Morning all.
No Gabriel, Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu, no proper left back. For Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior, it was a rare start for both. Hats off to them too because both did more than ok.
Manchester United came for a point in my opinion but left with nothing. Meanwhile, up In Newcastle, Liverpool were dropping two points after a 3-3 draw.
The first half was pretty drab with a defensive and compact Utd hard to break down. Even so, Gabriel Martinelli had the ball in the back of the net but his celebration was cut short by a raised offside flag. Thomas Partey had the best chance of the half from a Declan Rice corner but he totally messed up his header. The look on his face showed how disappointed he was. Up the other end, Mount hit a shot wide, much to the relief of the Arsenal fans.
Arsenal.com
The second half was quite different to the first. Another set-piece, another Declan Rice corner which despite Fernandes and Hojlund defending at the the near post, Jurrien Timber snuck between the two, got the slightest but crucial touch to glance his header into the back of the net.
With around 70 minutes of the game gone, Utd had a free kick in a dangerous area. de Ligt thought he’d scored, I thought he’d scored but David Raya made an outstanding full stretch save to keep the ball out. Absolutely brilliant from the Spaniard.
Five minutes later, we doubled our lead. Another corner, this time from Bukayo Saka towards the far post. Thomas Partey’s headed hit the back of William Saliba with the ball ending up in the back of the net. Who cares how they go in eh….
Before the end, Kai Havertz had a great opportunity to make it 3-0, as did Mikel Merino but in the end, 2-0 was enough to send Utd back home with nothing.
Post match, Mikel Arteta said:
It’s a very special night against an opponent with a lot of history. I think the team was excellent, the energy in the stadium was amazing, so I’m very happy to celebrate that day with a massive victory for us. A fourth win in a row in a really convincing way, scoring two goals and not conceding a goal with a lot of players that haven’t played that much, but showed me again and the team that they are ready when needed.
He’s referring to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior of course and why not because considering neither have played an awful lot of football for Arsenal this season, they proved their worth. To beat a Utd team with a “new manager” lift is a cracking result. Made even sweeter by the news of Newcastle scoring an equaliser in the dying moments of their game.
The nine point lead at the top is now seven.
Next up for Arsenal is a short journey across London to Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Catch up later…
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