Arsenal vs Manchester United

Arsenal vs Manchester United, which used to be one of the most anticipated games of the calendar year, went 1-0 towards Arsenal after earning 3 hard-fought points. The game took off at Old Trafford and Arsenal ended two of their droughts, which were winning at Old Trafford after 14 years and winning away from home in the premier league against the "Top 6” after 5 years.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal lined up in a standard 4-3-3 but as the game began it transitioned into their default line up of 3-4-3 with the likes of Saka and Bellerin shifting towards LM and RM respectively and Tierney moving into the Left Centre half slot in the back three. During the first half, Arsenal were playing slick football and were constantly pressing the United defenders into errors and also imposed a high line which led to most of the game being played in United’s half. During this period, Arsenal had been completely dominating United and created several chances where the clear cut ones would have been the Aubameyang and Willian’s 1-2 in the box which led to Aubameynag laying the ball off for Willian where he greased the crossbar which was an Unlucky miss and then Bellerin driving on the right flank and sending in and inch perfect cross for Saka which he then headed just over the crossbar. After missing these chances, I had a feeling that Arsenal may have a repeat of the Match last week against Leicester due to the turn in pressure which took place after half time as United looked like a completely different side from the first half and had put Arsenal on the back foot. Arsenal then got a penalty due to the contact made by Pogba on Bellerin in the box of which Bellerin made complete use of, which later resulted in Aubameyeng netting the ball and ending his goal drought of  5 games in the premier league. After the goal, Mikel Arteta chose to defend the thin lead and switched to calling all of his players back and bringing on an additional 2 defensive players to ensure their lead doesn’t slip.

In my opinion, Arsenal although have improved defensively and it is evident as they have conceded the least amount of goals in the premier league after the first 7 games this season but they still lack the finishing touch and getting the end product in the final half. Even though they did win the match, they could’ve easily settled it in the First Half. Having watched Reis Nelson and Joe Willock's performances in their Europa League fixture, they should ideally be getting more chances in the premier league as they quite evidently have they potential. Three performances which stood out for me were  Partey and Elneny having the complete control of the midfield where Partey reminded the Gooners of Patrick Vierra and Elneny put out arguably one of his best performance in an Arsenal shirt, and the last player would be Gabriel who was an absolute stone wall and had pocketed the likes Rashford, Greenwood and Fernandes even after picking up a yellow card in the early stages of the game.

Ole’s United lined up in a 4-1-2-1-2 with giving Pogba a start due to his impact in the Champions League this week. Before the match, most of the football pundits had predicted the scoreline to go in United’s favour due to them beating CL Finalists PSG 2-1 and absolutely thrashing CL Semi Finalists RB Leipzig 5-0 where Marcus Rashford came on in the 63rd minute and gave a sensational performance as he scored a hat trick even after giving the penalty to fellow forward, Anthony Martial to lift his confidence, He’s simply class on the pitch and off the pitch too. Man United got off to a shaky start as they were dominated by Arsenal and had been forced to play most of the first 45 in their own half. Lindelof had been a critical part of the united back line as even his littlest of touches prevented what could’ve been even more goals scored by the Gunners. United were looking to score on counters and Marcus Rashford did play a beautiful long ball to Greenwood which had the caught the Arsenal back line off-guard but unfortunately the shot had to be taken from a wide angle which led to Leno making a comfortable save on his near post. In the second half, United looked much more motivated and goal driven and had put Arsenal on the back foot and now the game seemed to have much more balance into it. After the goal conceded from the penalty spot, United were constantly attacking which lead to the game now being played in Arsenals Half, even after bringing on the likes of Cavani and Van De Beek, United couldn’t end up finding the net and faced another defeat at Old Trafford this season.

In my opinion, United had a bad day and players didnt put up a great performance and by the way they played, losing the match wasn’t a surprising result. The team can put up a show on a good night and the likes of Fernandes, Rashford, Martial and Greenwood can cause havoc upfront, but the worrying thing is that the team isn’t showing consistency in their performances. Instead of signing another centre half to strengthen their inconsistent defence, they went ahead and panic bought Van De Beek who although is talented, shouldn’t have been a priority. A strong centre half signing from the premier league such as the likes of Tarkowski or Dunk could’ve been more impactful.

Rashford and Fernandes didn’t have the best of games either but it is still very early on in the season to be disheartened by this loss, but instead its time to return back to training and improving in the games coming ahead. 

( Images taken from The Guardian and statistics from One Football )