Arsenal claimed a huge 0-1 win over rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford to guarantee the Premier League title race will go to the very last gameweek of the season.
Despite Jurrien Timber travelling with the team up to Manchester, the Dutchman didn’t quite make the matchday squad for Mikel Arteta’s team. With the Arsenal manager once again naming an unchanged XI after four wins in a row. Man United meanwhile were without both Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, and defensive injures meant Casemiro and Jonny Evans once again started as the centre-back partnership.
The Gunners started confidently, with Bukayo Saka forcing a fairly comfortable save out of Andre Onana in the opening minutes. United then quickly had a big chance of their own when Rasmus Hojlund found himself with the ball found himself with the ball after Thomas Partey was robbed in possession, however the Danish striker fired over when he should’ve hit the target. That chance gave Erik Ten Hag’s team a boost and they began to control the majority of the play. However, a long-kick from Onana on the twenty minute mark presented Ben White with possession, and the Englishman found Kai Havertz who on first glance looked certain to be offside. but play went on and the German drove to the byline and squared for Leandro Trossard who tapped home from close range. No flag came from the linesman, and Havertz was confirmed to be far onside with Casemiro unusually slow to get out in line with the rest of his fellow defenders. Despite the goal coming just halfway through the half, Arsenal failed to threaten before the break, with United seeing more of the ball but despite that they also failed to properly threaten.
The second half began with Arsenal continuing in a relatively slower tempo, however seeing a bit more of the ball, although United soon regained the majority of control but Arsenal did look strong going forwards. The home fans began to feel encouraged with what their team was producing but they still couldn’t properly test David Raya in the Arsenal goal. Even though they were pushed deep by United, Arsenal would have the best chances as Martin Odegaard forced a good save from Onana. The resulting corner saw Declan Rice see the ball in a similar area and he too hit an effort on target which was saved by Onana.
However, Arsenal often easily surrendered possession away, presenting United with chances to come forward on multiple occasions. However, the closest the home side came to equalising was when Scott Mctominay drove through the midfield and played the ball wide to Alejandro Garnacho who’s strike could only hit the side netting of Raya’s net. With Arsenal out of control of the game with twenty-five minutes to play, Arteta turned to Gabriel Martinelli to inject some pace on the break. And the Brazilian soon almost doubled the lead when he cut inside into the United penalty area and after a slight delay he got his shot away which was again well stopped by Onana.
United pushed but Arsenal remained firm at the back, and despite a poor overall performance, they got over the line with the 0-1 win confirmed. And all eyes now will be on the other half of North London as Tottenham take on Manchester City in what is argibly Arsenal’s biggest game of the season, despite not taking to the pitch on Tuesday night.
Mikel Arteta’s side however do take to the pitch at the weekend in what is their last game of the season at home to Everton, and time will tell whether the Premier League trophy will be joining them in N5…
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 7 – Fairly unchallenged but did well to claim crosses on the way to another clean sheet
Ben White: 7 – Fairly solid up against Garnacho
WillIam Saliba: 9 – Man of the match. Made a number of crucal tackles and blocks and also supermely calm in possesion in a game where some of hsi teammates weren’t
Gabriel: 7 – Not quite as good as Saliba but still solid
Takehiro Tomiyasu: 6 – Didn’t have too much trouble against Amad Diallo but the Japanese international did struggle at times
Thomas Partey: 5 – Not a great afternoon for the Ghanaian who often was sloppy on the ball
Declan Rice: 7 – The midfielder has had better games but was proabbly the brighest of the Arsenal midfield
Martin Odegaard: 6 – Wasn’t as effective as we all know he can be
Bukayo Saka: 6 – Similar to Odegaard, wasn’t too effective in the final third
Kai Havertz: 7 – Wasn’t seen too much in the game but did get the crucial assist for the winner
Leandro Trossard: 7 – Like his fellow attackers, Trossard wasn’t involved too much but scored the vital goal when the chance came