Manchester United were latest team to fall victim to the Gunners' set-piece prowess, which could give them an edge in the title race
Arsenal are the set-piece kings of the Premier League. Mikel Arteta's men cemented that standing on Wednesday as Jurrien Timber and William Saliba both scored from corner routines to wrap up a hard-fought 2-0 home win over Manchester United, which saw them close the gap on Liverpool at the top of the table to seven points.
For the first 50 minutes of the game, United stifled the Gunners while sticking to new manager Ruben Amorim's compact 3-4-3 formation, and the atmosphere inside the Emirates Stadium fell flat. But Arsenal always have a Plan B to fall back on.
Once the dead-ball deliveries started raining down, United were left completely overwhelmed, and in the end, they were fortunate not to lose by a far wider margin. They are not the first side to buckle under that pressure, though, and won't be the last.
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No other team in Europe can match Arsenal's total of 22 goals from set-pieces since the start of last season; it's a unique strength that ensures they are never out of a game. But some consider the approach to be a form of anti-football.
"Arsenal is the new Stoke City, right?" Dimitar Berbatov said while covering the game as a pundit for Amazon Prime. "Depending on set-pieces to give you the win." They were, however, bitter and unfair words from an ex-United striker.
Arsenal should not be written off as one-dimensional; Arteta is simply covering all bases to try and deliver the club's first league title in 20 years.