Arsenal won away at Old Trafford for the first time in 14 years as a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty was the difference between the sides.
Mikel Arteta set his team up well, controlled things in the first half, and created chances which they should have taken. Unlike the last game against Leicester though, we found the goal when Paul Pogba fouled Hector Bellerin in the United box.
After two successive defeats, this was a very big and very welcome win.
Read the Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal match report and see the goal here.
Man Utd 0-1 Arsenal- Player Ratings
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Love my team
Bringing on Mustafi has got to be Arteta trolling Ole.
No brainer. Great at headers , after Edinson Cavanis head became the goto plan
Bit harsh. Mustafi definitely has a brain. He just doesn’t always use it.
He did say Mustafi had no brain.
” No brainer” simply means the decision to bring him wasn’t something Artrta needs to think twice about since Mustafi is good in the air and will be able to nullify Cavani’s attempts to score with a header.
I cannot tell you how much I love you for explaining that.
heheheheheeeeee
Hahaha
Great guy
Oh I love Musti. He’s a positive cheery dancey guy like I could see him with a violin or sth . He’s not the strongest emotionally and needs backing of the clan and trust of the clans leader.
0 / 10 for the pricks on the chat box in my live stream who typed ‘1 – 0 Rashford’ or later ‘1 -1 Pogba’ whenever the stream started buffering. Fell for it every time.
Seriously though, who are these people? For a whole ninety minutes they threw all manner of racist, misogynistic insanity at one another and I’m not convinced any of them were United or Arsenal fans.
S’pose it passes the time on a wet Sunday night…
“Seriously though, who are these people? For a whole ninety minutes they threw all manner of racist, misogynistic insanity at one another…”
Yeah, noticed that too.
World’s gone crazy, I guess.
Just turn off the chat box.
I never said it wasn’t entertaining…
Literally just pre-pubescent edgelords who’s balls haven’t. If you’ve ever used the voice chat while playing COD and had some shrill girly voice tell you they’ve fucked your mom n-word, that’s the only kind of people who get thrills out of being anonymously racist on football stream chat.
Yeah, some of them seemed very keen on certain players getting cancer. Not quite sure I understand the thought process. I’ll just chalk it up to immaturity. Bizarre way to spend your evenings…
Everybody’s fucked your mom
That is so wrong on so many levels, mate
That was the point
Sorry I’ll try to grow up 🙂
Considering the post he was responding to, and his username, he was basically required to come up with that reply.
Best comment on this blog ever.
Trump supporters
Elneny was like an extra man today.. absolutely immense
With Laca though it’s like having a man less. He is really struggling
I thought Laca was better today. Still has some way to go to get back to his best.
I don’t think we ever saw his best. Never quite reached the same heights he did in france.
Nonsense. He was immense till his injury last season. Remember he was our player of the year 2 seasons ago.
Certainly he was way better today than he has been. Things stuck, which is the first I’ve seen that happen this season
I thought he was very good today; not sure what anyone is complaining about unless they don’t like the role he’s playing. That’s Arteta’s choice not his, and I think today might not be the most appropriate moment to criticise Arteta’s tactical decisions.
Laca was grand today, what game were you watching! He lead the press and won the ball back a number of times. Kept them under pressure so we could actually let Partey get the ball and dictate.
He’s had some bad games, but today he put in a proper shift up front.
He wasn’t, had we lost everyone would be complaining about him.
But we won so be happy na guy!
Happy na…
Except… we didn’t and they ain’t.
Lacazette made 5 tackles, 4 in the opponents half and had 9 ball recoveries. He was ahead of everyone on the pitch except Partey for both stats. Both Willian and Saka’s chances in the 1st half came directly from Laca winning the ball high up the pitch. I understand that he made a couple of poor passes, but it feels like people are just not looking for the good that he does at the moment. Today was nothing like his performance against Leicester where he was poor, but even then we would probably have fewer complaints if his goal had… Read more »
I wouldn’t. I am absolute proof you exaggerate.
He was poor, lost the ball a lot and spurned a few opportunities with the ball at his feet.
MOTM for mine… Wow him and partey bossed it. Who would have thought mobile mids against a team that wants to counter would work?! 🤔
Really controlled them well and created the best chances. Our forwards need to step up their finishing. But they worked real hard. Great team performance and mostly 433/442 formations…proves they can let us remain solid. Like it!!
When we were bantering on previous post, Dave – I mentioned I’d love to see Mo’Nenny paired with Partey – to see what he could do when not having to police Granite’s leaden feet.
And now we know! Bring it on….
Yup, Xhaka’s lack of mobility has been thorn in our side basically since he came. We are leaky AF with him in their against teams that play direct, high-tempo football. Hopefully this spells the end of the Arsenal-Xhaka-midfield era. I also hope we sell him quickly too, because his value will plummet like other guys (Mustafi, Sokratis, Ozil, Kola, etc.) if he finds himself on the fringes.
I pray the penny has finally dropped on Xhaka. Morgan Freeman says, “Your name came up.”
The key would now to find a midfielder like Elneny that would complement Partey and not only free him to dominate, but would also replicate his work like Mo did today.
Like Elneny. But we have Elneny
Yeah, but don’t forget, Morgan Freeman’s (character’s) name came up too, so I wouldn’t really trust him to be a reliable football pundit.
Yeah – because Mo’Nenny has been absolutely crap up to now???
Laca is doing the Job that managers love but supporters rarely appreciate.
The last few matches when we were not starting him there was a Lacazette shaped hole in that recessed 9 position. When he drops back in and puts up a fight or drops to receive it eliminates the dead zone that is there between mids and the front line when he’s not on. If you’re not going to have a 10 or an advanced mid, it’s mighty useful to have a striker that gets in and digs.
Agree with the elneny bit. Hope people can reset their minds on this guy. He’s actually exceptional at supporting the player on the ball. Keeps us from turning the ball over and is quite capable of going forward if he has a mind to do that. His body shape receiving the ball always makes things easy for himself and is why he hardly ever gets caught. Works hard and is very disciplined defensively too. Don’t know what more we would want from someone to play next to partey
I always rated elneny, and was never sure why other people didn’t, I guess he’s not a flashy exciting kind of player
I think a lot of Elneny’s bad reputation was the conservative nature of his play–slow play, short passes, often square or backward, rarely carried the ball forward. I think we can see now that was under instruction. We still haven’t seen an impressive range of long passing from him (and maybe he just doesn’t have that), but aside from that–willing and very able to accept the ball and move it forward quickly, either by carrying it or with a invariably accurate and easy to receive pass. Maybe not the right player against a low block, but much better than most… Read more »
decent long pass here from Elneny (not commenting on the goalscorer btw, it’s a tedious argument at this point):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wlmC1Zzks8
True – but absolutely nothing tedious about that goal – just watched it another 4 times!
I remember I said that goal was like the one you pretend you score when you’re a very little kid–defender after defender falls down trying to stop you, you round the keeper and then do it again! The crowd roars! Even the awful kits are like a kid’s fantasy of top-level football.
Yep – always felt that, with the full support of his coach/manager, and a mid partner he could completely trust, that he could possibly become another Gilberto for us… here’s hoping.
Mo played to orders, when he played for Egypt he was far more adventurous. Now he has a manager who believes in him we’re seeing the real Elneny, he’s a very good player.
Disagree on Laca, he did a really solid job today and linked up play well. Was unlucky not to get an assist from Aubameyang, whose shot just took a knick off a United defender.
I thought Laca underhit the pass to Auba, which limited what he could do with it – but he did play his best game so far this year
He was my MOTM. I think he is going to be key this season, that whole midfield looked lovely today.
I wonder if it’s a confidence or fitness thing with Laca.
He was ice cool during his first two seasons. Now he seems to be questioning his instincts and possibly trying too hard to make things happen.
10/10 for elnenys pressing in extra time
My favourite thing all match, in a match in which we had plenty to be pleased about.
Extra time, up on his own chasing a clearance, everyone’s leggy and struggling to get back into some kind of position and he earns an extra few seconds with some excellent pressing.
That just delighted me.
7million. Wengers last bargain…Slow burn but bargain nonetheless.
Superb defensive performance from Arsenal today, hats down. Elneny with Thomas were excellent, I would have that duo in front of both Xhaka and Ceballos in the team at the moment. I thought Elneny was unlucky to lose his place in the starting XI for the Leicester game, he plays with so much energy and I loved that pressing from him in 90+ min. Very good example for others that if you work hard, try to improve and play with passion you can get your chance. Gabriel, Holding and Tierney were all very good which is so important in those… Read more »
I’d take elneny over xhaka against teams with a packed midfield or press high, which is the majority of teams now. His version of “not extravagant but useful” is delicious. Ceballos would be more useful when we need to break teams down, so then comes the question – when do we play xhaka? And i really liked that bellerin has been showing up much more in the final third, most probably due to pepe not starting though.
we play xhaka to give partey rest 😉
Honestly partey has looked a class above the rest of our midfield for every minute he’s played.
Those 3 at the back have been reliable since the start of the season. Gabriel really is another level totally but holding has surprised me a bit. He’s defending smart, not getting caught in bad positions, keeping the ball ahead of him and controlling his opponent. Never really looks flustered or in trouble. I’d like to see him manage it in a back 4 but feel confident when he’s playing in this set up
Liked your comment,. I’d just like to add that we mostly play with a back four, something which is easily seen by looking at the average player positions after the game.
What we’re seeing with both Holding and Mo’Nenny is that playing with class, adds class. Gabriel’s obvious assuredness and certainty is allowing Rob to rise to his best level. Likewise, Mo having someone alongside him who is so obviously accomplished, simply allows him to play his natural game, to be more mobile and adventurous
The midfield should depend on who we’re playing against. When it’s smaller teams that stick two banks of four, Ceballos can give us a little bit more invention in the final third (provided Arteta allows him to get into the final third). His performances at the tail end of last season shouldn’t be forgotten either. Anyway, I’m just happy that we have real competition in midfield for once.
Oh Mike Dean
Always loves a good penalty and some drama
Even more than a penalty, Mike loves the drama of a sending-off. He is a centurion, I believe, and the only one in England. I was very worried for Gabriel; I almost wanted Arteta to take him off because Dean was the referee.
I also want to say that if Elneny can do something similar to Coquelin when he did all the ugly stuff for Santi, Partey could really benefit
Or they could take turns as they choose who goes forward and who stays behind.
Think they did that today.
Elneny’s tempo and ball security and passing crispness is so much better than Ceballos’ and Xhaka’s right now. Some of his passes forward (!) were sumptuous. He was better than any of United’s midfielders.
Remember Bruno Fernandes, the brilliant signing that completely changed Man United’s play and made them into a contender? No, I didn’t see him either.
Much harder for the opponent if they know either one of these guys might be the one who makes the next big move. Keep the bugger’s guessing. That’s something we haven’t been able to do for some time.
Yes, but not only that. Elneny’s passing was again quite positive. He’s proving to be much more than just a solid option.
Much more to come from Mo’Nenny… mark these words.
A definite surprise 10/10 for Mike Dean not taking the opportunity to screw Arsenal by sending Gabriel off
Yea. Was telling my mate all through the match that Mike Dean is going to screw us any minute. Boy I am glad to be disappointed.
10/10 for Mike Dean? Slow down there.
Even if he single handedly came up with a vaccine for Covid, I’d still give that trumped up self-aggrandising sh*t 0/10.
Even though he kept giving Fred get out of jail free cards after booking him I couldn’t shake the idea that Gabriel was gone the first time he looked sideways at a United player.
Really quite shocked when it didn’t happen.
Mike Dean might get reduced to refereeing Championship games for letting Arsenal compete on a level playing field with United.
Perhaps he knew the first Gabriel’s yellow was far too soft so he chose not to screw up games like he did everytime to us before.
Fun watching Roy Keane losing his shit after the game
He totally mugged himself off tonight. He had a temper tantrum that a 2 year of would have been proud of. What an utter fucking tool.
That can happen when you actually give a fuck. I like him. At least he’s straight with it.
He’s on to give us some insight. He just doesn’t have any and had to resort to a childish attempt at playground bullying, trying to talk over everyone. You could just see why he’s never made it as a manager.
and it was very, very funny.
I kept watching it was hilarious
That’s not at all fair Clocko….
Tools are useful.
That was the best. Good lord, he’s entertaining when he’s on one of his rolls.
Everyone should be getting a 10, Arteta deserves a 10.5
Yup. Loved it when he threw on xhaka amn and musfafi in an all out defence to hold the lead.
He was going to sub in Xhaka but brought on Nketiah instead. Pretty sure Granit didn’t play.
Nah, that was just to take the piss out of United. They didn’t look like scoring for the majority of the game.
I would give Elneny the highest score – he is a quiet hero. Always willing to get the pass, never stopped running, he drove us forward as well as made game fluent from the back. And what a way to finish the game, he was immense. Well done boys, but big shout out to Mo who doesn’t receive enough credit for his professionalism and commitment and today showed he deserves to start.
The way he made small sprints all game to open up passing for Leno and the CB’s was excellent. Silent hero.
It’s funny — Elneny has certainly improved with his forward passing and aggressiveness. But he has always been much better than most give him credit for, as if “a typical, tidy, consistent Elneny game” is somehow not precisely what you would want from a mostly defensive midfielder. Funnily, I think this is in part a result of his physical appearance. He looks and acts like a “nice guy,” and his movement *appears* to be (but is not) less fluid than that of Ceballos (who I also like). Humans are funny creatures. And Arsenal are a quickly improving squad.
The way he deflected that shot shot off Leno’s head and onto the post was sublime. Just kidding, thought Elneny was awesome tonight.
As I said, our defence was taking the piss out of United for most of the game. 🙂
I had to rub my eyes a few times. There was Mo Elneny! driving us forward and making positive passes, besides working his bag off on the pressing side. Outstanding along with Partey today, who is showing us he really is the midfield destroyer we have been longing.
My man.
Elneny is the Auba of midfielders. Super fit lad , will run and run, laugh and laugh . And we’re lucky to have both in their primes, those two lads woulda had a less than glamorous ‘adolescence’
Good game. Gabriel and Partey are such prised acquisitions for this team. Also, Arteta has a way with lost causes because Elneny is unrecognisable from the player of yester-years
A bunch of us were taking about partey being a transformative signing. That is why. We can play with more drive, 4 at the back, more creative otions, and we aren’t exposed on the counter. We needed that win. And we needed that partey signing.
That’s a sign of a great manager turning moderate players into assets and driving more value either by sales or performance.
No. He’s not. He’s always been good. I recall him carrying us in some EL game away from home. Forget the name of the opposition but if it wasn’t for him we’d have gone out that night. Welbeck got a wonder goal if that helps?
CSKA?
Yes that was it. Ramsey scored the late equalizer.
Welbeck’s wonder goal. Was it with his left hip bone? Or the tip of his right scapular perhaps? A regular Welbeck goal routinely comes off his shin or butt.
I would almost go so far as to say the return of Elneny is like a new signing.
Indeed, but his loan spell did him a ton of good. Got regular playing time and importantly, probably learned to appreciate playing for Arsenal. Best of all for him, he didn’t have to deal with Emery.
Perfect Timing Yeah
Is that Aussie bloke on Sky sleeping with Mikel?
Lol.
What did he say/do?
I like your mood tonight . Cheers man!!🍺🍺
Cahill’s actually best friends with Mikel since their Everton days
I think they played for Everton together. He does seem to be an Arteta fan boy though.
Tim Cahill and Mikel have been mates for years
Cahill was actually best man at Artetas wedding
Gabriel & Partey are tasty tasty characters. MmMmMm new signings that are not cast offs…good win lads
10/10 for going into a game against a top 6 club and really going at it – no sitting back and hitting them on the counter, we really pressed and tried today. It was refreshing, it’s been a while. COYG
Top 15 Club* my bad
I was worried after the Leicester game that we’d be bland and tired – glad the boys proved me wrong. Arteta looks to be the real deal and I predict there will be many blips here and there until we as a club get back on our feet and contend – properly contend, in the prem & in Europe. It’s going to take a while, but for the first time in years we really look like we’re embarking on an upwards trajectory
I was just worried we’d pick Xhaka. We didn’t and it made a world of difference. Elneny’s mobility is a world apart from Xhaka’s. Hopefully this is the changing of the guard we’ve needed for some time.
I prefer bottom 6 club.
Elneny feels like a new signing!
Lans…
Arteta is making a habit of resurrecting Arsenal careers which seemed all but dead: first Xhaka, then (to a large extent) Mustafi and now Elneny. On that performance, he would start all the big games. Never knew he had that in him… Top class performances right through the team.
Willian had a steady game, not as good some the others mentioned but definitely one of his best for us – let’s hope that the penny is dropping with him?
I agree. I think he’s going to face (and is already facing) a bit of unfair negativity this season as a result of the Cedric-esque nature of his signing. True, he has been largely mediocre since the Fulham game, but he was essential to our press today and “assisted” Hector for the penalty. The talent is obviously there, so hopefully the performances improve as our general attacking play begins to cohere.
If Arteta is the reason why Elneny gets a 10 in my book, then hats off to him.
A seriously top top performance from him.
He deserves this, as he was seen as the“ nobody man” , until he came back to Artetas tutelage from Beşiktaş.
Oh , and what about the rest of the team? One word……Excellent.
Did you really think Nketiah came on and pressed things well? I am far from
Convinced by his contributions, but he is young and we will give him some time.
I thought he came on and was lazy.
This is the team. Gabriel the MAN in defence. Partey and eleny are hard, solid, strong runners. Great spine. Leno is consistent. Bellerin is back to his best. Tierney is our best left back in the last 10 years on par woth monreal.
Dean did actually officiate that game really well I thought. I was shocked.
I want to congratulate Rob Holding on his performance tonight. Arteta said he (Holding) sped up his fitness regime so he could play this game.
I guess this is Rob’s way of coming full circle on his horrible injury. It was at Old Trafford where he got that horrible injury and he had not played at OT since in almost 2 years.
Well done Rob👍
And well said, Sali!
Gabriel, Elneny and Partey were superb. To play the way they did all game. I’d give them 10’s all day long!!!
“Midfield sorcery” 🤣
This rebirth of Elneny is something to behold. Cant believe its the same player. Massive respect to him. I think he and Partey just made themselves the midfield pairing. Xhaxa and Ceballos still have their uses but their lack of legs like with Ozil cant be compensated for anymore.
Would rate our midfielders and attackers a point higher for the huge they all put in today. The only thing Partey and Elneny could have done more is score. Elneny was sensational, but Partey just looks like an elite level footballer. Shades Elneny for MotM, and honourable mentions to Gabriel, Tierney and Bellerin also. The game itself was one of two halves really, we were excellent in the first half and dogged in second. The diamond formation massively worked against United as they struggled to defend the flanks and were pulled out of shape. They changed that second half which… Read more »
What a display! Only dreams left in the theater now, are the ones United players(not men acording to Keane) will have about Partey…*ad in the thriller beat in the backdrop…can actually visualize him dancing in that video now…
………………………………………………………………….
The funk of fourteeeeen years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doooooom
Great performance! Great win! How on earth Nketiah transparency get the same as Lacazette master performance is ridiculous. Public Elneny is pure class. COYG
One – nill to the Arsenal!!!! I love you Arteta.
Alexandre Lacazette: 9 ball recoveries, 4 tackles and 2 chances created.
We need Martinelli back. Backline looks steady. We need more magic upfront
Elneny should partner Partey, first choice not Xhaka, for he’s too slow n monotonous.
Elneny was an excellent mix of steadiness and aggression as many have commented on. However, I will put in some good words for his partner Partey.
I loved the way Partey managed to wiggle past his marker, while at the same time moving the ball forward. This is something I don’t think Xhaka and Ceballos has been doing. Xhaka usually has to shield the ball with his body and passes it backward. Ceballos can wiggle away, but only by spinning in circles and slowing down the play.
For everyone who’s saying Lacazette had a bad game, just count the number of times he won the ball back or was directly involved in winning the ball back for us (it was at least 6 times). Yes, he should’ve done better on the ball, but his work rate was superior to Auba and Willian. This is the reason Arteta keeps starting him in that central role. Also, Laca’s touch and finishing was immense during Emery’s first season, so there’s no reason he cannot rediscover it. Have faith in Arteta. 🙂
I thought he had a great game for those exact same reasons. They’re maybe not attributes we need every game, but in nervy games like this he can be immense. Was unlucky not to get an assist as well. Also thought Willian was much improved, especially when he drifted inside, really helped us knit our attacking play and want to see that more often.
I still think Willian needs to wake the Fu8k up.
The Rob Holding vindication society is in full effect
Mo and Partey look utterley unplayable tonight, and i swear, support this club is awful for my health.
I look forward to a Partey 8.5 performance if that was an 8! Outstanding
I gave elneny a 10 and I stand by it.
Great that we have a spine. Leno, Gabs, Partey, Auba. Build up some serious players around that and who knows.
9/10 Mikel Arteta. From Emeryball to tactical dominance in the space of a week!
You really need to update the hairline on that Rob Holding graphic haha
“Some might say he was lucky to escape a second yellow”
Some United fans. Maybe. That challenge never deserved a card.
Mohamed Elneny. This player does not get the love he deserves on the Arsecast.
I blooming love Elneny! That’s it. That’s my input.
Mo Elneny is the real deal.
During stoppages Willian always looks like his feet are killing him. Or like someone just stepped on his toes. Anyone notice ? I’ve noticed this since Chelsea..
Blogs, don’t quite agree re: Leno. He had many touches with his feet and was notably excellent on the ball. Very assured performance.
Very impressive Arsenal fc yesterday