Cole handed pizza United action

I am not sure if the incident happened but somehow it has become a joke in the newspapers:

Britain's biggest-selling newspaper said that Arsenal full-back Ashley Cole was responsible for throwing a piece of pizza that it claimed hit Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

The incident, one of the most bizarre of this or any other English football season, took place after United ended Premiership champions Arsenal's top-flight record of 49 unbeaten games with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Various reports have suggested that soup, a sandwich or pizza, if not a combination of all three, had been thrown by an unidentified Arsenal player following an ill-tempered clash.

However, the Sun - which has a daily circulation of over three million - led its Wednesday front page with the banner headline 'Old Fling Cole'.

It said the 23-year-old England defender was aiming for United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who earlier in the match appeared to stamp on Cole, but missed and hit Ferguson instead.

The United manager was forced to change out of his suit for a television interview.

On Tuesday Dutch international Van Nistelrooy, 28, who scored United's opener from the penalty spot, accepted a Football Association (FA) charge of serious foul play.

He also said he would serve the standard three-game ban punishment to those found guilty of such charges even though the panel hearing his case does not meet until Thursday.

According to a witness quoted by the Sun: "Ashley loves pizza. He'd normally eat it not throw it... The Arsenal players thought it (the pizza hitting Ferguson) was hilarious. They were splitting their sides in the dressing room."

Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger branded van Nistelrooy a "cheat" and was also severely critical of referee Mike Riley. The FA are currently looking into both Wenger's comments and the tunnel incident.

Meanwhile the Sun's inside pages carried a photograph of some of its reporters holding pizza boxes branded with the paper's logo being ignored by Arsenal players leaving the London's club training ground on Tuesday.

And the Sun also joined forces with one of Britain's largest chain of pizza restuarants to offer its readers tokens for purchasing the newly created 'Flaming Fergie' and 'Wenger Wobbler' pizzas.

The creation named in honour of the United boss was described as a "fiery feast that will knock your head off," a reference to Ferguson's notoriously short temper.

Anyone eating a pizza bearing Wenger's name was assured of an "explosive Mediterranean experience".

Meanwhile, a Pizza Hut spokesman said: "Unfortunately, we are not able to supply any sour grapes."