the brawl started after the hour mark; winterburn made a lunging tackle on irwin, who was challenging limpar for the ball. mcclair and irwin retaliated against winterburn and limpar, whom ince pushed onto the advertising hoardings. all 11 united players and 10 arsenal players on the pitch took part in the melee (goalkeeper david seaman was the only player to remain uninvolved), though most were attempting to calm the situation. the fracas lasted less than 20 seconds; once it died down, hackett booked limpar and winterburn for their involvement, while the united players escaped punishment. tony adams, praised by "the guardian" correspondent stephen bierley for his role in defusing matters, avoided a caution for a professional foul on mcclair later on.