Arsenal vs Manchester United, Live Score and Commentary, Premier League 2016-17

PEEP! PEEP!

And finally, with top 4 slipping away, Wenger ups his game just as Jose Mourinho downs tools (ish) and this is the Frenchman's first competitive win over his Portuguese nemesis.

Arsenal were great value for their win and deserve to walk away with three points after United put up an abject show - the Europa League is clearly on their minds.

That's it from me Anirudh Menon...

Toodle-ooo

91' McTominay has a pop at goal! And it's a good one, but it deflects off Rooney and trundles into Cech's arms.

90' Three minutes of stoppage time... Carrick releases Rashford at Bellerin and the Englishman has the measure of his equally pacey Spanish opponent but Ramsey comes into steal the ball. The Welshman has been excellent today. At the other end of the pitch, Sanchez tries to play in Ozil but it's a bit too powerful for the German.

89' Martial runs at Holding but his square ball is well blocked by Koscielny. The ball is returned with interest but Rooney can do nothing with it...

88' Tuanzebe teases one forward but it's between Rashford and Martial - and Cech comes out well to clear. The Arsenal goalies has been good today.

86' Sanchez has a pop, and why not, but it's straight at Smalling. Rashford wins a foul, and then proceeds promptly to gift it back to Arsenal

85' Bellerin's first touch of the ball is to hand it over to Darmian... United move the ball forward wih pace but Arsenal are keeping them at arms length.

84' Arsenal make their substitutions as Welbeck and Chamberlain for Giroud and Bellerin. United meanwhile hook Juan Mata for young Scott McTominay

81' Rashford has proved too hot to handle ever since coming on and h wins a corner... from which Lingard tries to curl one on to Martial, but Koscielny heads away imperiously.

80' Holding has been excellent today and he keeps Lingard at bay. He can do nothing about Rashford, though, and the young skins his opponent before squaring it to the box. Rooney then proceeds to curl it into row Z with a hopeless shit at goal (which, by the way, Coquelin tried to hilariously stop by jumping arms and legs outstretched a mile away - my colleague Amartojit Basu is of the firm belief that he tried to stop it with his mind. Worked didn't it?)

79' Sanchez is being owned by Tuanzebe here. Mata helps him out by nicking the ball off the Chilean, but United can't keep hold of the ball. A problem they've faced all day long. Chamberlain then gets penalised for what looked like an innocent shoulder barge.

78' Martial tries to Xhaka one in but Koscielny puts in a magnificent block. Wayne Rooney then proceeds to hand over the ball with a pass of much dim wittedness.

76' Martial shows some great fight by winning the ball off Holding, but he's triple teamed by Holding, Ox and Coquelin... and it all comes to an end with Rooney bundling over Coquelin for having the temerity to try and dribble past him.

75' Xhaka is down and is holding his leg in some agony. Not sure the Albanian can continue... and he doesn't as Coquelin comes off for Arsenal's opening goalscorer.

74' That is, until. Lingard runs through the middle and plays it straight at Koscielny. This one is much better though as he tees up Wayne Rooney... but his curler flies a whisker wide. Good attempt that.

73' Arsenal are passing the ball around in the contemptuous fashion now... but Ramsey overdoes it and United have the chance to colelct their breaths and do something with the ball

71' Ozil ghosts past Rooney and Smalling but his ball across the face of goal evades just about everyone. What a move, though.

70' Tuanzebe has been brilliant against Sanchez and he shuts off the Chilean one-on-one once again. Lingard then proceeds to have a brain fade and loses the ball.

69' Martial and Rashford take it in turns to try and penetrate the Arsenal defence but Koscielny and Holding hold firm. Tuanzebe then ends up fouling Gibbs and it's Arsenal's ball again.

68' The freekick leads to another superb Arsenal counter and De Gea leaves Tuanzebe in all sorts of bother - but the debutant does well to make sure it's just a corner. From which Xhaka has another pop - but it flies well wide.

67' Ozil kills a rather nicely made move by playing a loose ball to Welbeck that runs out of play. At the other end Martial skins Koscielny, and he's having none of it as he hauls his compatriot down. It's a yellow for Koscielny.

66' United are exerting far greater pressure as Arsenal sit back and Lingard wins a corner off Chamberlain. Rooney's set piece, though, is easily cleared by Koscielny and Arsenal break....

65' Rooney has a go... but Cech saves comfortably enough. Corner for United but it comes to nothing.

64' Chamberlain does superbly to hold off Martial - the Englishman has been brilliant all game... oh. Lingard does well to win a freekick off the aforementioned Chamberlain, and Rooney & Mata stand over it.

63' Marcus Rashford is thrown on for Ander Herrera - a rest for the Spaniard, and a return to 4-4-2 for United, with Rooney in the middle. Rashford almost has an immediate impact on the game, but Koscielny sees to it that Carrick's pass to the young man is intercepted.

61' Could this be Arsene Wenger's first competitive win over Jose Mourinho? Martial does well to nick the all of Koscielny, but United can't get any penetration - Lingard and Darmian combine for the latter to curl one in - but Martial just gives up the ghost and Koscielny heads it clear with ease.

60' Martial's loose touch enables Xhaka to win back possession - Herrera then smashes into the Albanian and it's a foul. Lingard is flung on for Mkhitaryan.

59' I can hear the collective scream coming out of United's fanbase - WHY DID LVG LET WELBECK GO!!!?!! - Lingard looks set to come on, but Arsenal are bouncing now and they are passing it around with slick ease.

Of course, he scored didn't he??

Chamberlain's initial pass is blocked by Darmian but good work from Holding gives the Ox another chance to curl it in - Welbeck rises majestically between Smalling and Jones to smash his header in. WOOF.

57' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALL! DANNY WELBECK!

56' Chamberlain steals the ball ahead of Mkhitaryan....

55' United move forward again, but they seem to lack much urgency - and then Xhaka pushes Herrera over and wins back possession - somehow the ref doesn't deem it a foul

He smashes it - off Herrera's back - and the ball loops out of reach of De Gea's outstretched hand. Well that was coming, wasn't it? As unlikely a source, and fortuitous a turn of events it was

54' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOALL!! GRANIT XHAKAAAAAAAA

53' Gibbs careens forward with a superb run but his ball is too high for anyone. It doesn't matter, because...

52' United pass it around purposefully for a bit but they just end up going nowhere but sideways. Shades of Louis Va Gaal here.. till Xhaka exerts enough pressure to make Mata loose possession.

51' Tuanzebe gives away the ball with a scatterbrained pass but does superbly to recover and hold off Sanchez as the Chilean threatened to break behind the United lines.

50' Chamberlain tries to run onto an Ozil pass, but his touch lets him down and United recover possession. They need to keep it a while... just as I type that Carrick gives it away to Gibbs.

48' A loose ball from Mesut Ozil enables Darmian to run forward but Arsenal get back in numbers and force United back. Mata then tries to slip in Martial but the ball has too much oomph about it.

47' Arsenal hold on to possession and pass it along for a while before Holding picks out Welbeck in the box. Backed up against Jones, he can't do much with it - though Arsenal maintain possession of the ball.

46' A bit of head tennis as both sides descend to League One standards, before Mata brings us all back to the present day with a lovely touch. The ball is swung wide and Rooney jinks one to Martial - who has been called offside again.

PEEP! WE'RE OFF AGAIN!

HALF-TIME and the scores are nil-nil

Manchester United and Arsenal have exchanged punches like ersatz heavyweights but neither have reeled back too much (many thanks to De Gea and the much maligned Cech) Arsenal have been the better side by far, but United had the best chance of the match (in which Rooney fluffed his lines)...

The next forty five may see an injection of quality from the United bench, but as it is, this is anybody's game.

46' Xhaka picks out Gibbs with a lovely crossfield ball, but Tuanzebe does well to keep the Arsenal man at bay. Ozil then tries to lift it into the United box where Carrick interrupts... cries for "penalty" riing around the Emirates, but Marriner is having none of it.

45' Arsenal look to power forward once again but Chamberlain runs out of Emirates greenery before he can whip it back into the box. There'll be a minute of added time. Fair enough.

43' Chamberlain tries to play in Ramsey, but the ball goes nearly a foot behind the rampaging Welshman.

42' Herrera and Xhaka's ongoing tussle goes the Albanian's way this time around and Arsenal have a free kick which they take short. Ozil plays it wide to Chamberlain but the Englishman's cross is smacked away by Jones. United have been dire in possession for the majority of the last quarter of an hour and they give the ball back again.

40' United pass the ball around - this comes after a brief dry spell - but Mkhitaryan is challenged brilliantly by Koscielny. Ramsey spins away from Carrick with a sumptuous turn but his attempted through ball to Welbeck is way too weak. Arsenal recover possession and squeeze United further, and further, back.

39' Ozil and Sanchez drop deep and exchange passes before the latter tries to slip in Gibbs.... the ball's got too much oomph, though.

38' Monreal and Herrera clash in the air and it's the latter who comes off worse. He hobbles back up onto his feet though and play continues. As it were. Arsenal with the ball...

Arsenal vs Manchester United, Live Score and Commentary, Premier League 2016-17 - ARS vs MUN

Arsenal 2 - 0 Manchester United (Xhaka 54', Welbeck 57')