Gunners escape with a point

Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal

Arsenal were extremely fortunate to leave Old Trafford with a point on Saturday afternoon as the Gunners produced an ineffectual display which produced only one shot on target throughout the entire game.

Arsene Wenger’s side may have been up against Manchester United but this is a team which is a pale shadow of the great United sides of old and are still searching for their identity under Jose Mourinho. Arsenal may not have won at Old Trafford for the last ten years, but they shouldn’t have been fearful of this United team.

Yet the Gunners went into the game with a sense of trepidation. Arsene Wenger had a difficult choice to make before the match, whether to select Alexis Sanchez up front or Olivier Giroud and unfortunately the Frenchman got this vital decision wrong. With Santi Cazorla still out injured the midfield once again looked unbalanced and lost the battle in the centre of the pitch.

Mohammad Elneny and Francis Coquelin are hard working midfielders but do not possess the technical ability on the ball to link the play between the defence and the attack in the way that Cazorla does so exquisitely. With Aaron Ramsey on the left flank, the idea from Wenger was that the Welshman would drift inside, overloading the centre of the pitch in Arsenal’s favour and therefore helping the Gunners to win the midfield battle. Unfortunately, Ramsey did not enjoy a great game and had very little influence on proceedings. His lack of pace on the wing left Monreal isolated as he attempted to fend off the runs of Antonio Valencia from deep and when Ramsey did drift into the centre of the pitch, his passing left much to be desired and therefore Arsenal failed to win the battle in midfield. As a result, Manchester United were also able to press the Gunners high up the pitch as Ozil turned in a largely ineffective performance and Sanchez became more and more frustrated as the game wore on.

With the Chilean starved of possession, he kept drifting deeper and deeper towards the midfield and as a result the Gunners didn’t have a presence upfront on which to build their attacks. It was no surprise therefore that the ball just kept on coming back at them, especially during the second half. The frustrating thing for every Arsenal fan was that the game was crying out for the introduction of Olivier Giroud from the bench but Wenger simply refused to address the situation. From the very beginning of the second half, there was a sense of when not if Manchester United would score as Arsenal failed to get any foothold in the game. Only Wenger can answer why he didn’t make the substitution before United scored, in order to address a clear deficiency within his side.

When United did break the deadlock it was no surprise that the goal originated from Arsenal’s left flank. Monreal had struggled to contain the runs of Valencia throughout the game, but on this occasion it was his failure to track the run of Ander Herrerra which cost his side as the former Althetico Bilboa man raced to the by line before cutting the ball back to Juan Matta for the Spaniard to strike a composed effort beyond Cech.

From that point on there appeared to be only one outcome for the game, a United victory, and when Wenger shortly afterwards did introduce Giroud, the frustration for Arsenal fans only grew. The manager did receive credit from the media after the game as it was his substitutes who combined to create the Gunners’ equaliser. The decision to bring on Oxlade-Chamberlain in place of Carl Jenkinson at right back, may have raised a few eyebrows, but the Englishman was able to utilise his pace from this deep lying position to cause United problems, in much the same way Valencia had been doing for United.

As the match entered the 89^th minute, Oxlade-Chamberlain managed to get the better of Marcus Rashford before unleashing a perfect cross towards the back post, where Olivier Giroud had timed his run brilliantly to jump highest to head the ball home beyond David de Gea.

Given how outplayed they had been throughout the entire 90 minutes and second half in particular, it was an excellent result in the end. Much has been said since the game that this result shows the Gunners have turned a corner as in previous years this would have been a game that they would have lost, further perpetuating the idea that the team had a soft underbelly. This season however, there appears to be a mental strength amongst the side and a never say die attitude that is a character trait of every top team. However, at the same time, this was not a performance that suggested this team could consider themselves to be genuine title challengers.

Arsenal have had two tough challenges during their last two games against Tottenham and Manchester United. They were opportunities in which to stamp their authority on this league, to show the rest of the country that they are ready to win the league, with another eye catching performance as they had done against Chelsea earlier in the season. Unfortunately they have failed to do this and in many respects were fortunate to come away from both games with a draw. Wenger must address the midfield conundrum while Cazorla is out injured as the lack of creativity within the side has been clear for all to see during these two games. How the manager solves this issue will not only be interesting, but will also be key for Arsenal’s title hopes.