed a penalty, etc…'
"If I had cheated to get him sent off, do you really believe I wanted to meet him after the match? But I have to respect his annoyance.
"Anyway, it is only sport. I hope when we meet again, everything will be forgotten. Football is too great and our life too exceptional to get mad with that."
