Arsenal did not look convincing in attack from open play against Manchester United, which is fine when you can unlock any team in world football from a corner, which they did twice on Wednesday.
Being set-piece savvy is beneath the bigger teams. It is actually the only way smaller teams score against them. Not anymore. Arsenal have turned that cliché on its head.
It must be lovely being able to bail yourselves out from a corner when you are failing to create from open play and two corner goals were the difference between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates.
The Gunners have won points from their not-so-secret weapon on countless occasions and in other matches have been what has opened the scoring to lead to a convincing victory – just like against West Ham United on Saturday.
We say Arsenal weren’t convincing from open play but they were still better than United, who are in transition and learning to play a different formation under new head coach Ruben Amorim.
You can hardly say that Amorim was outsmarted by Mikel Arteta but he did not have an answer for those pesky corners. His way of dealing with them was to have six or seven defenders parked in the six-yard box, closer to Andre Onana’s line than the six-yard line. It clearly didn’t work given the scoreline but Arsenal had 13 corners in total, so it could have been worse…we guess?
Declan Rice saw the whole United defence parked on the line and was not bothered. In fact, his delivery has never looked more dangerous; it was on the money nearly every time. Bukayo Saka’s delivery was less convincing but still led to the second goal.
Arsenal’s opener came via Jurrien Timber, who flicked in his first goal for the Gunners from a delicious Rice corner. It felt inevitable as Arsenal won corner after corner and it was no surprise when their second came from the same pattern of play.
Saka’s back-post delivery found Thomas Partey, who headed it into William Saliba’s arse and the Frenchman wheeled off to celebrate as if he had just banged one in from 30 yards.
Partey should have scored from a corner in the early minutes, as it goes. He might not have expected the ball to find him but it did, hitting off his shoulder from three yards out and going wide. Two other close calls were when Joshua Zirkzee almost scored an own goal, being saved by a clearance off the line from fellow summer signing Manuel Ugarte, and when a wide open Mikel Merino headed just wide at 2-0.
It could have been worse for the Red Devils but limiting Arsenal to chances mainly from corners (which is their deadliest weapon, we know), is almost absolutely fine.
United were competitive and are finally showing some identity on the pitch, something that was scarce under previous manager Erik ten Hag.
Last season, Arteta did not show Ten Hag respect by letting Man United knock the ball around freely. They did nothing with it and Arsenal’s game plan worked a treat, while braindead United fans insisted they ‘dominated the game’. Arteta showed Amorim plenty of respect with a high press and believe it or not, the visitors dealt with it admirably.
One move in particular in the early minutes saw first-time passes in their defensive third lead to Tyrell Malacia carrying the ball into the Arsenal defensive third in a matter of seconds. It is remarkable that it’s taken a new manager for these players to realise they are actually really good at their job.
While Amorim’s side showed maturity in an away game against ‘Big Six’ opposition by slowing the game down and playing out of the back effectively, they were characteristically toothless in attack, which shows what is easier for a new manager to address. The Arsenal back four was there to be attacked as well. Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko started due to injuries to Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori. That is quite a downgrade but it was hard to tell.
Kiwior did well and Zinchenko was fine until in-form winger Amad Diallo came on. He caused him plenty of problems but David Raya was not tested from open play. His best save denied a Matthijs de Ligt header from a Bruno Fernandes free-kick and United’s best move was from a set-piece on the edge of the box. It was tidy but the scoring opportunity fell to Antony.
This was a free hit for Amorim, really, and fans won’t lose any sleep tonight over a 2-0 defeat away to Arsenal. It is a tricky December for United but at least they won’t be playing against a team so capable from set-pieces every week.
They will be content but Arsenal will be delighted. They weren’t at their best and won, while Liverpool finally dropped some points on a mental night at St James’ Park.