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It was a night to remember for Manchester United fans, as the Red Devils tore apart an injury-plagued Arsenal at the Emirates to progress into the next round of the FA Cup.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's United have now won all of their eight games since Jose Mourinho's firing. The Norwegian is currently only the caretaker, and he is certainly taking care, as the Manchester side are playing arguably the best football they have played since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Gunners dominated possession throughout the game, having 63 percent of the ball for the entirety of the game. They couldn't make all that possession count in front of goal though, as they failed to impress from attacking positions, heavily relying on their strikers, with no other player either willing or capable of shooting at goal.
They had 13 shots on goal, with five of them on target. Sergio Romero was made to work by Alexandre Lacazette and Aaron Ramsey in the second half, and the Argentine rose to the challenge and made some smart saves to help his side to the next round.
United were set up on the counter-attack by their manager tonight, with Romelu Lukaku featuring as an inverted winger from the right, and Sanchez set up similarly from the left.
Lingard started through the centre, and the front three caused all sorts of problems to Arsenal during the first half, scoring two goals in three minutes as Lukaku morphed into the best version of himself, similar to what we saw at the World Cup against Brazil in the summer.
Here are three reasons why United won:
#1 Arsenal's injury struggles
Not to take away anything from United's excellent performance, but part of the reason why United had as good a night as they did was Arsenal's struggles in keeping their players fit.
Most of it is down to just extremely bad luck, as was in the case with captain Laurent Koscielny, who got his face cut as Lukaku stepped on him after the Frenchman fell down post an aerial duel.
Before that unfortunate incident came Sokratis' moment of horror, as the Greek defender twisted his right ankle whilst landing from a jump. Arsenal now has four senior defenders injured, with Hector Bellerin and Rob Holding already having suffered season-ending injuries.
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#2 Ole's tactical flexibility
Manchester United's new man at the helm has brought about a great deal of joy around the club and for its supporters, as the Red Devils look to be back to their winning ways, winning the eighth game on the trot since Mourinho got the sack.
The new manager along with a bag of fresh ideas and positivity brought the priceless ability to alter his gameplan according to the players he has, not ask his players to do what they aren't best at like his predecessor did for much of his reign. All the players in the squad look like they've gotten a new lease on life. Even Alexis Sanchez looks kinda threatening again!
His use of substitutions is superb, and it proved to be the case again tonight, as second-half sub Anthony Martial restored United's two-goal cushion, leaving no hope in Arsenal's mind for a dramatic comeback.
United pass forward with intent and all the players are given roles that come naturally to them. In Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United may have the perfect man to guide this current crop of United players to the absolute peak of their limits. The club's board must hand him the full-time job, as the baby faced assassin may have a few more tricks up his sleeve to pull for the club he loves so dearly.
#3 Romelu Lukaku: The Right Winger
In a stroke of tactical genius, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started Romelu Lukaku as an inverted winger, and stripped him of all defensive responsibility, allowing him to stay in position for the counter-attack as United allowed Arsenal to develop play down the left-hand flank almost all night.
Lukaku hung back as Sead Kolasinac bombed forward to link up with Alex Iwobi, and as soon as Arsenal lost the ball, the ball was pinned ahead of the Belgian, who chased it down most of the night, and looked to be a different beast, much different to what we saw from him under Mourinho, who used Lukaku in a much different fashion.
Tonight, the Belgian looked at his devastating best, as he had too much for Arsenal's defence, who just could not handle the former Chelsea striker as he set up Sanchez with a magnificent pass, and laid up Jesse Lingard's effort on a plate for him, as United finished the tie in less than four minutes.
This version of Lukaku has not been seen by United fans nearly as often as they'd like, and if the Belgian can retain it, the manager will have a lot of sleepless nights trying to decide who to drop, as all of United's attacking players seem to be blossoming under the caretaker.
