Arsenal went down 3-2 to United on a cold and ultimately deeply frustrating Manchester night. The game threatened to be forever known for the extraordinary opening goal scored by Emile Smith Rowe after David De Gea had collapsed in the goalmouth. Deficiencies all over the pitch ensured that wasn’t the case despite some promising and silky football from Arsenal at times and some good individual performances. That many of those performances were from our defenders and yet we conceded three goals suggests the structure of the side needs tweaking.
Tonight the team selection was a surprise. Tavares continued to keep out Tierney, Elneny (amazingly) was picked ahead of Sambi Lokonga and AMN, and Martinelli replaced Saka who was deemed fit enough to take his place on the bench.
This game usually attracts controversy and is rarely dull. Tonight was no exception. Arsenal began it well, forcing three corners in the first ninety seconds and passing the ball crisply between the back and midfield. The lack of a better focal point than Auba always strikes me when we knock the ball long in the air. He rarely wins those duels but one could not fault his workrate or Martinelli’s eagerness. The young Brazilian looked full of pace and intent and was having a good battle with Telles.
Arsenal were pressing effectively and depriving United of good possession and the game was progressing well. All the activity was a preamble to an extraordinary moment in the 13th minute when a United corner was cleared after Fred had trodden on De Gea and as he lay prone in the goalmouth Smith Rowe collected the ball and whipped it left-footed inside the near post. North London pessimists which included me suspected Martin Atkinson, no friend to us, would disallow the goal but as the cameras dissected the incident it became clear that there was absolutely no reason to rule it out. In Ferguson’s day it would never have counted but Michael CarSick doesn’t intimidate referees like Old Purple Nose and (I’m sure reluctantly) the goal was allowed.
United 0 Arsenal 1 (Smith Rowe) 13
United tried to respond forcing Ramsdale to a couple of comfortable saves and Ronaldo almost connected with White’s head and the ball simultaneously as he tried a flashy overhead kick . Arsenal were careless in midfield particularly Partey but a fine pass by Ødegaard almost set up Martinelli who finished poorly. Arsenal sat deeper and were troubled by Sancho on the left although Tomayisu was playing very effectively and White was occasionally distributing the ball quite brilliantly. Just before half time Sancho’s switch to Fred who transferred it to Fernandes gave the Portuguese midfielder the chance to slip the ball past Ramsdale who got a touch but couldn’t prevent the goal.
United 1 (Fernandes) Arsenal 1
It was a goal that might have satisfied the United-loving majority but Arsenal could feel at half-time that the Mancs could have been in the lead without the bizarre circumstances of Arsenal’s opener.
Half-time United 1 Arsenal 1
The second half began with a spectacular save by De Gea from Gabriel from a corner but United took the lead after 52 minutes when Dalot drove forward intelligently and picked out Ronaldo who turned the ball in from near the centre spot. We were opened up easily and needed a quick response.
United 2 (Ronaldo) Arsenal 1
We provided one immediately. The lively Martinelli cut the ball back to Ødegaard who swept it in with his fight foot. De Gea looked slow to respond to the shot to this observer.
United 2 Arsenal 2 (Ødegaard)
Battle was joined and we saw an end to end game. Aubameyang fired in a fierce shot from the inside right channel which De Gea blocked but then the game turned again and Ødegaard who had emerged as a potential saviour blotted his copybook with a poorly judged challenge on Fred and for the umpteenth time United had a penalty against us at the Stretford End. Ronaldo drove it down the middle as Ramsdale dived left.
United 3 (Ronaldo pen) Arsenal 2
We created a number of chances in the last twenty minutes. Two fell to Aubameyang who confirmed the growing suspicion that he is something of a spent force. Saka replaced Smith Rowe, Lacazette and Nketiah came on for Ødegaard and Aubameyang who despite being captain and ostensibly the leader of our attack was not deemed capable of leading the recovery. It seems unlikely that he will start at Everton on Monday. Saka produced two efforts both blocked and I felt he was playing too wide to really hurt United. Martinelli was always lively and enterprising particularly after moving to the left. Tavares was tireless and willing but despite decent possession our midfield two were ineffectual and unreliable going forward.
And so we subsided to a defeat which felt unnecessary and avoidable but which occurred because we were unable to control the game, could not prevent the counter attack and gave away a stupid penalty.
Full time – United 3 Arsenal 2
It is worth reflecting that Atkinson seemed reluctant to give our first goal and didn’t award a clear penalty. He is a poor referee despite his status in the refereeing hierarchy. This may say more about the quality of our ‘top’ referees but every time I see him officiate I’m profoundly unimpressed.
Disappointment is the overriding emotion after that match despite several causes for encouragement. Most of the defenders were effective. White produces superb distribution, Gabriel is solid and reliable and though Tavares lacks the defensive nous of Tierney both full backs had decent games against a team strong on the flanks. Upfront Martinelli showed several flashes of quality and Smith Rowe was always dangerous and willing although he understandably tired. But for these positives there are big negatives. Partey showed yet again he is nowhere near the midfield colossus we hoped we had purchased. No one expected Elneny to make much impact and he did little to surprise us. Upfront Aubameyang is profoundly out of form and doesn’t currently merit a starting place.
As sides develop it is often a case of two steps forward or one back (or vice versa). We must be patient. Top clubs are not built in a day and this team has a chance of finishing fourth at best but is more likely to finish sixth or seventh. That is unless we can recruit in key positions in the January window. Given what we need to really compete that is a challenging task.
An excellent report of the game, as is to be expected from TTG. “ Battle joined”. I haven’t heard that phrase since reading Caesar’s Gallic Wars! Thanks for brightening up my evening.
To defend Atkinson (it won’t happen often, make the most), he could well have blown before ESR hit the ball. Other than that I thought it was a game of two sides playing for somewhere between 4th and 6th place. We have spent 50m on Partey, they spent 80m on Sancho. Nobody who watched can be any the wiser as to why on that showing.
Onwards and upwards. We need to bury Everton on Monday night.
First rate and fleet footed report, sir. I agree with every word. Onwards.
I had to watch the match on delay as I was busy tonight. About 65 minutes in, I paused it to get a drink, and when I came back I sat down on the remote, exited Amazon Prime, and was then told that I couldn’t get back in to watch the match. I think the full replay is available some time tomorrow. Utterly shit service.
So, after 5 minutes of trying to sort this out, and on tenterhooks as the game was 2-2 when I left it, I had accept that I couldn’t watch the rest of the game and to check the score.
We lost.
Altogether, a pretty awful fucking evening.
The best bit was TTG’s report. Faber-esque. Cheers mate.
Four games at home before we came and they scored ONCE!
Unacceptable
Michael Carrick?
Seriously?
Fuck off
y’all in ingerland have it easy. fuckers beat us, and five drinks later it’s bedtime. i’ve had to sit with this shite since lunchtime, through an afternoon of work. fuck time zones.
You’ve got the sense of frustration spot on, TTG. We should have walked out of there with a 2-2 draw. A point would have been fair reward and given a bit more breathing room in an increasingly crowded table.
Our passing was too sloppy on two many occasions, however. Nor did we manage to pull the Mancs’ defence out of shape often enough.
I thought Tavares was restrained. He did not bomb forward anything as like as much as he did against Newcastle. On orders, I assume, but we lost some attacking threat as a result.
Poor old Auba still can’t buy a goal. Sitting out the Everton game might be best.
I was as surprised as anyone else that ESR’s goal stood. I was expecting VAR to rule Atkinson had made a clear and obvious error in not stopping the game immediately after de Gea went down. Full marks to ESR though for playing to the whistle.
but i’m being rude. well in with the faberesque speed and tone, ttg. a privilege to edit and post. a cheeky drink on the bar for you and the mrs.
to be fair, ned@6, the whistle had not gone when esr stroked that into the net.
Exactly, Scruz. That is what we were taught. Play on until the ref blows.
doh!
Cheers TTG!
Nice one TTG. Frustrating is the right word.
You’re right Atkinson was poor. Worth noting though on that score that he didn’t award the Man U penalty himself, so for once I cannot accuse him of bias, just of being shit.
However, the issue I have is that VAR didn’t do the job of overruling the non award of a penalty for the foul on Tomi.
And I think any referee would have been confused by the first goal, it was an unusual situation, but there was zero reason not to award the goal so I am glad VAR did right there.
What a crap result.
It is just so familiar that we don’t get anything from OT and we have only ourselves to blame.
I thought Partey did better at Newcastle than most here, but I was expecting his fitness and sharpness to improve with matches. He was poor yesterday and it cost us. Elneny gave us one excellent midfield performance at their place. I don’t think we have a right to expect any more.
What a missed opportunity. Even a point would have been fine. That Odegaard tackle to make it easy for them to take 3 points is so frustrating.
Bugger.
A disappointing result indeed. You are spot on TTG in calling it “a defeat which felt unnecessary and avoidable but which occurred because we were unable to control the game, could not prevent the counter attack and gave away a stupid penalty.” That, and your last three paragraphs sum up our performance yesterday, and the status of our squad. We haven’t measured up against high quality opposition so let’s hope we will continue dominating against teams we should dominate. Come on the three points against the Toffees.
A good point made by Arseblog in his match report: After our first goal “we did this thing we do where we sit back. In the opening 13 minutes we made 20 passes in the United attacking third. In the remainder of the first half, we made 17. It’s a bad habit we’ve got into. Whether this is what Mikel Arteta wants or doesn’t want, his team does it a lot and it’s the manager’s job to solve this …”
Martinelli’s game was pretty spectacular I thought. Auba’s quite the opposite.
Superlative report TTG!
The inevitable refereeing absurdities notwithstanding, we should have really won this match. We should have been physically sharper than them as they had a midweek CL to play last week and then played a physically very taxing match away at Chelsea. We had just played the Toons at home in that time. Especially after the first goal we should have continued with the front foot stance.
In the Arsenal world Partey has been benefiting from the fact that he is not Xhaka, and unlike the Swiss he has a good amount of much needed verticality in his play. And when Xhaka was fit he also did benefit from having Granit moping up (for all of Xhaka’s limitations he does a creditable enough job regaining possession and keep it going in the middle of the park) when he got sloppy on the ball, but yesterday his performance was diabolical. If Sambi or Ainsley played like that it would be understandable that the occasion got the better of their relatively immature years, but for the leader of your central midfield to give away possession repeatedly and not even trying to regain when those happen was unforgivable.
Players like White, Sambi, Nuno, Gabi — even ESR, Saka, Ødegaard, Tomi, Gabriel — are expected to make mistakes and learn through the process, but the lack of sharpness from Auba-Laca-Partey are concerning because they should lead by examples.
We have a very distinct advantage over the rest of our 4th place competitors (for the top 3 are miles ahead of the chasing pack): we do not have mid-week European game. We need to make that advantage count.
Agreed, bt8. Martinelli gave me hope, he was the only one at the end who still seemed to make things happen.
A great observation by Mike McDonald in his match review on Gunnerstown:
“Man Utd weren’t particularly good. In fact they looked more nervous than we did. They have a reason though. They are out of form, destabilized and unbalanced. We are in a good place. Sometimes I feel we play the club rather than the team. The club is arguably the biggest in the world. The current team would likely not make the top 25 clubs in the world. An out of form Utd, no better than us on paper or the field, one goal down should have been ruthlessly finished off after ESR scored. Again, game recognition. You don’t drop off, you push on. You’ve just been given the adrenaline injection and they can’t get the jab. You don’t politely let them take your place in the queue.”
I think there is violent agreement in the bar borne out of frustration and disappointment. We undoubtedly dominated early, scored and then let that momentum fade . That happens in matches unless you are markedly superior because there is a reaction from the opposition but in games against Palace , Watford , Leicester and even in the Tottenham match we allow teams back into games we are dominating . I think Arteta is at heart a conservative coach and he is also aware that in our ( his) position we cannot be profligate. He is not getting a lot of negativity in the ground from what I hear either at home or away and we are realistic. Since Brentford this is the first defeat to a side we should be beating. Monday’s result ( against a desperate Everton ) will be very key to perceptions of Arteta’s progress. If we win we will feel reasonably positive approaching Christmas but a draw or even worse a loss will start supporters doubting ‘ the process’ although even in a worst case scenario I think Arteta has time and should be given it . But it may affect team confidence if we start to drop points to teams that we aspire to be much better than. Interestingly we played Everton at Goodison at this time of year two years ago just before Arteta was appointed. It was a dreadful 0-0 draw and they were worse than us .We lost a year on in a game where Everton harboured aspirations of a high finish and we were pedestrian so this year let us hope we can demonstrate that we have made real progress by winning . But the fluctuating fortunes of the clubs show how volatile football at this level can be .
And the ladies can win the FA Cup on Sunday. We’ve got a great record against Chelsea in FA Cup Finals !
The observations about Arteta’s conservativeness showing after we have just scored — getting the team to drop back to make sure the opposition does not hit back quickly — are well made. Dare I say it, but without Xhaka, he may feel we are vulnerable to counterattack unless the whole team plays deeper. It is, though, something we have to sort out.
I’ve felt that this season if we are winning two of every set of three games, we will be on track for a decent final position and can say the project is making progress.
The pattern so far has been:
LLL (Brentford, Chelsea, Man City)
WWW (Norwich, Burnley, Spurs)
DDW (Brighton, Palace, Villa)
WWL (Leicester, Watford Liverpool)
WL? (Newcastle, Man U, Everton)
Looks like a win at Goodison is a must.
Not sure if we noted it, but the U21s beat Ipswich on Wednesday to advance to the Round of 16 in the Papa John’s Trophy. They came back from 2-0 down at halftime to win on penalties. The draw for the round of 16, which will be split into Northern and Southern sections, will be made on Saturday, with the games to be played in early January.
Potential opponents are Colchester United, Sutton United, MK Dons, Chelsea U21s, Charlton Athletic, Cambridge United and Exeter City or Portsmouth.
Disappointing to lose at Old Trafford again. A game decided by fine margins once again. I’ve seen plenty of harsh reviews on our performance, I felt we played pretty well, it was our game management that let us down more than anything. It frustrates me that we often take an early lead then decide we have to sit back and hold what we have? Surely this cannot be the way Arteta wants us to play? The only games this season I can remember us totally dominating start to finish are the wins over Spurs and villa. In both games we scored early and pressed on and took the initiative and ended up scoring more goals. You could include the Leicester win although the second half that day was all Leicester. We scored early again from smith Rowe (which was a legal goal but I’m sure the odious Mike Dean would’ve found a way to rule it out had he been in charge of this one) then proceeded to sit back. Ok it’s old Trafford but post SAF it’s been no fortress. There were good aspects, martinelli and ødegaard played well, but the Norwegian’s tackle on Fred was plain stupid. Give it another half second and the Brazilian would’ve probably got tackled by his own shadow. Very mustafi-esque from ødegaard who was otherwise pretty good and took his goal well. I definitely don’t think we deserved to lose. A draw would’ve been more than fair. Disappointing result but a win at the beleaguered toffees on Monday and all will be forgotten.
Ned,
I saw a couple of clips of the Papa Johns game and the Balogun goal was the end point of a very good move . Only two U21 sides have made it through this far and the other is Chelsea. One might say that these are the two sides who are developing the best young players . Balogun is a real prospect and I’m not clear why we didn’t arrange a loan move during the first half of the season . Saliba suffered similarly last season . He certainly needs to play at a decent level , either a promotion-chasing Championship side or maybe a Premier League team that will give him minutes ….Wolves, Newcastle , Leeds , Brentford might be possibilities
A very late thanks for a fine report TTG.
Though it was a shit result we played mostly ok and
it’s enjoyable watching this team progress at the
moment. Maintain the level with a couple less mistakes
and we should be too good for Everton.
TTG@25: Your sources will know better than m, but I suspect Balogun was held onto in the last window because Laca and Nketiah looked likely to be sold or loaned. Obviously, that did not happen, but perhaps not until too late to arrange a loan for Balogun. You are right that he needs regular senior football at a decent level. A January loan, surely.
I note also that your favourite midfielder makes an appearance in the video the club put out of the squad training ahead of the Everton game. He will be available for the Boxing Day game against Norwich, apparently.
Leno was also shown back in training after the hip injury that kept him off the bench at OT.
Ned,
I think your theory is correct about Laca and Nketiah but had they both gone it would have been a big ask to expect Balogun to step up. About the only thing that amused me about the Brentford game was the backlash from fans asking for Balogun to be picked. ( even before the Covid outbreak) and then turning on the manager because Balogun ‘ clearly wasn’t ready ‘.
It’s a difficult call for Arteta . If he moves Balogun out on loan and he does well and Auba continues to struggle he will be criticised . The big hope is that Martinelli can take off for us. He is hugely popular among the fanbase and has a great attitude and he was our best attacker on Thursday . He isn’t a big lad to play centrally , but neither is Laca and Auba doesn’t hold the ball up well. I still think we will bring in a fresh striker but wh9 that may be is a mystery . It was hard to anticipate many of our summer buys until negotiations started and a surprise may be in store . Step up Troy Deeney or Diego Costa 😀
This is bizarre. A Norweigan player is sent off for pushing his own keeper to the ground, but the replay seems to show that the keeper takes a dive and fakes being hit in the face.
Ned. That’s bizarre indeed. The referee should have sent them both to the saunas.
i can imagine their locker room won’t be a happy place for a bit.
Unsatisfactory Sunday all round. Women well beaten in FA Cup final and the neighbours and the Mancs go above us in the table. Three points on Monday looking ever more imperative.
Kieran Tierney features prominently in the training pictures offered this week on the official site. Is this the week Arteta brings him back in to refresh the team?
Thanks for a fine report TTG,
Sorry to be so late to read it but it’s been a very busy time – and recollections of two more goals from bloody Ronaldo did not appeal on Friday morning 😡
Absolutely understand Trev
It’s going to be a very tense season in our attempt to qualify for CL
Bt8@33: I’ve mentioned before that KT3 would return for the Everton game so I endorse your reading of the tea leaves.
Not being one to doubt what you say, Ned I took the opportunity to find your exact words in the drinks attached to the Manc preview when you indeed said what you said you said: “my reading between the lines of what [Arteta] said in his press conference was that Tavares would get one more game before KT3 came back in at Goodison.”
I guess that all but guarantees it will be Tavares. 😉
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