Martin Keown has recalled a time that Sir Alex Ferguson showed his class after Manchester United lost the Premier League title to Arsenal.
The Gunners won the title in 2002 by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Keown has revealed that Sir Alex came into the away dressing room to congratulate them and told them that his side would be ready to get back the title in the next campaign.
United and Arsenal were the dominant sides in the Premier League in the early 2000s and they kept on having a go at each other every season for who would win the title.
United were the reigning champions when Arsenal beat them to complete a double that season as they had already won the FA Cup.
The Red Devils would go on to win the Premier League the following season from the Gunners, but Ferguson’s gesture that season left an impression on Keown.
Keown told BT Sport: ‘Fair play to Sir Alex Ferguson, he came into the dressing room to congratulate us and set about trying to get back on top as he would do looking straight away to the next season, when they won.’
‘That’s where Sir Alex Ferguson had so much class to come in and congratulate us, he was probably fuming in the end that we won but that’s what football’s all about, you’ve got to your local or big rivals and win games,’ Keown’s former teammate Ray Parlour added.
‘We knew it was a big, big night for us and we just had a little bit more than Manchester United that night and they probably had to hold their hands up and say, “We gave everything, but they defended well and took their chance when they got it”.
