Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-2 in a crucial Premier League match at the Emirates stadium on Sunday. Eddie Nketiah scored a brace for the home side in the 24th and 90th minutes, respectively and Bukayo Saka scored the other goal in the 53rd minute. For Manchester United, Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez scored in the 17th and 59th minutes, respectively.
With that win, Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table with 50 points from 19 matches, while second-placed Manchester City have 45 from 20. Manchester United, meanwhile, dropped to fourth with 39 points from 20 matches.
As Arsenal’s chances of winning the title look bright, we will take a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1. Arsenal were marginally the better team in an entertaining first half:
Arsenal started the match with their customary 4-2-3-1 formation, but left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko and midfielder Granit Xhaka often swapped places. The Gunners started the match at a great pace, with Martin Odegaard leading their charge. Odegaard also impressed with his defensive work and managed to win the ball back on a number of occasions.
However, Manchester United, who also started with a 4-2-3-1, soon tried to slow the game down by spreading the ball around inside their own half. Still, Rashford’s individual brilliance put them ahead. Luke Shaw won the ball inside the Arsenal half before Bruno Fernandes played it to Rashford, who dodged past Thomas Partey before shooting the ball past Aaron Ramsdale from 25 yards out with enviable accuracy to score his 17th goal of the season.
The home side were shaken by the goal and they launched more attacks on United’s goal. Both Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez remained solid at the back, but could not stop the Gunners from equalizing. Zinchenko, often the most advanced of the Arsenal midfielders, passed the ball to an onrushing Xhaka on the left flank before the latter sent in a perfect cross into the box. An unmarked Nketiah headed home to score his sixth goal in last seven matches for Arsenal.
After Arsenal’s goal, Antony started switching to the central area more often to make his presence felt. He was thus able to shrug off his marker, who was his compatriot Gabriel mostly. Antony once cut in from the right flank to play the ball to Scott McTominay, preferred over Fred in Casemiro’s absence, who saw his shot being saved by an acrobatic Ramsdale.
Arsenal, meanwhile, continued to attack, but Varane and Shaw came up with vital blocks. Shaw had a great battle with Bukayo Saka down Arsenal’s right, as did Rashford with Ben White at the opposite end of the pitch. Wout Weghorst, starting as the centre-forward in his debut for United, impressed with his link-up play and defensive work, but did not get much of a chance to threaten the Gunners’ defense.
#2. Arsenal dominated the second half and reaped the rewards in the end:
Arsenal replaced White with Takehiro Tomi yasu at the start of the second half, possibly to deal with Rashford’s lurking presence. The Gunners continued to dominate by slicing through Manchester United’s mid field line, as the visitors defended deep and did an excellent job at that.
However, the home side regained the lead through an excellent Saka, who cut in from the right flank to score with a perfectly-placed left-footer. Maybe United missed an additional defensive midfielder there, as Christian Eriksen was the player to have tried to block Saka’s shot in vain.
Still, United responded in the best possible way, as Rashford was superbly denied by Ramsdale and then the equalizer came through Martinez’s diving header from a corner. All the while, United looked for that elusive long ball to Rashford’s, as Weghorst kept playing as the false nine, but looked a bit too slow at times.
Erik ten Hag then took off Antony, who had an ordinary match, in favour of Fred as Bruno Fernandes shifted to the right. However, Arsenal continued to attack and were denied by Varane and Martinez’s desperation, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s diving challenges and David De Gea’s outrageous save to stop Nketiah’s shot.
As the match veered towards a draw, Mikel Arteta introduced debutant Leandro Trossard in place of Gabriel Martinelli.
Trossard was to play a role in Arsenal’s winning goal. He played the ball to an advancing Zinchenko whose cross was met by Odegaard inside the box, but his shot was stopped and the ball went to Nketiah, who got a faint touch with his left foot to score the goal. VAR upheld the goal, as the Gunners celebrated a vital win.