The 29-year-old Dutchman, playing back at Emirates Stadium for the first time since moving from Arsenal to United in a 24 million pounds deal last August, certainly had a return he will not forget in a hurry.
He also looked somewhat awkward as his former team mates gave his United side a guard of honour before the start of the Premier League match.
Although Van Persie, who scored 37 goals for Arsenal in all competitions last season, was roundly booed by the home fans as they cast him as the villain of the piece, Arsenal's players failed to build on their early superiority in a match that cost them two important points in the race for Champions League places.
Their hopes of a 16th successive season in the competition suffered a setback, though probably not a fatal one, as they slipped back from third to fourth following Chelsea's 2-0 win over Swansea City earlier which took the West London side on to 65 points with four matches to play.
His old manager Arsene Wenger wrote in his programme notes that he wanted the Arsenal fans to show "class, and to respect him" on his return, but he was booed in the warm-up, booed at the start and every time he touched the ball as the game progressed.
Wenger told reporters he thought the home fans booing him was a sign of "disappointed love" for the player who spent eight years at the club.
"When he was here the fans loved him, so today they showed some disappointed love. I don't really think he scored - he scored a penalty and that counts but it's not completely the same," he joked.
"He took his penalty very well and I knew when he decided to take the penalty there was an 80 percent chance he was going to score. When he was here he was our penalty taker, and he does that very well. He does a lot of things very well.
"He is in our dressing room at the moment - because the food in our dressing room is better than in theirs," Wenger said laughing.
"People who play together for five or six years, well they fight, and our defenders did not make life easy for him at all, we played with great commitment."
