Despite not playing at their best at Old Trafford, Mikel Arteta’s team managed to hold out against Manchester City in the second half despite being under pressure.
Arsenal’s tenacious 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday assured that the Premier League title contest will go all the way to the last day of the season. Although Mikel Arteta’s team has at least pushed Manchester City all the way, they still know that victories in each of their last two games will guarantee first place. Scott McTominay robbed Thomas Partey on the edge of the Arsenal box, allowing Rasmus Hojlund to have a golden opportunity to open the score for United, but the Danish striker stumbled and missed. Soon after, Kai Havertz took advantage of Casemiro’s inability to play him offside and squared for Leandro Trossard to score, making Arsenal pay as well.
For the rest of the first half, the Gunners appeared to be in control of the match, but as it went on after the interval, the home team started to put pressure on them. Nevertheless, on the counterattack, substitute Gabriel Martinelli forced Andre Onana into a superb save, and the United goalkeeper produced another stop to keep out Declan Rice’s long-range shot.
As the heavens opened and United huffed and puffed into six minutes of stoppage time, Arsenal held firm. Now, they must defeat Everton on the penultimate day while hoping that a slip-up by Tottenham or West Ham will cause a mistake by City.
Goalkeeper & Defence
David Raya (7/10):
Barely stretched but dealt with a number of crosses into his box well. Couple of hairy moments with the ball at his feet, but otherwise a calming presence.
Ben White (6/10):
Troubled more and more by Garnacho as the game wore on, but held his own well. Got forward plenty, though his final ball wasn’t particularly great.
William Saliba (8/10):
Dominant presence at the heart of the defence. Brilliant block challenge on Garnacho as he broke into the box in the second half summed up his strong showing. Threat from set-pieces, too.
Gabriel Magalhaes (7/10):
Outmuscled Hojlund on more than one occasion. Solid.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (6/10):
Amad’s pace and trickery threatened to cause him problems, but the Japan international stood up well and made a couple of key tackles.
Midfield
Martin Odegaard (5/10):
Couldn’t influence the game as he would have liked as he was crowded out a lot of the time.
Thomas Partey (5/10):
Early lapse almost gifted Hojlund a goal and he took a long time to start influencing the game in a positive manner. Eventually settled down in the second half.
Declan Rice (6/10):
Did his best to carry Arsenal forward when they were coming under pressure, has had better performances in recent weeks.
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Attack
Bukayo Saka (4/10):
Nothing he tried came off, and while he chased back admirably, Dalot was too often able to gallop away from him and spark attacks. Perhaps beginning to tire at the end of a tough season, and was forced off with an injury late on.
Kai Havertz (7/10):
Took advantage of the space he was allowed to get to the byline and lay on Trossard’s goal. Showed some nice bits of close control, but wasn’t the out ball Arsenal needed as they struggled through the second half.
Leandro Trossard (8/10):
Superb movement allowed him to tap in Havertz’s low cross. Movement into central areas caused problems, and he carried the ball well on occasion, too.
Subs & Manager
Gabriel Martinelli (6/10):
Caused problems with his pace on the counter after replacing Trossard, and tested Onana with a rasping drive
Gabriel Jesus (N/A):
Replaced the injured Saka in the final 10 minutes.
Jorginho (N/A):
On in stoppage-time for Partey.
Jakub Kiwior (N/A):
Thrown on to bolster the defence in added-time.
Mikel Arteta (7/10):
Stuck with the team that has been winning games during the run-in, and made a smart substitution by bringing Martinelli on to pose a counter-attacking threat.