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Mikel Arteta’s fifth-placed Arsenal made the trip to Manchester United for their Premier League matchday 14 clash on Thursday night.
With fourth-placed West Ham United dropping points against Bright and Hove Albion, Arsenal could have leapfrogged the Hammers with a win over Manchester United.
Unfortunately, the Gunners could not maintain their composure and succumbed to a 3-2 win at Old Trafford.
Arsenal comfortably had the upper hand over Manchester United in the opening minutes and scored the go-ahead goal through a well-taken Emile Smith Rowe strike. Arsenal maintained their lead until the 44th minute when a well-worked Manchester United counter-attack restored parity for the hosts.
The north London outfit tried to come back again in the second half. Unfortunately, they encountered the unstoppable force of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese talisman pulled Manchester United ahead for the first time in the match in the 52nd minute.
Arsenal responded with Martin Odegaard’s goal in the 54th minute, but were ultimately left undone by another Cristiano Ronaldo effort in the 70th minute. The Portuguese scored his 801st career goal from the spot to win the game for Manchester United, forcing Arsenal to return empty-handed.
Arsenal were not overpowered by Manchester United like they were against Liverpool, but the trend of losing to big teams is a cause for concern.
Here are the five Arsenal stars who were partially at fault for their defeat to Manchester United:
#5 Emile Smith Rowe
Arsenal graduate Emile Smith Rowe opened the scoring for the Gunners against Manchester United in the first half.
However, given the skill set he possesses, we expected Smith Rowe to make a bigger impact at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
The Manchester United midfielders and full-backs took advantage of Smith Rowe’s lack of physical attributes and won nine duels against him. He was also dispossessed 12 times in the match, often giving the ball away in important areas.
All in all, it was a mixed night for the Englishman, one of sub-par gameplay and a well-taken goal.
#4 Takehiro Tomiyasu
Arsenal right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu produced some fine performances leading up to the match at Old Trafford.
Unfortunately, he could not keep up the good work against a spirited Manchester United on Thursday night.
In the 44th minute, Tomiyasu was wrong-footed by Jadon Sancho, catching the Arsenal back-line off-guard. Sancho played in Fred, who fed the ball to Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United’s equalizer.
Tomiyasu was also dispossessed 16 times and offered very little going forward.
#3 Martin Odegaard
Arsenal attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard endured a rough night against Manchester United on Thursday. He started the game well and was regularly getting into dangerous areas, particularly on the right side of the pitch.
He provided four key passes and scored Arsenal’s equalizer in the second half as well.
Unfortunately, the mistake he committed in the 68th minute eclipsed all the good work he had done up to that point. The Norwegian reluctantly went in to take the ball away from Fred inside the Arsenal box, but could not win it cleanly.
The Brazilian turned the situation in his favor by shouting for a penalty. The referee did not rule in Manchester United’s favor at first, but his decision was ultimately overturned by the VAR.
Cristiano Ronaldo stood over the penalty and dispatched it comfortably to win the game for the hosts.
Left dejected after the incident, Odegaard was eventually subbed off in favor of Eddie Nketiah in the 79th minute.
#2 Thomas Partey
Arsenal’s defensive midfielder Thomas Partey missed the opening three Premier League games of the season with an ankle injury. The Gunners were outplayed and outclassed in all three matches, failing to pick up even a single point.
Partey’s return marked the beginning of Arsenal’s commendable turnaround. With the Ghanian midfielder in the team, the north London outfit did not taste defeat in seven successive games and moved rapidly up the Premier League table.
However, since the 4-0 defeat to Liverpool in November, both Arsenal and Partey have not been the same. The midfielder has looked clueless in the middle of the park, failing to do anything of significance.
Against Manchester United, Partey lost possession 14 times, committed one foul, was dribbled past once and saw his error lead to a shot.
The former Atletico Madrid man was also slow to react more often than not and offered practically nothing in the final third.
#1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cut a frustrating figure against Manchester United at Old Trafford. His work rate came in handy while defending, but he forgot to pack his shooting boots for the trip to Manchester.
Aubameyang had only 28 touches against Manchester United and completed 14 passes. He did keep all four of his shots on target, but none posed any real threat to David de Gea’s goal.
The Gabon international was replaced by Alexandre Lacazette in the 79th minute and Arsenal immediately witnessed a surge in sharpness up top.
Arteta has been supremely patient with Aubameyang thus far, but the Arsenal manager cannot afford to ignore Lacazette’s case any longer.
