First Half :
The fixture begin like a nightmare for Arsenal as Manchester United had got the very early lead at the 4th minute of the match. Koscielny sloppily gave the ball to Valencia who played a one-two with Pogba and fired through the legs of Cech. It was Manchester United’s first goal at Emirates in last three years.
Manchester United quickly doubled their lead at 11th minute of the match when Martial laid off a beautiful ball to Lingard and it was 2-0 for Manchester United.
The game was really going to be out of the reach of Arsenal. Mustafi was taken out of the field after he got injured and Iwobi had replaced him.
From 3 man defense Arsenal moved towards a 4 man defense and 4 players were deployed in the attacking third for them.
Arsenal had shown real positive intent afterwards. Lacazette, Sanchez and Ramsey were really proving to be dangerous in front of the Manchester United Goal. But De Gea’s brilliant saves had kept the Gunners goalless after the first half. On the other hand,After going two goals ahead United players were busy in defending the lead. United also got some chances in the counter but they were not able to capitalize on those.
Second Half:
It was seeming that Arsene Wenger’s strategy was paid off as Arsenal put one goal back to United at 49th minute of the match. The move was started by Alexis Sanchez who chipped the ball towards Ramsey. Ramsey provided a beautiful ball towards Lacazette who had not committed any mistake to put the ball into the Goal.
The game was really on after that goal from Lacazette. The chances came for both sides and the attacks were going end to end. At 63rd minute of the match Manchester United hit on the counter, Lingard fed the ball to Pogba and he did superb to beat his man. It’s then played back across the goal to Lingard, who had just a tap-in to do. Manchester United had gone 3-1 up in the match.
United were going to be more defensive as Mourinho brought Herrera as defensive midfield in place of Martial. Danny Welbeck also came in for Arsenal to show more attacking intent for them. The most dramatic moment of the match came when Paul Pogba was directly sent off at 74th minute of the match. But Arsenal were not able to take the advantage of the 10 men of United. Two clear penalty shouts were denied by the referee which were controversial. But at the end, United were able to keep the lead and got all 3 Points from Emirates.
FT : Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United
Manchester United took the advantage of three defensive mistakes from the Gunners, with goals from Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia. Arsenal got one back through Alexandre Lacazette and saw a decent chance for a penalty turned down, while Paul Pogba was sent off and will miss the Manchester derby.
Arsenal’s 12 game unbeaten streak at Emirates in the Premier League had ended with this defeat. They had slipped to 5th position in the League Table. Arsene Wenger will now have to reshuffle his tactics before the match against Bate Borisov in the Europa League coming next for the Gunners.
PLAYERS RATINGS
Arsenal
Cech – 4.5/10
Koscielny – 5/10
Mustafi – 3/10
Monreal – 5/10
Bellerin – 4.5/10
Xhaka – 6/10
Ramsey – 8/10
Kolasinac – 5/10
Ozil – 6/10
Alexis – 6/10
Lacazette – 7/10
Subs Ratings:
Iwobi – 6/10
Welbeck – 5/10
Giroud – 5/10
Manchester United
De Gea – 9/10
Valencia – 8/10
Lindelof – 6.5/10
Smalling – 7/10
Rojo – 7/10
Young – 7.5/10
Matic – 8/10
Pogba – 7.5/10
Lingard – 9/10
Martial – 7.5/10
Lukaku – 7.5/10
Subs Ratings:
Herrera – 5.5/10
Darmain – 5/10
Rashford – N.A
REACTIONS
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho: “I loved the way my team played and fought. Arsenal played in some period amazing attacking football – creating difficulties for us. But I have to say that my players deserve all the great words. I don’t know so many in English but amazing, phenomenal, fantastic. They deserved three points.
“The plan was when they had the ball we all had to defend – starting with attacking players and when we had the ball we had to counter attack fast and try to score goals which we did. They had chances but we fought and we have a great goalkeeper too.”
On De Gea’s display: “I told him after the match, what I saw today was the best from a goalkeeper in the world. You need the keeper to be there for you when the team needs. All the effort from the players was magnificent. The game, we started in one way and they started in another, then we changed and went down to 10 men and changed again.He has made amazing saves but I think Petr Cech had an amazing save from Jesse too. It was two of the best goalkeepers in the world on the pitch. Petr has a great history in the Premier League and David will make a similar impact.”
On Pogba’s sending off: “I don’t know. I leave for you that one. I leave for you the Lukaku situation with Koscielny, I leave for you the Arsenal players on the grass. The grass is absolutely beautiful – I think there is a desire to go onto the grass.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “I think we didn’t start well at all at the back and we are guilty of that. Despite being 2-0 down we should have come back – we had enough chances. We produced excellent quality, but were not decisive enough.
“Psychlogically it was a big blow to go 2-0 down so early on – especially at home. We were too on the edge mentally maybe – you cannot be in a game like that.
“It was a mystery yes (to not score more), but David de Gea was man of the match by a clear mile.
“We played well but there is nothing more frustrating when you have that quality of performance and nothing to show for it at the end. The attitude was impeccable until the end. But you cannot make the mistakes we made at the beginning.”
“I am really disappointed because it was a good performance, but we had nothing to show for it at the end and that is hard to take. We weren’t efficient enough in the areas where it matters. We put ourselves in difficult positions.
“It was not even huge pressing, we didn’t have enough in dictating our fight from the start. Their goalkeeper was absolutely outstanding.
“I don’t want to speak about the referees anymore.
“I am proud of their commitment and attitude, I feel sorry for the players that gave so much but had nothing to show for it with points at the end.”
Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea speaking to BT Sport: “It was a difficult game. I’m really happy. We scored two quick goals but at the end of the first half we lost control of the game. In the second half they scored the first goal and (then with), the sending off of Paul, it was difficult.”
On his own performance: “It’s a win and I think all the team defends really well for the 90 minutes.”
Manchester United goalscorer Jesse Lingard: “It was a great win. I thought the lads dug deep, especially in the first half when we were under pressure. In the second half we had to regroup and reorganise.
“David de Gea kept us in it and he’s one of the best keepers in world. It’s great to have stable person behind us to keep that play up.”
On Pogba’s suspension for Manchester derby: “It’s a blow but the team have the players to adapt to that. Everyone’s got to work hard to get in the starting XI.”
