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Yesterday, the age-old rivals that are Manchester United and Arsenal locked horns yet again at the Emirates. This time, the United were the ones who emerged victorious on their enemy's turf, clinching a 3-1 victory courtesy of a brace from their own, Jesse Lingard and their latest captain who scored his second of the season, Antonio Valencia. Alexandre Lacazette got the goal for the home side.
If you didn't watch the game, don't let the comfortable, yet fictitious scoreline fool you. The game yesterday was one of the best Premier League games I have seen in recent history. If the entertaining, nail biting, stressful and yet frustrating action at the Emirates was not the perfect advert for Premier League football, I don't know what is!
Despite the scoreline's fabrication, the Gunners were the ones who dominated the game throughout. While in the first 15-20 minutes, their defence was an absolute shambles, which led to United's first two goals, Arsenal were on top for the rest of the encounter which might be remembered as one of the best games, come the end of the season.
Despite all their territorial advantage and efforts on goal that were denied by the superhuman reflex and ability of United's No.1, David De Gea, United showed immense ability on the counter. Their counter attack was absolutely devastating and reminiscent of the "Fergie Days" as they showed fantastic speed, trickery and composure which was all met by lethal finishing at the end, as United put three past Petr Cech with just four shots on target in comparison to Arsenal's one goal from fifteen on target.
In defiance of all this praise for the Red Devils, it has to be said there were more negatives than positives for the Old Trafford club. Yes, they got the vital three points away at Arsenal for the first time since 2014, which is a massive result and might prove vital come the end of the season, but United's performance, especially on the defensive front, was absolutely unacceptable.
While normally this Man Utd defence is as solid as a rock, they had a terrible day at the office against Arsenal's precision attacking. United conceded 15 attempts on target, which is more than their last three Premier League games, combined. This is very unlike a Jose Mourinho team, and injuries to United's first choice centre halves Phill Jones and Eric Bailly combined with a lack of match sharpness for Marcos Rojo have to be one of the biggest reasons for United's defensive discomfort.
It would be harsh, but not wrong to say that Manchester United got very, very lucky and robbed Arsenal of the three points. If it wasn't for the mistakes in the opening third of the game who knows what Arsenal could've done to a momentumless and static Man Utd defence, but to the credit of Mourinho's men, they were very clinical and took excellent advantage of the few chances they got.
United's defence was exposed and stretched to its core at the Emirates. This 'spanking' is bound to leave some voids in Man Utd's defensive confidence, and with arguably the biggest game of the season coming up, this is the last thing Mourinho would've wanted.
If United are half as bad defensively against Guardiola's City, as they were at the Emirates, a demolition derby is all but inevitable. The red half of Manchester can't just rely on David De Gea at the Etihad as they can't expect the Spaniard to keep saving them, so, Mourinho has to sort his defence out, or else City will end not only United's winning run but also any slim title hopes that are alive at Old Trafford.
Adding futher insult to injury, Manchester United's fanatic frenchman Paul Pogba was also shown a red card in the 74th minute for a reckless challenge on Hector Bellerin, which may not have been intentional, but it was foul play and reckless behaviour nonetheless and deserved the red.
As a result of the straight red, Pogba is set to be sidelined for as many as United's next three games, including the crucial Manchester derby.
I don't have to tell you how influential Pogba is to this Manchester United side as they looked a different team, an inferior one when Pogba was sidelined with injury. This is evident as they suffered their first defeat of the season alongside a drought in terms of goals whilst he was injured, but as soon as their midfield magician returned, so did the United of old.
Without a doubt, Pogba is United's most important player as he plays that role of linking the United defence with the attack resulting in the devastating counters like those against Arsenal, and without him, a draw is the most you can probably expect of United at the Etihad.
United's chances of winning the derby were thin already and now the absence of Pogba has further slimmed down their chances of getting a result against the runaway league leaders.
As hard as it may be for United fans to hear this, any result at the Etihad would require a miraculous piece of brainstorming by Mourinho. With their record signing absent from the side, a bad day at the Etihad is inevitable for United, who will more or less lose the title they have worked so hard for, if they lose against City in their next game.
Summary
United have passed the test at the Emirates, although not with flying colours. Their performance against Arsenal got them the massive three points they needed to stay in the title race, but it also highlighted some major flaws in their system for their noisy neighbours to exploit.
The confidence in that United backline surely took a hit from Arsenal's exploitation and United's main asset in Paul Pogba is now set to miss their most important game of the season, therefore, it would be fair to say that despite getting the three points at Arsenal, it feels as though United were the ones who lost.
