Soccer: Alex Ferguson has accused Arsenal's Thierry Henry of throwing a punch at Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during the 2-2 draw at Highbury on Wednesday.

Ferguson's comments came as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger challenged Solskjaer to admit to having exaggerated the incident that resulted in Sol Campbell being sent off for allegedly elbowing him.

Ferguson complained that the Arsenal players' reaction to Campbell's 83rd-minute dismissal had been "ridiculous" and went on: "In the next challenge Thierry Henry threw a punch at him (Solskjaer) and that annoys me. He could have broken his nose or his jaw.

"No one said: 'How is your striker? Is his nose all right?' in the tunnel - they were too busy trying to get the referee to change his mind. I'm angry that a player like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has turned out to be the villain. Instead of looking at their own player, who could have cost them the game, they attack our player."

Campbell's dismissal comes at a heavy price for Arsenal, whose Double ambitions will be severely dented if, as seems likely, they lose the England international for the last three games of the league campaign and the FA Cup final against Southampton on May 17th.

Arsenal have lodged an appeal against the red card, to which referee Mark Halsey responded by declaring that he stands by the decision.

Ferguson also believes Wenger's defence of his player is misplaced, that Campbell's misdemeanour is merely the latest addition to Arsenal's notoriously poor disciplinary record.

"I understand Arsene Wenger defends his players - he does it all the time and I've done it myself," added the Scot. "But when your players have had 49 red cards under you and they have been involved in lots of elbowing incidents, you have to look at yourselves.

"Arsenal got off with three elbowing incidents in the last year with the FA, so sometimes you have to accept that eventually you run out of luck.

"There is no doubt in my mind they are trying to make Solskjaer the villain of the piece. He quite clearly elbowed him whether he meant to do it or not."

Characteristically, Wenger also had his say. "I am disappointed by Solskjaer's attitude," he commented. "If he thinks Sol has hit him in the face on purpose, I want him to come out and say 'rightly so' and I will accept it. If he thinks it's an accident and doesn't come out, it is really disappointing."

Halsey refused to change his mind after sending off Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini against Middlesbrough in January. The FA overturned that decision and Wenger hopes they may do so again.

"It looks to me obvious when you see it again that it was an accident and I'm disappointed the referee didn't change his mind," Wenger said. "The statement of the referee is worrying for the future. It looks like, even for obvious things, if a referee changes his mind he loses credit, when for me he would gain it.

"Everybody could understand that you cannot see everything in the game and it is difficult to find someone who has the strength to say: 'Sorry, I was wrong and the video has shown that.' The referee also said he did not need the linesman, but when you see it again, it is completely different. To me from the bench it seemed he reacted only to the linesman's flag, which makes his comments even more surprising.

"We will fight for justice. I watch a lot of football and if accidentally you touch your opponent and are sent off we would never finish a game."

Captain Patrick Vieira echoed his manager's sentiments. "I was really surprised the way Solskjaer reacted," said Vieira. "Solskjaer did not say anything and seemed happy to see Sol receive the red card. If he doesn't say anything, that will show the kind of person he is, but he is a Manchester United player.

"In this country fair play is something English people are proud of. On the pitch both teams play with big respect for each other and this has damaged the respect between us." ...