Arsenal were not great but Saliba dragged them through; Casemiro, Garnacho and Ten Hag having no Manchester United answer without Bruno Fernandes helped.
1) There is a Sir Alex Ferguson quote for everything when it comes to the Premier League. And his thoughts on 1-0 victories feel particularly pertinent in the aftermath of what was most often his hallmark fixture.
Less predictable and entirely more problematic was the sloppy, loose play in midfield which typified Arsenal’s start especially. Thomas Partey was tackled on the edge of his own area to set up an opportunity which Rasmus Hojlund blazed over while slipping; Declan Rice’s pass back to Tomiyasu was careless and slack, requiring David Raya to push up and clear the imminent danger well; by the quarter-hour mark, Martin Odegaard was misplacing simple six-yard balls while trying to construct attacks.
Holding midfielders also don’t take that many potshots from 30 yards when far better passing options are available, yet there Casemiro was ten minutes playing precisely the sort of game the blocking Gabriel will have wanted. Manchester United paid £120million for this level of focus against the most potent attack in the league. And this is where the injury excuse is rendered entirely obsolete, because it should not take a couple of pulled muscles and tweaked hamstrings to make it impossible to coach the adequate holding of a defensive line – if indeed these elite players do not already have that instinct within them.7) The worst of those Arsenal midfielders was Partey and by quite a margin.
But Partey was poor and the theory of what he brings to this team has not outweighed the negatives that everyone already knew his selection entails. That early moment ceding possession to McTominay was eerily similar to West Ham away last season from8) Amad was bright on his first start for Manchester United since December 2021. That was only one of a few encouraging runs from a player willing to inject some urgency into the game, but also capable of slowing things down when necessary.
Tomiyasu and White both had efforts within seven minutes of the goal but there was no storm to weather after the opener: Arsenal’s next shot after those was from Rice in the 55th. They let this game drift and it gave Manchester United enough impetus to make it uncomfortably close. Four of those shots were blocked, none of those crosses found a teammate and those touches were all either executed poorly or had been born of the wrong idea to begin with.
In his first 11 Premier League games after joining last January, the Belgian scored one goal and assisted seven as Arsenal embarked on that seven-game winning run. Then his final nine matches of the campaign, coinciding directly with their collapse, included no goals and just three assists: one in the 4-1 thrashing by Manchester City, and two on the final day when all was lost.
F365 Says Front Page Home Page Manchester United News 16 Conclusions Leandro Trossard
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Premier League live news and scores: Manchester United, Arsenal reaction and moreFollow the latest news from the Premier League, MLS, WSL and across Europe
Read more »
Arsenal stay in Premier League title race with Manchester United winArsenal show their ugly side to keep the title race in the balance with victory at Manchester United, writes Phil McNulty.
Read more »
Manchester United no-hopers - Premier League top six verdict after Arsenal victoryThe Mag
Read more »
Erik ten Hag explains why Manchester United cannot progress after Arsenal lossMan United have lost 19 games this season - 14 in the Premier League - and have a goal difference of -4 amid the possibility of their worst finish in 34 years.
Read more »
Arsenal break incredible record set by Invincibles after Manchester United winArsenal's current side have surpassed the Invincibles side following a 1-0 win over Manchester United.
Read more »
Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1: Title race still alive, Trossard key again, Casemiro blunderArsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 to return to the top of the Premier League. Here are the key talking points from the game…
Read more »