Manchester United emerged victorious against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium with a 3-1 margin on Saturday in Premier League. The first half of the match between Arsenal and Manchester United had started with great pace. But the beginning of the match was like a nightmare for Arsenal as Manchester United had got the very early lead in the match at the 4th minute of the match. Koscielny sloppily gave the ball to Valencia who played a one-two with Pogba and fired through the legs of Cech. It was Manchester United’s first goal at Emirates in last three years.
It is Arsenal’s problem from many days; they are really good at attacking but shaky at defense. Manchester United quickly doubled their lead at 11th minute of the match when Martial laid off a beautiful ball to Lingard and it was 2-0 for Manchester United.
The game was really going to be out of the reach of Arsenal. Mustafi was taken out of the field after he got injured and Iwobi had replaced him. It was a tactical change by the Arsenal Mastermind Arsene Wenger. From 3 man defense Arsenal moved towards a 4 man defense and 4 players were deployed in the attacking third for them.
Arsenal had shown real positive intent afterwards. Lacazette, Sanchez and Ramsey were really proving to be dangerous in front of the Manchester United Goal. But De Gea’s brilliant saves had kept the Gunners goalless after the first half. On the other hand,After going two goals ahead United players were busy in defending the lead. United also got some chances in the counter but they were not able to capitalize on those.
The second half had begun after the pep talk from both the World Class managers in the dressing room. It was seeming that Arsene Wenger’s strategy was paid off as Arsenal put one goal back to United at 49th minute of the match. The move was started by Alexis Sanchez who chipped the ball towards Ramsey. Ramsey provided a beautiful ball towards Lacazette who had not committed any mistake to put the ball into the Goal.
The game was really on after that goal from Lacazette. The chances came for both sides and the attacks were going end to end. At 63rd minute of the match Manchester United hit on the counter, Lingard fed the ball to Pogba and he did superb to beat his man. It’s then played back across the goal to Lingard, who had just a tap-in to do. Manchester United had gone 3-1 up in the match.
United were going to be more defensive as Mourinho brought Herrera as defensive midfield in place of Martial. Danny Welbeck also came in for Arsenal to show more attacking intent for them. The most dramatic moment of the match came when Paul Pogba was directly sent off at 74th minute of the match. But Arsenal were not able to take the advantage of the 10 men of United. Two clear penalty shouts were denied by the referee which were controversial. But at the end, United were able to keep the lead and got all 3 Points from Emirates.
Manchester United took the advantage of three defensive mistakes from the Gunners, with goals from Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia. Arsenal got one back through Alexandre Lacazette and saw a decent chance for a penalty turned down, while Paul Pogba was sent off and will miss the Manchester derby.
Arsenal’s 12 game unbeaten streak at Emirates in the Premier League had ended with this defeat. They had slipped to 5th position in the League Table. Arsene Wenger will now have to reshuffle his tactics before the match against Bate Borisov in the Europa League coming next for the Gunners.
Editor’s View-
Three things about the Red Devils that will benefit Arsenal’s top four finish chances-
3. The Pogba Suspension-
Pogba’s direct red card means that he will have a suspension of three games, which means that he will miss the game of the season against domestic rivals Manchester City. It means that the Red Devils will be missing one of their best players from the Gunners, for the match which can make or break their season.
2. Lukaku’s Disappearing Act-
The Belgian international once again did what he does best and disappeared from the big game against Arsenal. Luckily his team were in a good position, due to pathetic defending, which saved them. However, with the kind of play that he showcased on the night, they will not be able to trouble City, unless there is some drastic change.
1. Complete Destruction Of The Creative Football That United Play-
Look back at the game and see how United let Arsenal dominate the game. Apart from the third goal that was a gift of Pogba’s brilliance, there was nothing created in the game by the visitors (stats said it all). This would really be a sign of worry for the Manchester based side, not just for the derby match, but as a team overall. Mourinho needs to address this issue and fast.
