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MOTD: Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United

By on November 22, 2014

In the end, it was a typical match for everybody. For Jack Wilshere, he played quite well, missed one great chance and then limped off injured early in the second half. For Manchester United, they didn’t play well, but won with two late goals. And for Arsenal, they dominated much of the match, but of course, didn’t finish until it was far too late. Their fans left scratching their heads again, wondering, as one Arsenal fan put it, how they managed to lose to “a team like (United)”.

Admittedly, it’s a hard question to answer. Arsenal were certainly good enough to win and created the chances to do so. They failed to bury those chances, however, and that is down to a hatful of things. Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez were their best finishers on the pitch, but because of the way they play it is often the midfielders who get the chances. Wilshere was at one point one-on-one with David De Gea, but didn’t even make the goalkeeper move. In fact, while De Gea made multiple strong saves, Arsenal often shot right at him despite the Spaniard initially looking uncomfortable and possibly injured (e.g., he hit several poor clearances in a row in the first half). Nevertheless, Arsenal’s missed chances are inexcusable for players of their calibre in these kinds of stakes. The loss was just so… Arsenal.

So the Gunners will go away frustrated. It was almost inevitable when the first goal they scored was in the back of their own net, considering the visitors at the Emirates looked defensively shaky the entire match. In the first twenty minutes, as well as throughout much of the rest of the match, United hardly completed a pass on Arsenal’s half. Their lineup itself seemed set up to play on the counter-attack – with three center-backs and two wing-backs. Louis Van Gaal’s defensive game-plan was clearly to outnumber Arsenal at the back, but they couldn’t have enough defenders initially. That is the exact game Arsenal wanted to play, and Arsene Wenger’s side tore through them from the start. Somehow, though, they failed to finished repeatedly.

Welbeck, playing against his old club, nearly had one early on with a header flying over, before Wilshere tested De Gea. After a poor clearance from De Gea, Arsenal were put straight through on goal, only for Wilshere to clip a weak effort right at De Gea. United hardly had a chance of note in the first half, as Wayne Rooney sent a dangerous free-kick from the edge of the box high and wide, and Robin Van Persie didn’t look all that threatening on the break. Angel Di Maria did, however, and wasn’t that far off with a wide curling effort. But his chances were few and far between, while De Gea came up big to stop Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from rounding him, and Ramsey fired wide.

Coming into the second half Arsenal were slightly disappointed with the scoreline, and indeed it was an exciting 0-0. But that’s when things started to go wrong. Wilshere had to be taken off due to injury, and after De Gea saved once as Welbeck rounded his marker down the left and had a go from a tight angle; twice from a low header; and then Olivier Giroud fired another header narrowly over.

But of course, United broke on the counter, and Kieran Gibbs stuck out a leg to divert Antonio Valencia’s volley into the back of his own net. To tip it off, Rooney added another in the eighty-fifth minute, chipping Lukasz Fabianski after having found himself one-on-one with the substitute goalkeeper (on for Szczesny who was injured during United’s first goal). Arsenal fans were stunned, and many were headed home as Di Maria and Rooney broke – the two of them against the goalkeeper. Di Maria absurdly missed from what was a weak scooped attempt, and while it didn’t seem like it would matter, you could sense nervousness despite the two goal cushion when the fourth official signaled eight minutes of stoppage time. It was more than Arsenal fans would have hoped for in their wildest dreams.

And indeed, Giroud did get one back in the ninety-third minute, but it only further illustrates Arsenal’s supply of frustration as they failed to find another.
Man of the Match: Angel Di Maria

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.