Arsenal 1 - 1 Manchester United: Arsenal run out of bite

Short and sweet today:

In the first half, Arsenal were angry. They displayed an aggressive side that we've seen precious little off this year and it worked well. Walcott got us off to a perfect start despite being offside - these decisions have gone our way during this run-in.

United had two or three really good chances despite not playing that well. Sagna then did something moronic by first giving the ball away cheaply and then taking out van Persie in the box. Blatant penalty, easily dispatched by van Persie (who else?).

Arsenal ran out of steam after that. The second half was littered with mistakes and nearly-moments, and United were the better; they were relaxed and in control. They may have even scored more had their final ball been better. Our poor performance this half was probably down to a combination of heads dropping after the Sagna mistake and running out of energy after an intense first half performance. Had Arsenal gone in 1-0 up at half time, chances are they would have sat back and defended that lead in the second half rather than push for a second.

The nature of the result is a bit disappointing but it's not a bad point. It keeps us in the top four and Spurs and Chelsea still have to play each other, so we're not at risk of both sides gaining ground on us because of this result. Our unbeaten run is still going, so we can take confidence from that going into the QPR game next week.

sagna needs to be replaced in the summer

Damn Sagna, damn.

Hope Arsenal had 18 more RVPs to be sold to each of the EPL clubs

Dat intensity in the first half

Sagna actually had a very good game i thought. He touched that ball just slightly, but ref thought he completely missed it... shouldn't have been a pk. He saved about 3 goals too lol.

Laurent Koscielny won 100% of his 5 tackles against Manchester United and made more interceptions than any other player (7)


He is a beast

Sagna's had a below par season (for the high standards he's set), but generally not been so bad. That, however, had to have been the worst performance of his I've witnessed. I really, really wanted him to pop up with a goal at the end of the match to redeem himself.

All told, a point against Man Utd isn't a bad result, it's just disappointing how we capitulated due to a hugely avoidable individual error. Yet again. Those first 30 minutes were niiiiiiice though. That's the basis, that's the blueprint, that's what the club should build upon and enhance over the summer.

Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United: Arsenal deserved 3 points

sportsczy wrote:Sagna actually had a very good game i thought. He touched that ball just slightly, but ref thought he completely missed it... shouldn't have been a pk. He saved about 3 goals too lol.

Szczesny did more to keep the tie level than Sagna. Sagna conceded the penalty (after he lost the ball) and was a yard or so behind everyone else

We badly miss Giroud's height and strength today

If only we had signed M'Vila last summer, we would have won today.

Still having a medical i hear

Well done arsenal.... Sagna should be forgiven... I am proud of the arsenal boys they worked with determination, spirit and commitment. This performance was excellent. Apart from wenger and no sense making swaps. it was a good day...

Arsenal dominated United in Mid Field. No Other Team Did This Season. Well Done.

Only a short one from me, since I've football still to watch.

This is probably the first game in a while where physical fatigue was noticeable. After the buzz from the first half wore off, we looked a tired side.

Going forward we were frustrating since we were forced to work the ball into wide areas and had the age old problem of having nobody to cross to. Giroud was missed in this regard, though I feel Podolski did okay.

Sagna looked sluggish throughout. Nani had the beating of him all game and he made one too many mistakes.

On the positive side, Mertesacker and Koscielny were outstanding. Ramsey rightly received a standing ovation when he went off and Walcott had his best game in ages.

JAY Z at the emirates

Lex wrote:We badly miss Giroud's height and strength today

There were Arsenal fans who said "Giroud's red card is a blessing"

Idiots.

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A point is not too bad, we just need some luck now, like Chelsea beating Sp*rs but losing to Manchester United. And of course win our remaining games, which will be hard without a real striker, to be honest.

our final 3rd passes before AOC was introduced(what u see in left flank!!)

Well just lets hope for other results going our way ,meh

Next weekend: Saturday: Spurs v Southampton (3) QPR v Arsenal (5.30) Sunday: Liverpool v Everton (1.30) Man Utd v Chelsea (4)

positives:

Boscielny
Big Credit,but dont overlook Per,overall their partnership

I think this puts us in a very good position with Chelsea to play United and Spurs vs Chelsea, and on the last day Chelsea plays Everton.

Great match.. and we desreved a win with such performance.. though arguably draw may be a fair ressult..
We clearly dominated the game, but the lack of quality in the final third was evident.. hats of to our midfield.. Ramsey was again the boss today.. Rosicky also was energetic and efficient.. Areta also looked very good.. as expected Cazorla once again diminished against a better defence.. Cazorla held the ball well under pressure but didnt get the space to shoot or make decisive passes.. i cant find a good position for him, but he is too good to be benched also..
and who did we miss today... Giroud..!! Podolski was a failure at CF today.. very poor movement and is crippled on the right foot.. failed to hold the ball and win aerial duels.. Gervais did better than him and should start next match as CF.. United packed the centre and forced us wide which nullified our threat.. Walcott had a good game and made some runs behind their defence from the RW but later he was trying to play more centre and was uneffective..
the defence was great Kos had RVP in his pocket and Met also did well.. Sagna had a decent match but made a stupid decision and we paid for it.. he was devastated after that and looked always like he could get that second yellow.. Sagna is so efficient carrying the ball forward while Met is poor and slow.. so we have a real problem on the right when Met and Jenko plays as both are not confident and so comfortable playing passes and getting forward.. i am sure that Jenko will improve with games.. but for quite some time it will cause problems for us..
United looked always a danger on the counter and their quality in the final third was better.. but Sczeny stood well and the team was up for it.. and the goal being slightly offside, a draw may be a fair result..

Ratings...
Sczeny - 7
Sagna - 6
Metskr - 7
Koscielny - 8
Arteta - 7
Ramsey - 7.5 MOTM
Rosicky - 7
Cazorla - 6
Walcott - 6
Podoski - 5
Wilshere - 6
Gervais - 6
Ox - 6

CL place is in our hands now, only we can cock it up now

Chelsea still has to play Man U & Spurs

one of Chelsea or Spurs will drop points

problem is that if Chelsea win against United, and then Spurs win against chelsea. We will end up 5th

We need few results to go our way

RealGunner wrote:problem is that if Chelsea win against Spurs, and then Spurs win against chelsea. We will end up 5th

We need few results to go our way

Wait, what?

I meant Chelsea win against united

What game, not sure what Sagna was thinking with the tackle, but glad we got a point. The game could have gone either way.

I dont know why we dont shoot more, we had many chances to shoot and decided to pass it around.

Ramsey made some bad decisions, had he passed it to Theo instead of Podolski it could have ended 2-1.

Every game is a cup game, and hope United beat Chelsea next week.