For the first time in a generation Arsenal and Manchester United
delivered the sort of titanic contest that is carved into the
foundation stones of the Premier League, a match fit to stand alongside
the Marc Overmars game in 1998, the thrilling 2-2 draw of five years
later and Pizzagate. At almost any stage you could have convinced
yourself that this game was bound to tilt dramatically in one side's
favor.
You could never have swayed Arsenal though. Whilst this
game felt close to a distant observer there could be no doubt in
hindsight that Mikel Arteta's Premier League leaders had bossed this
game. The statistics make for almost laughable reading. Bukayo Saka, who
bullied Luke Shaw, ended the game with more touches in the
box than Manchester United's 12 in total. In 45 minutes backup right
back Takehiro Tomiyasu registered three touches in the opposition
penalty area; no opponent bettered that tally. Martin Odegaard and Eddie Nketiah registered six shots. So did United.
To
look at those numbers one could scarcely believe it took until
Nketiah's 90th-minute flick of a right boot to kill off United. And yet
they do not tell the story in its entirety. United might have been
second best but that does not mean they were anything other than a very
good team executing a plan that Erik ten Hag had evidently concluded was
the most effective way to deal with the league leaders. When the
opportunity came to break they offered threats aplenty from the precise
passing of Christian Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes.
Then there was Marcus Rashford, moving like a man who knew he was the
best player on the pitch. For a time he was, devastating Arsenal after a
bright start with a killer blow of an opener. Throughout the pre-match
warmup he had been fizzing the ball into the bottom corners, he carried
on where he left off when Thomas Partey conceded possession with a heavy
touch. Wout Weghorst's smart decoy run opened space for a long-range
shot, Rashford got enough bend on a dipping effort to leave Aaron Ramsdale without a hope.
Arsenal were not shaken, even for a split second. They disproved the
nonsensical idea that has emerged of late that Arteta's touchline temper
would rub off on them. Even as the United press disrupted the
foundations of their buildup they continued in the fashion that had
earned them 47 points from their first 18 games. This has not always
been the case, as recently as their defeat at Old Trafford earlier in
the season when a panicked Arteta threw on the cavalry and left acres
for United to drive into.
This time Arsenal eased their way
through the gears. Their press set the stage for Nketiah's first,
Gabriel Martinelli forcing a corner from Aaron Wan-Bissaka
that would lead to the equalizer, and by the time they returned to the
pitch after the break they were irresistible. Shaw has not been short of
one-on-one practice against Saka with England but he simply had no
answer to one of the best young forwards in the world. Eriksen could not
stop him either as Saka bent a gorgeous strike in at the far post.
Speaking after the game, Shaw had the look of a man who had just come from a marathon "Saw" watch-a-long.
"In the second half maybe we deserved that," he acknowledged. "We
were a bit passive, we let them control the game completely in the
second half. To concede at the end is gutting.
"You have to give them credit for what they've done this season. They deserve to be at the top from the way they play."
Arsenal
had bullied United, forcing them ever deeper as they ratcheted up the
pressure at the very moment they needed to. It is becoming something of a
trend at the Emirates Stadium that this team merely brush off
adversity. In years gone by the ground would have grumbled at Ramsdale's
sloppy handling of a corner, the players would have been nervously
hoofing the ball forward as swiftly as possible.
Instead, Arsenal delivered the slow death, perhaps to United's faint
chances of winning the title, probing every inch of their low block,
varying their pace and angles of attack like a side who knows exactly
what is required to deliver a champion's win. Doubtless, it helped that
setting their tempo was a serial trophy winner in this country. Oleksandr Zinchenko
was always available for a pass, invariably in the positions where
United didn't want him to be. This below is the second half touch map of
a '"left-back."
Oleksandr Zinchenko's second half touch map
How do you defend against that player, particularly when he is as
technically proficient as anyone on the pitch? He set the tone for a
side who knew this game would be won sooner or later.
"Mentally
and emotionally we were really composed but determined," said Arteta.
"We managed those moments really well. We never panicked. We kept
believing. We kept doing the same things even better than before. We
always believed that we could win it.
"We showed the right composure in the box on many occasions but the
ball didn't go in. We're fortunate enough that in the last action, we
managed to win the game."
In truth, however, fortune does not
really come into this. It was not good fortune that won Arsenal this
game. It was territorial dominance, technical excellence and clear-eyed
composure. That reads an awful lot like the makeup of potential
champions of England.
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