Man reunited

On return to the Emirates,Van Persie enters wrong dressing room but scores at right end

Robin van Persie attempted to go into the wrong dressing room before kickoff,got booed,got booked,gave the ball away for Arsenals goal and scored a penalty as champions Manchester United drew 1-1 at Arsenal on Sunday. The 29-year-old Dutchman,playing back at the Emirates Stadium for the first time since moving from Arsenal to United in a 37.18 million deal last August,certainly had a return he will not forget in a hurry. He also looked somewhat awkward as his former team mates gave his United side a guard of honour before the start of the Premier League match.

Although Van Persie,who scored 37 goals for Arsenal in all competitions last season,was roundly booed by the home fans as they cast him as the villain of the piece,Arsenals players failed to build on their early superiority in a match that cost them two important points in the race for Champions League places.

Their hopes of a 16th successive season in the competition suffered a setback,though probably not a fatal one,as they slipped back from third to fourth following Chelseas 2-0 win over Swansea City earlier which took the West London side on to 65 points with four matches to play. Arsenal have 64 with three matches to play,two more than their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur who have 62 but who also have a game in hand on the Gunners.

DISAPPOINTED LOVE

Wenger told reporters he thought the home fans booing him was a sign of disappointed love for the player who spent eight years at the club. He also said that Van Persie,who attempted to go into the home dressing room by mistake when he arrived at the ground,was welcomed back into it by his old team mates afterwards.

When he was here the fans loved him,so today they showed some disappointed love. I dont really think he scored he scored a penalty and that counts but its not completely the same, he joked.

I knew when he decided to take the penalty there was an 80 percent chance he was going to score. When he was here he was our penalty taker,and he does that very well. He does a lot of things very well.

He is in our dressing room at the moment because the food in our dressing room is better than in theirs, Wenger said laughing.

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The draw,though,not only dented Arsenals chances of finishing in the top four 8211; although Wenger is convinced they will still qualify 8211; it also ended Uniteds hopes of setting a Premier League points record and beating the 95 points Chelsea established in 2005.

Manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports that he was impressed with the way Arsenal started the game and that his players were not jaded because of their celebrations after winning the title on Monday.

They played with fantastic pace at the start but the last 20 minutes was end to end stuff and the best chances fell to us and we should have taken them. But we expected a tough game and we got a tough game, he said.

Arsenal are desperate for Champions League points,but we could have won quite comfortably.

Reading,QPR go down

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Reading and Queens Park Rangers became the first teams to be relegated from the English Premier League this season after they drew 0-0 on Sunday.

Both teams needed a win to keep a slim hope alive of overtaking 17th-place Aston Villa,but neither side managed to create many clear-cut chances in a game that featured little creativity or entertainment value. Next year it will be very difficult to get promoted,there are some good teams, QPR manager Harry Redknapp said. For us to get promoted we have to come back in preseason and get super fit. The Championship is Saturday,midweek.

QPR is leaving the topflight after two years,having stayed up on the last day of last season. Reading is making an instant return to the second tier. Wigan currently occupies the third spot in the relegation zone,and is two points from safety.

Also late on Saturday,Liverpool showed it still has bite up front with Luis Suarez serving ten-match ban as it inflicted Newcastles worst home loss since 1925 in the English Premier League on Saturday. Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson each scored twice,while Daniel Agger and Fabio Borini also found the net to demonstrate the attacking resources available at Liverpool as Suarez begins his hefty ban for biting Chelsea defender Bransilav Ivanovic in a match last Sunday. Very happy with this great win!!! Suarez wrote on Twitter. Congratulations to all my teammates!!!!