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Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney nets breakaway goal to beat Arsenal Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney nets breakaway goal to beat Arsenal
(about 2 hours later)
In the history of this fixture, the moment when Wojciech Szczesny went to punch a cross and collided with his team-mate Kieran Gibbs will not count among the great pieces of drama, perhaps, that Arsenal versus Manchester United have previously conjured up. Yet what a piece of good fortune that was for Louis van Gaal’s team given what happened next and what it means for two clubs flailing around for their old powers. By the end, those little red and white posters were fluttering once again behind Arsène Wenger’s dugout. “Enough is enough,” was the message, and these are the moments when it feels like the mutiny is growing and it is not entirely clear how Arsenal’s manager can pacify the people who want a change. The malaise feels too deep and the gap to Chelsea at the top of the Premier League is more accurately described as a gulf, now 15 points and climbing.
Gibbs was still on the floor when Antonio Valencia drew back his right foot to take aim and Szczesny eventually had to be taken off because of the force of impact. Valencia’s shot was not even on target but the ball skimmed off Gibbs for the scruffiest of own goals and the moment of outrageous fortune that maybe United needed in this contest of these faded old champions. It is no wonder the “Wenger Out” camp has found its voice again, no matter how unappealing it is to see the abuse a fine man has to suffer.
Arsenal had been the better side until that point but it was startling to see the way they crumpled after that goal and they were starting to resemble a rabble by the time Wayne Rooney broke away to confirm United’s first away win of the season. Briefly, there was a ceasefire after the fit-again Olivier Giroud, on as a late substitute, let fly to score with a wonderfully taken shot that was still rising as it flew into the net. That, however, was four minutes into stoppage time and the volume went back up again at the final whistle.
It is never pleasant to see Arsène Wenger taking so much abuse from supporters but, equally, Arsenal’s crowd are entitled to expect better. The gap between their team and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League could be more accurately described as a gulf, standing at 15 points. Angel di María should have made it 3-0 before Olivier Giroud scored with a peach of a shot four minutes into stoppage time and Arsenal have now won only one of their last 15 games against these opponents. Arsenal had taken an awfully long time getting past a vulnerable Manchester United defence and it was not enough for Wenger to argue that fortune deserted his team.
This began as seventh versus ninth, with Danny Welbeck versus Tyler Blackett capturing the attention when once it was Patrick Vieira versus Roy Keane. Blackett was part of a new-look central defence that also featured Paddy McNair and Chris Smalling in a return to the 3-4-1-2 system that most United followers must have hoped had been seen off in conker season. It was a scratch team and Arsenal – dominant, menacing, yet too often wasteful –ought to have done more to exploit it during those long spells when the away team looked so vulnerable. That was not bad luck when Wojciech Szczesny went to punch a cross and crashed into his team-mate Kieran Gibbs in the chain of errors that led to United’s opening goal. Granted, there was a considerable amount of luck attached to what happened next when Antonio Valencia’s off-target shot skimmed off Gibbs, still on the floor, to find the net but the thwack between goalkeeper and left-back was just another indication of the chaos that frequently undermines Arsenal’s defence.
Wenger was certainly entitled to be aggrieved about the way his team could not turn their first-half supremacy into the hard currency of goals. They poured forward in great numbers during those exchanges and their frustrations were encapsulated in that moment when a raging Jack Wilshere took exception to one of Mike Dean’s decisions, aimed a mouthful of invective at the referee and then responded to Marouane Fellaini’s indignation by jutting his forehead into his opponent’s chin. Arsenal were indebted to Dean’s leniency because this was arguably a red-card offence by modern-day standards and could easily have changed the complexion of the game. The frailties were there again when United, defending a corner, broke from the edge of their own penalty area and Arsenal’s back four had gone awol as Wayne Rooney clipped a stylish finish into the net.
The popular suspicion was that Wilshere’s burst of temper almost certainly derived from the fact he had squandered Arsenal’s best chance, running clean through on goal only to shoot meekly at David De Gea when everything was set up to slide the ball into the corner. Wenger admitted afterwards that he was mystified why they had left only one defender at the back and it was the same again shortly afterwards when Ángel Di Maria burst free only to try something similar and chip wide.
Welbeck had some decent chances of his own but his accuracy rate in that period hardly blew apart Van Gaal’s theory that the striker’s finishing often lacks refinement. Arsenal have now won only one of their last 15 games against these opponents and the most galling part of this one was that it was against a team that had Tyler Blackett, Paddy McNair and Chris Smalling making up the defence, in a return to the 3-4-1-2 system that most United followers must have hoped had been seen off in conker season.
United did at least start to play with a measure of control around the half-hour mark and there were some brief flashes of danger when Ángel di María was on the ball. Robin van Persie, however, is no longer the player the Arsenal crowd used to fear so much on previous visits to his old club and it was rare to see a United side play with so little width. It was a scratch team and Arsenal really ought to have done more to exploit it during an opening half an hour when they did at least remind us of their ability to play quick, penetrative football.
Van Gaal is entitled to cite his list of absentees and it is a fairly staggering statistic that Luke Shaw’s early departure with a twisted ankle means United have now accumulated 40 different injuries since their new manager was installed in July. They were ultimately undone by their own wastefulness and what Wenger described, amid suffocating deja vu, as “naive” defending. It has been the recurring theme in a season that has brought them only four wins in the league, all against sides currently in the bottom seven.
United might have been suffered irreparable damage inside the opening 20 minutes had Arsenal not been so generous with their finishing and the Wilshere chance summed up how susceptible United could be at the back. Alexis Sánchez had spread panic with the way he chased down Blackett and still went after the ball once United’s young centre-half had played it back to De Gea. The goalkeeper’s kick did not make the centre-circle and United’s defence was wide open as Aaron Ramsey and Welbeck combined to send Wilshere scampering clear. Szczesny was forced off with a sore hip after the collision with Gibbs and Wenger looked notably unsympathetic when he reported it was merely a bang. He will, however, be far more anxious about a worryingly early departure for Jack Wilshere, who limped off in the 55th minute after a crashing tackle from McNair connected with one of his weakened ankles.
Wilshere had to go off after 55 minutes and it is always alarming to see a player with his background of injuries immediately signalling he could not continue, as he did instinctively upon the impact of McNair’s challenge. Wilshere had been fortunate in the first half to avoid what by modern-day standards could easily have been a red-card offence, taking exception to one of Mike Dean’s decisions, aiming a mouthful of invective at the referee and then responding to Marouane Fellaini’s indignation by jutting his forehead into his opponent’s chin.
Wilshere did try to run it off but the impact was considerable and, with his departure, Arsenal lost a significant amount of their creativity. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain worked hard but Ramsey has regressed since last season and Sánchez faded after a lively start. The suspicion was that he was more aggrieved with himself than anyone else, having just squandered the outstanding chance of the first 45 minutes. Danny Welbeck will also reflect on his own chances. Welbeck was lively against his old club but his accuracy rate hardly blew apart Louis van Gaal’s theory that the striker lacks refinement.
The first goal came two minutes after Wilshere limped away and Wenger’s displeasure will not be eased by the fact Fellaini was a fraction offside when Ashley Young, Shaw’s replacement, floated the ball into the penalty area from the left. Yet United were on the rails for most of the opening half, bar some sporadic, brief flashes of danger when Di Maria was on the ball. Robin van Persie is no longer the player he was and Van Gaal gave the impression afterwards that he had been unsparing in his criticisms at half-time.
Rooney’s goal came from a brilliant break-out in defence, starting with Fellaini and culminating in Di María playing the killer pass for United’s captain to clip the ball stylishly over Emiliano Martinez, Arsenal’s substitute goalkeeper. Perhaps most surprisingly, he stubbornly refused to praise David de Gea, saying only that the goalkeeper had many qualities but needed to improve. Manchester United’s manager is a hard man to please: De Gea had been crucial to this win.
Giroud’s finish was spectacular and, briefly, it took away some of the crowd’s mutiny. Arsenal, however, had waited an awfully long time to get past such a fragile defence. United, like Arsenal, looked like faded old champions but, for all the hairy moments earlier on, they defended with great vigour once they had taken the lead. They also had to contend with Luke Shaw twisting his ankle early on and Van Gaal made the point afterwards that the long list of injuries – staggeringly, there have been 40 of them in his four months at the club – had made it virtually impossible for him to keep to his usual ethos of playing roughly the same team every week.
In the circumstances, their second-half display represented their best work of a difficult season. Rooney’s goal was the result of quick, incisive counter-attacking starting with Fellaini deep inside his own half and culminating in Di María playing in United’s captain to dink a shot over Emiliano Martínez, Arsenal’s substitute goalkeeper.
Giroud’s finish was even better but it was not long before the dissent could be heard around Wenger’s dugout again.