Piers Morgan has agreed to donate £1,000 to charity after Manchester United's 3-1 win against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Morgan agreed to a bet with United legend Gary Neville over the result of the Premier League fixture. At the time, the Gunners had won five consecutive games and were sat at the top of the Premier League table, ahead of Manchester City and Liverpool.
While Arsenal are still on top, their result on Sunday means City are just a point behind them. United are also within touching distance of the summit, moving to within three points of Mikel Arteta's side and just one behind Graham Potter's Brighton in fourth.
The bet was made after Morgan urged Arsenal to sign West Ham and England midfielder Declan Rice in a shock deadline day move. "If we want to challenge for the title, Arsenal should break the bank for Declan Rice," tweeted Morgan. "Go big of go home."
On seeing the tweet, Neville replied: "You'll get done at Old Trafford [on] Sunday! Forget the title."
Morgan confidently responded: "Fancy a £1,000 bet to charity on that, T-Bag?" Morgan was referring to Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, a fictional character from American TV series Prison Break. Some fans have likened Neville's appearance to T-Bag's on social media.
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"Yep!" replied Neville, accepting the bet. Morgan then wrote: "Done. £500 each if it's a draw."
After United stormed to victory thanks to a debut goal from Antony and a brace from Marcus Rashford, Morgan tweeted: "Name your charity, T-Bag - payment will be made in the morning."
Neville asked Morgan to donate to Bury Cancer Support Centre, an independent charity for anyone who is impacted by the illness. Neville was born in Bury. Some fans have praised Neville and Morgan for their generosity, while others have claimed it's inappropriate for the millionaires to wager huge bets in public during a cost-of-living crisis.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Neville criticised Arsenal boss Arteta for making three substitutions in the 74th minute. One of those changes was replacing defender Oleksandr Zinchenko with striker Eddie Nketiah, leaving the Gunners vulnerable at the back.
At the time, the Gunners were 2-1 down but playing well. The changes allowed Christian Eriksen to get in behind the defence and square the ball to Rashford to score United's third goal. After that, there was little chance of Arsenal getting back into the game.
"You have to say when Mikel Arteta made those substitutes, I either thought it'd be a 5-1 or a 3-2 because it looked so bold but the space that Christian Eriksen has is absolutely incredible," said Neville. "Arsenal, did they need to go so desperate so early?"
Neville added: "The three substitutions at once, I thought it was strange, because it was a bit of kitchen-sink job which you can get done on the counter-attack - which they did.
"I don't think they needed to do that in the game, there was still 20 minutes in the game, they were still working chances, Manchester United 's goal on the counter was against the run of play then all of a sudden the game became easier for Manchester United than Arsenal with those subs."
