Arsene Wenger says he and the Arsenal players still consider Robin van Persie their friend, in spite of a low-key demonstration of hostility from fans towards the club's former captain on the occasion of his first return to the Emirates yesterday with Manchester United.
Van Persie scored his 25th Premier League goal of the season, a penalty, to give United a 1-1 draw after Theo Walcott had opened the scoring.
He applauded the United fans at the end and was booed as he went down the tunnel by the Arsenal supporters, but Wenger announced at his post-match press conference that the player had been in the home dressing room to see his former teammates.
Asked whether the Arsenal players still got along with Van Persie, Wenger replied: "Of course." He added: "People who have played together for five or six years, they [still] fight on the pitch. I think our defenders didn't make life easy for him at all. We played with great commitment. And I feel our two central defenders played very well."
Wenger said: "We are rivals but look, at the end of the day, we decided to sell him. You want us to make a guard of honour and to respect the champions but you have to accept as well that respect exists after the game. You want to give absolutely everything for the 90 minutes and after the game you can still talk to each other."
