Battle of the Buffet: Manchester United end Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten run (2004)
The Battle of the Buffet, also known as Pizzagate, was the tunnel row that followed Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday 24 October 2004, the Premier League afternoon that ended Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten league run. A disputed 73rd-minute penalty from Ruud van Nistelrooy and a late Wayne Rooney goal did the damage on the pitch. What happened next made the day notorious: as tempers boiled over in the players’ tunnel, a slice of pizza flew at Sir Alex Ferguson, and only years later did anyone own up.
The penalty is still argued over, and the identity of the pizza thrower stayed secret for 13 years.
Key Facts
- Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal, Premier League, Old Trafford, Sunday 24 October 2004, kick-off 4.05pm, attendance 67,862.
- Scorers: Ruud van Nistelrooy 73 minutes (penalty) and Wayne Rooney in stoppage time.
- The result ended Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten league run, the longest in English top-flight history, spanning May 2003 to October 2004.
- Arsenal’s 49 beat Nottingham Forest’s previous record of 42 unbeaten, set under Brian Clough between November 1977 and November 1978.
- Referee Mike Riley awarded the penalty; former referee Dermot Gallagher later called it no penalty, and said van Nistelrooy should have been sent off.
- In the tunnel afterwards a slice of pizza struck Sir Alex Ferguson; Cesc Fabregas, an unused Arsenal substitute aged 17, admitted in 2017, on the television show A League of Their Own, that he threw it.
- A single point at Old Trafford would have carried the run to 50 matches.
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The penalty that ended 49 games unbeaten
How Arsenal reached 49 without losing
Arsenal arrived at Old Trafford top of the table and unbeaten in the league since the previous season. The run began with a 6-1 win over Southampton on 7 May 2003 and carried through the whole of the 2003-04 title campaign, the season that earned Arsene Wenger’s side the Invincibles name. By kick-off on 24 October 2004 the tally stood at 49 games without a league defeat, English football’s longest top-flight run without defeat, from May 2003 to October 2004, ahead of the 42 matches Nottingham Forest had managed under Brian Clough from November 1977 to November 1978. Manchester United came into the match fifth and had not beaten Arsenal in the league for four meetings.
A draw or a win would have carried the run to 50. Instead Arsenal left Manchester with the streak broken and their season knocked off course, having entered as league leaders and finished the campaign behind Chelsea, who went on to take the title.
The 73rd-minute penalty and a missed red card
The match turned on a single decision. On 73 minutes Wayne Rooney ran into the Arsenal box and went down under Sol Campbell’s challenge, and referee Mike Riley pointed to the spot. Van Nistelrooy converted to put United 1-0 up. Many Arsenal supporters were adamant Rooney had dived: he was already heading for the turf as Campbell pulled his foot away. Years later, former referee Dermot Gallagher reached the same conclusion, judging that Campbell’s leg made no contact: It’s not a foul
.
Arsenal’s grievance ran deeper than the penalty. Earlier in the match van Nistelrooy had caught Ashley Cole with a challenge that Riley missed; the Football Association charged him with serious foul play and he accepted a three-match ban. Gallagher’s verdict on that challenge was that it merited a red card, which would have left United a man short. Rooney settled it in stoppage time to make it 2-0, and the record was gone. Rio Ferdinand was named man of the match.
| Minute | Scorer | Running score |
|---|---|---|
| 73 (penalty) | Ruud van Nistelrooy | Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal |
| 90+3 (stoppage time) | Wayne Rooney | Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal |
The tunnel, the pizza and 13 years of denial
What the Battle of the Buffet actually was
The football was only half the afternoon. As the players left the pitch, staff from both clubs clashed in the tunnel, and in the scuffle a slice of pizza flew at Sir Alex Ferguson, with an Arsenal player suspected of throwing food at the United manager. Ferguson changed into a club tracksuit to carry out his television duties. Wenger, furious in his post-match briefing, criticised Riley and called van Nistelrooy a cheat, and the Football Association later fined the Arsenal manager £15,000 for improper conduct. No player was charged over the tunnel itself.
The identity of the thrower stayed a mystery for years, which is what gave the episode its long afterlife. Cesc Fabregas had watched the match from the Arsenal bench as an unused substitute, aged 17. Ferguson wrote in his autobiography that he had no idea who the culprit is
. The answer arrived in October 2017, when Fabregas confirmed on the television show A League of Their Own that he had thrown it. By then he had spent three seasons at Chelsea, having once been the boy on Arsenal’s bench.
READ MORE: The fixtures that defined the Arsenal and Manchester United rivalry →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Pizzagate
What was the score when Manchester United played Arsenal on 24 October 2004?
Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday 24 October 2004. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a penalty on 73 minutes and Wayne Rooney added a second in stoppage time. The attendance was 67,862. The result ended Arsenal’s 49-match unbeaten league run.
Why is the 2004 Manchester United versus Arsenal match called Pizzagate?
It is called Pizzagate, or the Battle of the Buffet, because a slice of pizza was aimed at Sir Alex Ferguson in the Old Trafford tunnel after the match. In the fracas an Arsenal player was suspected of throwing food at the Manchester United manager. The nickname stuck because the thrower stayed unnamed for years.
Who threw the pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson in 2004?
Cesc Fabregas threw the pizza, which he confirmed in October 2017 on the television show A League of Their Own. He was an unused Arsenal substitute that day, aged 17. For years the culprit was unknown, and Ferguson wrote in his autobiography that he had no idea who it was. Fabregas later played for Arsenal’s rivals Chelsea before making the admission.
How long was Arsenal’s unbeaten run that ended at Old Trafford in October 2004?
Arsenal’s unbeaten league run reached 49 matches before Manchester United ended it on 24 October 2004. It was English football’s longest top-flight run without defeat, spanning May 2003 to October 2004. It included the whole of the Invincibles’ unbeaten 2003-04 title season. A draw or win would have taken it to 50.
What record did Arsenal’s 49-game run break?
Arsenal’s 49 games unbeaten broke Nottingham Forest’s previous English top-flight record of 42. Forest set that mark under Brian Clough between November 1977 and November 1978. Arsenal passed it during the 2004-05 season before the run ended at Old Trafford. The 49 remains the English record.
Was the penalty that Manchester United scored against Arsenal in 2004 a fair decision?
The penalty is still widely regarded as a wrong decision. Former referee Dermot Gallagher concluded it was not a foul and should not have been given. Many Arsenal fans believed Wayne Rooney had dived under Sol Campbell’s challenge. Referee Mike Riley awarded it, and van Nistelrooy scored from the spot.
Who scored for Manchester United against Arsenal on 24 October 2004?
Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney scored for Manchester United in the 2-0 win. Van Nistelrooy converted a penalty on 73 minutes and Rooney struck in stoppage time. Both goals came in the closing stages.
Where and when was Manchester United versus Arsenal Pizzagate played?
The match was played at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday 24 October 2004, kicking off at 4.05pm. It was a Premier League fixture in the 2004-05 season. The attendance was 67,862. Manchester United won 2-0.
Did Arsene Wenger get punished after the 2004 Old Trafford match?
The Football Association fined Arsene Wenger £15,000 for improper conduct. In his post-match briefing Wenger had criticised referee Mike Riley and described van Nistelrooy as a cheat. Van Nistelrooy was separately given a three-match ban for a challenge on Ashley Cole. No player was charged over the tunnel fracas itself.
What was the Battle of the Buffet?
Battle of the Buffet is the other nickname for the fallout from Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal on 24 October 2004. It refers to the tunnel brawl and the pizza aimed at Ferguson. The phrase pairs the food with the earlier Battle of Old Trafford between the same clubs in 2003. Both nicknames describe the same afternoon.
How did ending the run affect Arsenal’s 2004-05 season?
Arsenal’s form dipped after the defeat, and the title slipped away. They had gone into the match as league leaders but finished the season behind champions Chelsea. Chelsea went on to win the league. Manchester United finished third that season, behind Arsenal.
Was Cesc Fabregas even on the pitch when Arsenal lost at Old Trafford?
No, Cesc Fabregas did not play in the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford on 24 October 2004. He was named among Arsenal’s substitutes and stayed on the bench, aged 17. That makes the pizza his main contribution to the day. He admitted the throw in 2017.
Who refereed Manchester United versus Arsenal in October 2004?
Mike Riley refereed the match at Old Trafford on 24 October 2004. He awarded the 73rd-minute penalty that Arsenal disputed and did not punish van Nistelrooy’s challenge on Ashley Cole. Former referee Dermot Gallagher later questioned both calls. Riley went on to head the Premier League’s referees body.
Pizzagate, 22 years on
Two decades later the afternoon is remembered less for the 2-0 than for a disputed penalty and a slice of pizza that took 13 years to trace to a 17-year-old on the bench. If you want more days when a single fixture bent a season out of shape, keep reading through our On This Day series.
Sources: BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, ESPN, Opta Analyst, 11v11, 90min, Wikipedia.
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