Soccer: Disgraceful act 'could have killed' Van Persie

Manchester United's five-game Premier League winning streak ended when Swansea held the first-place Red Devils to a 1-1 tie today.

Patrice Evra put visiting United ahead in the 16th minute when he headed Robin Van Persie's corner kick past goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

Michu tied the score in the 29th when Evra was caught out by Jonathan De Guzman's run and goalkeeper David De Gea could only parry De Guzman's angled shot, leaving Michu in front to tap the ball in.

Van Persie hit the crossbar in the second half for United (14-3-1), which played its first tie of the season. Defending champion Manchester City (11-1-6) is four points back, in second place after beating Reading 1-0 Sunday on Gareth Barry's injury-time goal.

Tempers flared late when Swansea captain Ashley Williams cleared the ball straight into Van Persie's head from close range while the United forward was on the ground.

Van Persie reacted angrily and squared up to Williams with referee Michael Oliver giving yellow cards to both players.

United manager Alex Ferguson called it a "disgraceful act" by Williams.

"The Van Persie situation you can clearly see that he could have been killed," Ferguson said.

He should be banned for a long time because that was the most dangerous thing I've seen on a football field for many years. It was absolutely deliberate. he whistle has gone, the game has stopped and he has done that right in front of the referee. He could have killed the lad."

Williams downplayed the incident.

"I tried to clear the ball; it hit him on the head," he said. "I was trying to clear the ball. He was obviously a bit angry about that. It was a much ado about nothing."

- AP