Arsenal`s first win at Old Trafford in 14 years and Pogba’s worst match
Arsenal outplayed Manchester United in a Sunday evening’s battle, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring the one purpose from the penalty spot. The Gabon worldwide transformed from 11 metres after Paul Pogba fouled Hector Bellerin within the field.
Top-6 rivals faced this fixture after glorious victories in Champions (ManUtd 5-0 RB Leipzig) and Europa (Arsnal 3-0 Dundalk) leagues.
The tough one match without much action to see ended with a guest`s victory which is the first in 14 years for Arsenal at Old Trafford. 5,159 days, imagine that. As well as it was the first away victory for Londoners versus Top-6 from 2014. It looks like that the curse is finally removed. What is about the game itself?
Be sure to check highlights of the match:
Arteta deserves a lot of credit for the work he’s done with Arsenal so far.
“The man has recognised the major fault of the club in the last decade and fixed it with a few brilliant signings”,
– everyone agreed on this in the discussion on The Guardian web-site.
Gabriel and Thomas Partey both demonstrated why they have been purchased (around 80 million pounds paid according to Transfermarkt) – outstanding defensive efforts all game and along with their teammates barely gave United a moment’s rest in their attacks. There was a moment where Nemanja Matic of all people found himself with the ball in the box to assist on goal, and Gabriel made a brilliant last second slide tackle – being on a yellow card – to remove him of the ball. Imagine how dangerous but verified it was. Classy and clarity moment from Brazilian 22-years-old def. Saka and Bellerin were fabulous on the flanks, and for all the talk of attacking sluggishness the interlocking play and movement of the front three was terrific. Aubameyang took the penalty coolly, something underrated in modern football, and Arsenal got a solid 1-0 victory – something no Arsenal side has done at Old Trafford in over a decade.
A slow start is no crime in a season of such strangeness and with top four rivals also dropping points the form Arsenal have shown early on makes it clear they can solidify their top four credentials. Hats off to Arsenal – they gave a thoroughly professional performance today and should take more of the headlines than whatever “Ole/United fail again” dross some corners will spit out!
Man of the match Deadline Day summer signing of Arsenal:
Mohamed Elneny who was on loan the whole previous season in Besisktas delivered a standout display as Arsenal won Manchester United 1-0, and he praised the team’s discipline and composure.
“It feels really amazing, I feel really happy,”
– 28-years-old Egyptian said.
“It is special to win against Manchester United here. We knew we were going to score because our shape was really good today and everyone just gave 100 per cent. We created more chances to score. But we didn’t worry, we knew we were going to win this game”.
Elneny supercharged work in the end of the match:
But what happened to Manchester United in the Premier League? It is the 6th no-win play in a row.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gives comment on match:
And one opinion which could sum up the situation at Manchester United. It is notable that French World Cup winner Paul Pogba has the lowest player rating for this match according to WhoScored(5.8)
Putting Pogba in this team is like playing cards and swapping a Jack or a Queen card for a 4 or a 5”,
says Stuart Lambert.
“Why play a worse hand? He gives away the ball more than any midfielder. He gives away penalties because he’s bad at tackling. He doesn’t track back. He barely gets forward. I have never understood and will never understand the ludicrous hype.”
And it was such a strange moment when Bruno Fernandes was replaced with Donny van de Beck, which is a perfect partner for him. There are opinions that it was one of the biggest mistakes, to not substitute Pogba but the Portugeese attacking midfielder Fernandes.
The Red Devils can’t reach the massive progress since the Post-Ferguson Era. And solvation of this puzzle cannot be seen as for now.
In summary we can notice that that was a game of Midfield with an almost 60 percent of game activity happened in the middle of the pitch, where the ManUtd lads were outplayed by Arsenal’s man of the match Thomas Partey. Both teams still have massive problems, but Arsenal seems to be more optimistic about the future.
Top 5 player ratings:
Manchester United
1. Harry Maguire – 7.16
2. Luke Shaw – 7.01
3. Victor Lindelöf – 6.56
4. Scott McTominay – 6.47
5. Nemanja Matic – 6.42
Arsenal
1. Thomas Partey – 7.96
2. Gabriel Magalhães – 7.81
3. Héctor Bellerín – 7.12
4. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7.00
5. Bukayo Saka – 6.93