In the film The Class of 92, David Beckham reflects on the moment that he was red-carded while on England duty at the 1998 World Cup. The backlash from supporters and the media was extreme - some of it criminal - but Beckham spoke of how his Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the club rallied around him.
Despite committing a much more serious offence than Beckham in January 1995, Eric Cantona received the same treatment from United. After he had kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter at Selhurst Park, the Red Devils were urged from all angles to sack the Frenchman with immediate effect.
United stood by their talisman, though, even when he was handed a nine-month suspension by the Football Association. Without him, Ferguson's men surrendered the Premier League title to Blackburn Rovers. However, a new-look team, packed with Beckham and his fellow youngsters, had started the 1995-96 campaign positively after a defeat to Aston Villa on the opening day.
Even so, despite that form, 19 years ago today Cantona was returned to the starting lineup by Ferguson at the first possible opportunity after the expiration of his ban when Liverpool visited Old Trafford.
The rumour at the time was that Sky Sports wanted access to the United dressing room to capture the centre-forward putting on his shirt for the first time since that night in South London, but unsurprisingly, Ferguson rejected that notion. The broadcaster, however, did track his every move in the tunnel as he headed out to huge cheers from the home faithful.
It would take Cantona just 69 seconds to show that there would be little sign of rustiness in his game. It was his cross from the left that picked out Nicky Butt, who stretched just far enough to lift his effort over an advancing David James and into the net.
Nevertheless, not that anybody would have expected anything else, but rivals Liverpool were determined to play the role of party poopers and thanks to Robbie Fowler, it appeared that their wishes were going to be granted.
With 32 minutes played, the young striker cut in from the left flank and despite having a seemingly narrow angle to work with, he lashed a powerful shot inside Peter Schmeichel's near post.
Then, eight minutes after the restart, he outmuscled Gary Neville to race onto a through-ball from Michael Thomas. As the imposing figure of Schmeichel approached, Fowler showed great composure to chip the Dane from 10 yards out.
Yet, fittingly, the final say would go to the returning Cantona 20 minutes from time. He inherited possession just inside the Liverpool half and drove forwards, before slipping a short pass into Ryan Giggs's path. It seemed that the Welsh winger had a clear run on goal, but he was tugged back at the final moment by Jamie Redknapp. From the resultant penalty, James gambled right, while Cantona slotted his kick inside the right-hand post.
Speaking after the final whistle, Liverpool boss Roy Evans said: "It is a sad story when the referee thinks he has equal billing with Eric Cantona. I thought Cantona passed the test but the referee did not. We deserved more than we got. We lost two points on a dodgy decision."
Meanwhile, Ferguson added: "Eric did well. He's tired, of course, but he can be pleased with his performance. And the hype is over - thank goodness."
MAN UNITED: Schmeichel; G Neville, Bruce, Pallister, P Neville (Scholes); Sharpe, Butt (Beckham), Keane, Giggs; Cole, Cantona
LIVERPOOL: James; Harkness, Ruddock, Scales, Babb; McAteer, Thomas, Redknapp, McManaman; Fowler, Rush
Liam Apicella
