We came in peace...

This Sunday, Manchester United beat Arsenal 2 - 0. The win was much more comprehensive than the scoreline would suggest, with United dominating the game for almost 80 minutes. Wayne Rooney was in magnificent form, and led United in a comprehensive demolition of their traditional rivals.

What follows is not about football. It is a revelation of how peace triumphs over brute force.

I was reading one of the football message boards on Yahoo! Sports today. I'm pasting the contents of a particular thread here. The thread starts with a United fan starting a stinging attack on Arsenal and their manager, Arsene Wenger. Titled Cheaters never prosper, Arsene, the post points out how many decisions went against United, including a penalty which was not given when Kolo Toure became goalkeeper for a single second, pushing away a Rooney strike with his hands.

The thread gains lot of steam as many fans line up expletives in the name of replies. Some samples here.

manunited_til_i_die: It doesnt suprise me one bit that United fans hate arsenal so much, wenger couldnt have made that club more anti-united if he tried. Well its always nice to know that they dont know how to cope with us anymore. Everyone was going on about arsenal before the game, saying fergie was quiet and arsenal were the team to be feared. What a load of nonsense! I wonder if these people were even watching them recently. Were Juventus and real madrid not awful?? Neither side created much at all! Juve lost 2 players in the first game and were not a good advertisement for italian football. Very dull. Their performances in the league were nothing special either. United however...blimey we have been on fire havent we!!? Arsenal were all over the place as soon as we had an attack. Flamini didnt know what to do and the normally superb toure was glad the whistle went for full time!

It gets worse as the thread progresses...

ian_harris48: you ar*e fans are polite?lol,some of you are ,but not the ones singing disgusting songs yesterday,they wer'nt polite at all,still all fair,still i think next time w*nker oops wenger sorry says he'll help mourinho he'll cringe,lol

shadyaftermath2k: What a loser too, he still that "fu** you but have a nice day" off 8-Mile that black dude. Arsenal fans "Talk out of there ar**s, instead of there mouths"

Until someone decides to restore order...

read_chris2002: An Arsenal fan in peace. Yes you were the better team in the second half and deserved to beat us yesterday. I really hope you overhaul Chelsea but I fear it's too late as they were superb against West Ham yesterday. We've had a lot of your fans wishing us well during the champions league run which is much appreciated. Good luck to you.

Just this one message in a red-hot board. And then there is peace and bonhomie all around...

ian_harris48: chris thanks,and good luck against villareal

read_chris2002: Cheers Ian. There still seems to be loads of hatred between Arsenal and United fans. Shame really as it's only a game and although I'm Arsenal through and through I can recognise when my team is well beaten. You'd have beaten Chelsea with that performance yesterday and it's a shame that your not playing them sooner. I'm hoping United replicate that performance a week today because Tottenham will not be able to handle you.

jim_888_2000: Well said Chris. There are a lot of idiots on these boards who probably couldn't recognise good footballers. Arsenal have a very good young side, United are just a little better at the moment. Hopefully both will improve again next year and overcome Chelski,we just might do it this year if Bolton get at least a draw on Saturday. At last both managers spoke sensibly after the match and gave deserved praise to both teams, if this continues perhaps the 'hatred' felt by some will turn into healthy rivalry.

read_chris2002: I really hope it does turn to healthy rivalry. The only reason the hatred exists is because the two managers don't get on very well although this season I've seen more respect between Fergie and Wenger and with both sets of players so why don't the supporters follow suit?

Need I say more?

I'm currently reading a book called How Soccer Explains the World by Franklin Foer. The author, an American soccer aficionado weaves an interesting account of how different facets of the game explain diverse and (on-the-surface) unrelated things. If he had read this Yahoo! Sports thread, he might have added a few pages on the triumph of peace.