It's been claimed Arsenal's 'Invincibles' run was ended by 'sheer incompetence', the footage is damning

It was always going to be Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United that ended the incredible 'Invincibles' run at Arsenal.

The teams of Ferguson and Arsene Wenger often went toe-to-toe in the early noughties, in what many fans still consider the greatest rivalry – and greatest era – of the Premier League.

And it all came to a head in 2004, with Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten run – that had seen them lift the Premier League the previous season in 2003/04 – ending at Old Trafford in a 2-0 defeat to United.

Now, former Premier League referee and PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has admitted that the controversial performance of Mike Riley in that game, was down to 'sheer incompetence' and the pressure of officiating such a big match.

Hackett is now fairly vocal on Twitter and was in discussion with another user over whether fans could ever justifiably question a referee's integrity.

The fan directed his tweet at Hackett and said: "I question Mike Riley’s integrity. There is no way he gives a performance like he did in the match that ended Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten run without being corrupt. He took money to ensure Arsenal never made it to 50. He was a disgrace to his profession."

Hackett, who was PGMOL boss at the time (he was succeeded by Riley, who in turn was replaced by current head honcho Howard Webb) replied. He said: "I was boss at the time and I assure you that was down to sheer incompetence and perhaps a lack of on-field courage.

"When faced with a player ignoring his request to talk with him. He should have flashed the red."

The criticism of Riley in that game centred on his perceived favouritism towards United.

He failed to give a foul or show a red card to Rio Ferdinand when he brought down Freddie Ljungberg as the last defender and on numerous occasions did not yellow card United players after they'd cynically fouled Juan Antonio Reyes.

United then won the game partially thanks to a controversial penalty, awarded by Riley when Wayne Rooney went down under minimal contact from Sol Campbell. Ruud van Nistelrooy converted before Rooney added a second goal on the counter-attack.

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Topics: Arsenal, Manchester United, Premier League, England, Football

Dominic Booth

Dominic is a freelance journalist for SportBible who also works for the Evening Standard and Sporting News and was formerly a Manchester United writer and editor for the MEN. He's a big Test cricket fan and Arctic Monkeys obsessive.

@DomBooth19