Robin van Persie rose above Arsenal's defence to put United in front and United held out to take the three points and move up to 5th in the table.
There was sense of anticipation in the air as both sets of players, staff and fans remembered the fallen on Remembrance Sunday. Both teams could take away so much from the game.. Should the traveling Gooners snatch a win, they'd be 11 points clear of their opposition. Meanwhile, United were lying in 8th and a win would shoot them up to 5th and give them as big a boost as they could hope for.
Arsenal had only won 1 of the last 9 meetings between their selves and United but for once they went in as the favourites.
Hours before the game started the tension had already been revved up; Per Mertersacker was confirmed to be out for the match along with Tomas Rosicky. Rumours went round that Robin van Persie would not feature as well but they were put to bed soon enough as the official team sheets were released.
Manchester United started exactly as the should have done, the only debatable choice being Shinji Kagawa starting over on form youngster, Adnan Januzaj. Meanwhile, Arsenal had an unfamiliar back four. Thomas Vermaelan made his first Premier League start since April while Flamini came back into the first XI at the expense of the ill Tomas Rosicky.
As the game kicked off, it seemed as though we were being taken in an flash back to the mid-2000's. The crowd were revved up and Old Trafford was metaphorically rocking.
20 seconds after kick-off and you could sum up the first half. Arsenal gave the ball away before Jones and Rooney chased it down. The two Englishman went onto be favourites for Man of the Match. They chased everyone and everything. United looked on form as they calmly played the ball right and left and right and left as the moved up the pitch.
Phil Jones and Wayne Rooney were rampant as they both went in for tackle after tackle, powered through the Arsenal defence and even supplied the ball for van Persie and each other at times.
At the half hour mark United were still dominating and needed a goal for their domination before half time. It came from a beautifully worked set piece. Arsenal set out zonally marking and they should now regret it. Zonal Marking isn't a bad form of football it's which zone's they marked which was the problem. Robin van Persie, Chris Smalling and two others were all on the penalty sport, ready to run in to Wayne Rooney's cross and there was no Arsenal defender stopping them, let alone watching them. Van Persie was the man who got his head to the ball. The Dutchman held his run before rising above the defence to nod home. A great corner, followed by a great finish.
Play was stopped for a lengthy period twice before half time as Wojech Szczesny fell unconscious as he smashed heads with Phil Jones. Minutes later Phil Jones was at the scene again as Matheu Flamini, Jones and David De Gea clashed in United's area. Jones fell to the floor but wasn't wasting any time. However, Nemanja Vidic then felt the force of it as he walked off the pitch with blood on his face.
United made a change at half time as the injured Vidic traveled off for Tom Cleverley. Phil Jones dropped back in defence and the impace Jones had had in the first half showed.
United no longer controlled midfield and you could see it as soon as the second 45 kicked off. Cleverley and Carrick are both attacking, creative players with a knack for a pass and as Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey pressed forward there was no strong man in midfield to stop them. Jones was back in defence and when they moved that far up the pitch he dealt with them easily but there was no strong midfielder to stop them getting anywhere near goal, and there was no strong midfielder who pushed out with the ball on the counter attack.
Arsenal kept pushing on, sensing United were weaker in the centre and they got more and more chances. They managed to get into the box on numerous occasions because of mistakes made by Patrice Evra. The Frenchman let himself drift out of position too many times and even with the three points United will need to improve on these mistakes.
United relentlessly got the ball away and counter attacked. They weren;t holding 11 men behind the ball, they strode forward and Rooney and van Persie both had shots denied while Rooney steered one wide. Meanwhile, Chris Smalling got up the pitch from his right-back position and headed it just right of the post.
The tension increased and increased until Manchester United fans all over the world were unable to watch. Both sides looked like scoring as we reached the 80th minute. David Moyes had cleverly brought Ryan Giggs on for Shinji Kagawa as he looked to calm the play down. It worked well and Arsenal knew they had to change something. Arsene Wenger introduced Niklas Bendter for Santi Cazorla as he looked to have a target for the midfielders to aim at. In all honesty it didn't work, the idea was a good one but when it's Niklas Bendter, all he does is fiddle with his damned ponytail.
Moyes then brought on Fellaini as he looked to secure things up in defence. It was a risky move as the Belgian often gives away free-kicks in dangerous areas but it was another piece of tactical genius from Moyes as the big man held his ground for the short period he was on for.
A sigh of relief amongst the roar of cheers will have made by David Moyes as the final whistle went. It was a deserved win for United and a great display from David Moyes. It'll give him confidence and he'll now be even more self-assured in press conferences and interviews. He's earned respect from his players and this three points should kick-start United's season.
Written by Harry Robinson - @HRFootball on Twitter. Let me know your thoughts on the game, I'm always up for a discussion.
There was sense of anticipation in the air as both sets of players, staff and fans remembered the fallen on Remembrance Sunday. Both teams could take away so much from the game.. Should the traveling Gooners snatch a win, they'd be 11 points clear of their opposition. Meanwhile, United were lying in 8th and a win would shoot them up to 5th and give them as big a boost as they could hope for.
Arsenal had only won 1 of the last 9 meetings between their selves and United but for once they went in as the favourites.
Hours before the game started the tension had already been revved up; Per Mertersacker was confirmed to be out for the match along with Tomas Rosicky. Rumours went round that Robin van Persie would not feature as well but they were put to bed soon enough as the official team sheets were released.
Manchester United started exactly as the should have done, the only debatable choice being Shinji Kagawa starting over on form youngster, Adnan Januzaj. Meanwhile, Arsenal had an unfamiliar back four. Thomas Vermaelan made his first Premier League start since April while Flamini came back into the first XI at the expense of the ill Tomas Rosicky.
As the game kicked off, it seemed as though we were being taken in an flash back to the mid-2000's. The crowd were revved up and Old Trafford was metaphorically rocking.
20 seconds after kick-off and you could sum up the first half. Arsenal gave the ball away before Jones and Rooney chased it down. The two Englishman went onto be favourites for Man of the Match. They chased everyone and everything. United looked on form as they calmly played the ball right and left and right and left as the moved up the pitch.
Phil Jones and Wayne Rooney were rampant as they both went in for tackle after tackle, powered through the Arsenal defence and even supplied the ball for van Persie and each other at times.
At the half hour mark United were still dominating and needed a goal for their domination before half time. It came from a beautifully worked set piece. Arsenal set out zonally marking and they should now regret it. Zonal Marking isn't a bad form of football it's which zone's they marked which was the problem. Robin van Persie, Chris Smalling and two others were all on the penalty sport, ready to run in to Wayne Rooney's cross and there was no Arsenal defender stopping them, let alone watching them. Van Persie was the man who got his head to the ball. The Dutchman held his run before rising above the defence to nod home. A great corner, followed by a great finish.
Play was stopped for a lengthy period twice before half time as Wojech Szczesny fell unconscious as he smashed heads with Phil Jones. Minutes later Phil Jones was at the scene again as Matheu Flamini, Jones and David De Gea clashed in United's area. Jones fell to the floor but wasn't wasting any time. However, Nemanja Vidic then felt the force of it as he walked off the pitch with blood on his face.
United made a change at half time as the injured Vidic traveled off for Tom Cleverley. Phil Jones dropped back in defence and the impace Jones had had in the first half showed.
United no longer controlled midfield and you could see it as soon as the second 45 kicked off. Cleverley and Carrick are both attacking, creative players with a knack for a pass and as Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey pressed forward there was no strong man in midfield to stop them. Jones was back in defence and when they moved that far up the pitch he dealt with them easily but there was no strong midfielder to stop them getting anywhere near goal, and there was no strong midfielder who pushed out with the ball on the counter attack.
Arsenal kept pushing on, sensing United were weaker in the centre and they got more and more chances. They managed to get into the box on numerous occasions because of mistakes made by Patrice Evra. The Frenchman let himself drift out of position too many times and even with the three points United will need to improve on these mistakes.
United relentlessly got the ball away and counter attacked. They weren;t holding 11 men behind the ball, they strode forward and Rooney and van Persie both had shots denied while Rooney steered one wide. Meanwhile, Chris Smalling got up the pitch from his right-back position and headed it just right of the post.
The tension increased and increased until Manchester United fans all over the world were unable to watch. Both sides looked like scoring as we reached the 80th minute. David Moyes had cleverly brought Ryan Giggs on for Shinji Kagawa as he looked to calm the play down. It worked well and Arsenal knew they had to change something. Arsene Wenger introduced Niklas Bendter for Santi Cazorla as he looked to have a target for the midfielders to aim at. In all honesty it didn't work, the idea was a good one but when it's Niklas Bendter, all he does is fiddle with his damned ponytail.
Moyes then brought on Fellaini as he looked to secure things up in defence. It was a risky move as the Belgian often gives away free-kicks in dangerous areas but it was another piece of tactical genius from Moyes as the big man held his ground for the short period he was on for.
A sigh of relief amongst the roar of cheers will have made by David Moyes as the final whistle went. It was a deserved win for United and a great display from David Moyes. It'll give him confidence and he'll now be even more self-assured in press conferences and interviews. He's earned respect from his players and this three points should kick-start United's season.
Written by Harry Robinson - @HRFootball on Twitter. Let me know your thoughts on the game, I'm always up for a discussion.