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Arsenal sealed their top 4-place at least for two weeks as they overcame an in-form Manchester United side under Solskjaer. Unai Emery, who has filled this Arsenal side with a spirit to play tough and not just rely on possession as against the case under Wenger, reaped benefits of defending as a team.
The Gunners are now just a point adrift Tottenham Hotspur, a gap which was 10 points just before 16 days. Xhaka’s curling effort gave the Gunners an early lead which was then doubled by a cool penalty taken by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arsenal didn’t look in control in the second half and had their goalkeeper to thank for keeping them in the lead throughout the match. Manchester United, on the other hand, would consider themselves unlucky due to the nature and the timing of the Arsenal penalty.
Here are the three reasons why The Gunnars came out on top:
#1. Poor finishing from the United front line
Romelu Lukaku’s record against the top 6 is always a question mark and the question mark was written in bold letters for his display against Arsenal. Arsenal are known to give opportunities to the opposition teams to score as they have the least number of clean sheets among the top 6.
But United twice hit the woodwork and were also denied twice by Leno’s impending figure as they failed to score. Ole Gunnar was credited for bringing the best out of Lukaku in the last few weeks but the striker was not up to the task for the visit to Emirates.
Rashford also misfired and the second half free-kick was an example that he was not at his very best. Pogba did create chances for his teammates but failed to bring those late runs into the box which so often resulted in goals for United.
#2. Bernd Leno’s masterclass
On a day where a De Gea shocker gave Arsenal the lead, Bernd Leno produced some courageous saves to deny United on more than one occasion. Leno was comfortable with the ball at his feet and was responsible for good distribution too. There was a moment where it looked like Lukaku would score easily but Leno made himself big and stopped a great goalscoring opportunity for United.
Leno’s communication with Koscielny and Sokratis was also commendable as he was always comfortable in dealing with the pacy United front line. The goalkeeping position was a question mark for the Gunners for all those frustrating years under Wenger in the last decade, but it seems like Leno is here to stay and become a leader at the back.
De Gea has had some contract distractions and it seems he is not the world number one anymore. Leno should now focus on increasing the numbers of clean sheets, a record Arsenal are very poor at.
#3. Aubameyang’s Courage to take the penalty
When Lacazette was brought down by Fred in what would be seen as a soft tackle, the crowd at the Emirates were pretty sure that it would be Lacazette or Ozil who would step up and slot home the penalty. But they were surprised to see Aubameyang step up, and not just that, he even repeated the same penalty which he missed against Spurs, only this time the goalkeeper going in the wrong direction.
He revealed in the post match interview how the team encouraged him to take the penalty and there were no doubts in his mind that he would definitely score from this one.
Aubameyang scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions and he is paying back every penny spent by Arsene Wenger on him. Arsenal have lacked a 20 goal per season striker since the departure of Robin Van Persie in 2012, but may have just found their version of Harry Kane or Jammy Vardy.
