'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It was a strange night at Old Trafford. The footballing mentality was all over the place, so was the ball, heads, and limbs of players too, as both teams looked uncoordinated in their movements about the pitch.
Visitors Arsenal managed to gain a lead on the scoreline on two different occasions as the hosts committed a series of blunders but failed to hold on to it, thanks to some shoddy work at the defense.
In the end, both Manchester United and Arsenal shared points at Old Trafford. Thanks to the stalemate, both the teams dropped a place on the league table; Arsenal falling to fifth from fourth place, Chelsea edging them out by virtue of goal difference while United find themselves at 8th spot, as opposed to their earlier 7th.
Arsenal came in fresh from the memorable North London Derby win against Spurs, while United just scraped through their previous contest with Southampton, which was also played out to a 2-2 draw.
In the game both United and Arsenal looked strong in finishing and creating goal opportunities from long-balls, but the aggressive nature of the gameplay and a high number of individual errors from both sides became dampeners to what could have been an exciting encounter.
Disastrous goals, horrible defending and refereeing errors added to the misery, and though such "novelties" as useful in a writer's point-of-view (more to write, no loss for words), it is not the kind of football that fans expect to see from two high-profile clubs facing each other.
As of now, let's take a peek into the best and worst players from the game. Spoiler Alert: features a majority of Manchester United players because they were arguably the superlative players on the pitch when individual performances are taken into consideration.
Hits #1: Ander Herrera (Manchester United)
Ander Herrera is our man-of-the-match from the game. No, he did not score, but thematch was not just about the scorers.
Herrera was the best player on the pitch, hands down. He played for the entire 90 minutes, and also assisted Anthony Martial's equalizer in the first half.
The Spanish midfielder had a pass success rate of 91.7%, which is excellent considering that he completed a total of 48 passes - out of which 3 were key passes, including the assist, and 3 were long balls. He was also effective on the defensive end, making the most successful tackles (5) and interceptions (6) by an individual player in the match.
He also made three successive dribbles, one of which eventually paved way for Jesse Lingard's goal in the second half that helped United share spoils with Arsenal.
Hits #2: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
Jesse Lingard, as mentioned above, scored the vital second goal for United, which brought parity and made sure they won't end up losing at their own turf. In the 75 minutes that he played, Lingard had the one goal and another shot off-target to his name.
Lingard was also useful in his side's attempts at defending, with him getting involved in 3 tackles and 2 interceptions.
He also helped United in the creative front, enjoying a pass success rate of close to 79%, totalling to 28 successful passes, including a key pass to Marcus Rojo who wasted a good opportunity to score. But more on that, later.
Paul Pogba, who was rested for a majority of the time period, came on for Lingard on the 75th minute, completing a good day at the office for the latter.
Hits #3: Lucas Torreira (Arsenal)
The explosive outing against Tottenham earlier this week had already proved that Lucas Torreira could be Arsenal's main man under Unai Emery in the times to come. With each passing moment on the pitch, in this game as well, Torreira underlined how vital a part of the team he can be.
The Uruguayan youngster was once again the top performer for Arsenal in the end-to-end game against United. Featuring for full 90 minutes, he churned out a shot by himself, and also assisted Shkodran Mustafi's goal in the first half, by whipping a neat corner over to the German defender, who headed home the first game of the game.
Torreira also effected a pass success rate of 90.3%(from a total of 62 passes), which is the second best in the game for any player with more than 10 passes, behind Ander Herrera. He completed two dribbles, and got fouled thrice - which shows the level of importance United exerted on him in an effort to stop him from dominating the midfield.
Apart from all these, he also made two interceptions and a couple of clearances and even saving Arsenal from conceding all by himself on one such occasion.
Flop #1: Marcos Rojo (Manchester United)
Marcos Rojo was, in our opinion, the worst player on the pitch. It was also his first Premier League start of the season, and it was a night to forget for the Argentinian.
On three occasions, he lost the ball due to poor touches, and also was fouled twice. His dive on to Gunners' youngster Matt Guendouzi was potentially a red-card offence, though he escaped with a yellow. He was also ineffective in his primary role in defense, clearing the ball out of danger just twice and making a block just once.
To make it worse, in the 68th minute, he sloppily conceded possession to Mkhitaryan, with the latter then combining with Lacazette to burst into the final third. Rojo simply clattered back and attempted a knock on to the Arsenal striker, catching the ball instead and diverting into his own net. Had Lingard not equalized later, it would have handed the Red Devils yet another loss at Old Trafford.
United manager Jose Mourinho substituted him off for Marouane Fellaini immediately after the grave error.
Flop #2: Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal)
Sead Kolasinac operated in the wingback role in Unai Emery's 3-4-2-1 formation and turned out to be the poorest performer for the visitors at Old Trafford.
Though he played on for the entire 90 minutes and played out a sum total of 46 passes with close to 90% success rate - including 3 key passes and a long ball, Kolasinac was poor in his primary duties as a defender.
He made just one clean tackle, made no clearances and was dispossessed twice in his own half, and also accounted for the defensive error that eventually led to Jesse Lingard's goal.
His attack through the flanks was also laden with blunders with at least three of his passes being intercepted when there were better passing options at his disposal.
Had either Rob Holding or Aaron Ramsey not gotten injured, Kolasinac would have probably found himself subbed off in the second half.
