Arsenal beat Manchester United to do what they can to keep title race alive

Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1

The television cut-aways to the enclosure that housed the Arsenal supporters perfectly captured the anxiety. It was not supposed to be like this, not against this Manchester United. But the lesser spotter acceptable version of Erik ten Hag’s team was on show, fighting for the badge, and Arsenal were made to suffer.

Leandro Trossard scored their goal midway through the first half after a United defensive malfunction – of course it was – but the advantage was slender and everybody knew, least of all Mikel Arteta, that it could take only one moment to rub out.

With five minutes to go, there was thunder and lightning. Very, very frightening. Arsenal had not exactly made the habit of winning here in recent years, doing so only once in their previous 16 Premier League visits. They desperately needed the points clear, to answer Manchester City’s victory at Fulham from Saturday, to jump back above them at the top of the table, to make sure that their challenge would go to the final day next Sunday.

Arsenal got the job done, relief fusing with the euphoria when it was all over. The downpour at the very end was almost biblical, hailstones pelting down, too, and it certainly made for a vivid scene when Arteta and his victorious players took the acclaim of the travelling fans.

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Arsenal were below their best in creative terms; their best players were defenders, namely Ben White and William Saliba. The result was the only thing that mattered. Does anybody really think that City will slip up; they play their game in hand at Tottenham, of all places, on Tuesday night. City have never done so under Pep Guardiola when the title has been within their grasp. For Arsenal, it remains about believing.

Pre-match optimism had been difficult to locate in United hearts and yet there was a tremendous roar from the Old Trafford crowd upon the first whistle, excellent support throughout. It was surely in spite of the evidence contained on the team sheets. Call it blind faith, defiance. Or just supporting your team.

Arsenal had been unchanged, bristling with assurance, the momentum behind them. What remained so disorientating about United was the sheer number of absentees, especially at the back, where Casemiro continued alongside Jonny Evans in the wake of the horror show at Crystal Palace last Monday. There was nobody else.

Arsenal were odds-on with some bookmakers to score at least three. Digest that, for a moment. Yet United appeared determined to show some personality and they might have scored first when Scott McTominay won the ball high up off Thomas Partey and, suddenly, Rasmus Højlund had a clear shooting chance. He slipped at the crucial moment.

United were good for the opening 20 minutes, winning a few duels, although Arsenal threatened on corners, Aaron Wan-Bissaka having to make one important clearing header. The problem, of course, is United’s near constant vulnerability, the sense that a structural breakdown is never far away.

It came when André Onana went long, Casemiro having shown for the short ball and White took a header from Saliba to feed it back up the inside right for Kai Havertz. The Arsenal centre-forward looked offside. That was until we looked along what passed for United’s line and saw Casemiro was still ten yards back. Havertz ran around Evans to cross low. Trossard lost Wan-Bissaka to touch home.

Arsenal might have scored again on 29 minutes when White worked a give-and-go with Bukayo Saka, burst away from Casemiro and lifted just off target. United, though, held their own up to the interval, despite struggling for clear-cut openings.

Ten Hag had recalled Sofyan Amrabat in midfield and he brought some muscle, earning a generous ovation when he was substituted late on. Amad Diallo, who started ahead of Antony on the right wing, showed twinkle toes and sharp turns. Kobbie Mainoo looked as if he could make something happen.

Arteta had won here previously as a manager, Arsenal’s lone league success of the recent past coming under him in November 2020 – the 1-0 pandemic ghost game that was settled by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty. Arteta badly needed a repeat, for his team to manage the game in the second-half. The longer it stayed at 1-0, the more his insides churned.

Declan Rice saw a shot blocked by Wan-Bissaka but with Diogo Dalot and Alejandro Garnacho driving variously up the left, the home crowd sensed an equaliser. It had to be said that with the club at a low ebb, their backing was impressive.

Garnacho was stopped in his tracks by one excellent Saliba tackle. On another occasion, the United winger dropped his shoulder to open up a shooting chance, stepping inside only to get the curler all wrong. Garnacho’s final action was too often a frustration.

It was nervy for everybody connected to Arsenal. They sat deep, at times, in the second half, inviting United to make the game. Martin Ødegaard sent one shot too close to Onana but at the other end, the substitute, Antony pinched the ball ahead of Takehiro Tomiyasu before fluffing the shot.

Garnacho kept going, it kept on being nearly but not quite for him while at the other end, Onana tipped over from the substitute Gabriel Martinelli. The goalkeeper would also paw clear a Wan-Bissaka backwards flick and a drive from Rice. – Guardian