'You would throw it!' - Gary Neville's message to Cesc Fabregas after Man Utd tunnel incident

There are few games in Premier League history as memorable as Manchester United's clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford in 2004.

United won the game 2-0 and in the process ended Arsenal's remarkable 49-game unbeaten run. However, it's the now infamous post-match brawl that most people reference when talking about the game - a match that has gone down in Premier League lore, now known as 'Battle of the Buffet'.

After tempers flared for much of the 90 minutes, both sets of players were walking down the tunnel at the full-time whistle when a tangle of angry United and Arsenal players began to take shape. A slice of pizza was then thrown at Sir Alex Ferguson.

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At the time of the incident it wasn't widely known just who launched the slice of pizza at the legendary manager, however in years passed, Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas has conceded that it was him who let his anger spiral out of control. Speaking to ITV Sport in 2022, the former Spanish international said he was furious after the game, but has insisted he had no intention of getting involved in the tunnel fallout.

It began when Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger criticised United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. Both sides then clashed while Ferguson and Wenger were engaged in a heated row. Fabregas added: 'We were 49 games unbeaten. They were so competitive but they were very smart people. I was getting a lot of stick as well."

"So, I was very frustrated. You're warming up and didn't play. You're annoyed you lost. I just went in quickly to the dressing room and there was some food there, I was starving. I took a slice of pizza and we started hearing noises. You started seeing players and Arsene Wenger everywhere."

Interestingly Fabregas has claimed that his first instinct was to launch the pizza out of fear he couldn't hold his own against the 'monsters' of Manchester United, he admitted: "The first thing that occurred to me was to throw the pizza because I didn't have the power or the courage maybe to go into that fight. They were monsters in there. They were super, super big guys. Apparently, it hit Sir Alex Ferguson."

United legend Gary Neville has also spoken out on the rivalry between the pair and about how much he enjoyed the contests with Wenger's side. The former England international has also acknowledged that both teams probably didn't take too kindly to dropped points, talking to Sky Sports in 2016 he said: "Every time they lost they seemed to not handle it particularly well and they probably thought the same about us.

"There always seemed to be a 'spark point' during the game, but looking back now they were great games and I'm sure fans of both clubs would look and say what great games they were, they were brilliant to be a part of when you think about it."

Ruminating years after the pizza incident, Neville conceded he still didn't know who the culprit was, yet surprised a few with his candid take on what went down in the tunnel after the game, he said: "I just remember there being some sort of mele. I used to think they were bad losers, they probably thought we were as well."

"I don't even know who threw the pizza at the time, I know it's been reported since it was Fabregas but I don't even know if that's true. Good luck to him if he threw it, I think if it was in your hand you would throw it."

It wasn't just Fabregas and Neville who have weighed in on the episode, speaking on his Vibe with Five podcast, former United player Rio Ferdinand added: "I don't think he (Fabregas) meant to throw it at the gaffer, I think he just dashed it out the door and the gaffer was walking past. "It did hit him, the lasting memory for me was a security guard was having to hold him back from trying to get into the changing room."

The last word has to go to Ferguson himself who, in his 2013 autobiography, admitted to still not knowing who was responsible: "To this day, I have no idea who the culprit is."