Match Review: Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0 - Premier League - 12.02.14

As is often the case when a game is billed as a must win for both sides, fear was the winner as Arsenal faced a struggling United team. Both teams looked petrified of losing the game. For Arsenal, defeat would have put a major dent in their title hopes, for United, defeat would have all but ended their hopes of European football. The draw was probably a worse result for United, with both Liverpool and Tottenham winning and Everton now having a game in hand after their match was postponed. For us, it was more the disappointment of failing to beat a United side that have been beaten by City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Sp*rs, Everton etc this season. We remain a point behind Chelsea, with Man City a point behind but with a game in hand, so the title challenge is very much on. The frustration is that we failed to beat a very beatable United side and take the initiative in what will be a horribly tight battle at the top.

We made two changes from the weekend debacle, with Gibbs and Rosicky replacing Monreal and Chamberlain in the starting line-up, while United started with their big three of the Chelsea reject, Shrek and the Dutch skunk. The nerves were palpable and the team did nothing to help that by immediately losing the ball to let van Persie through on goal, but the fraud fluffed his shot straight in to the arms of Szczesny. At the other end, Giroud had a brilliant chance from a corner, but headed well wide. In fact corners presented some of our best chances, Giroud managed to get his head on another, but could only direct it over. Largely, though, the game was very tight and tense, neither team dominating. Arsenal perhaps looked more likely to create something but neither team looked ready to commit to attack.

The performance of the referee was also contributing to the slow nature of the game. Clattenburg and his two linesmen were appallingly inconsistent. United came with the intention of getting their foot in, being busy and being a bit physical. Largely they did that pretty well and largely fairly, but when they were committing very clear fouls, nothing was being given. Clattenburg let far too many overly robust challenges go, from both sides, but also called some real nothing challenges. I suppose referees can have an off night and it’s certainly not the worst performance I’ve ever seen, but he was poor and didn’t help the game.

I think a goalless first half calmed a few nerves and the mood in the ground was one of hope that we could push on and take control in the second half. With Rafael being replaced by Rio Ferdinand, that hope was increased further. But, it didn’t really happen. From the kick off we lumped the ball forward and straight out of play, rather summing up the match so far. Early on Koscielny demonstrated his skill by putting in a brilliant tackle to not only win the ball but send RvP tumbling in the area, much to the delight of the Arsenal faithful.

We had a big shout for a penalty on around 60 minutes. Santi crossed for Giroud and the Frenchman was sent tumbling by a blatant shove by Vidic. Vidic clearly had no chance or intention of playing the ball and it was a hefty shove that he delivered. But yet again, Clattenburg stood by and did nothing in the face of a clear foul when he really should have pointed to the spot. Not long after the penalty appeal, Koscielny rose to meet a corner and sent a header looping towards the far corner, only to see Valencia head the ball off the line.

Arsenal struggled to keep the ball in midfield all night and it nearly cost them dear with ten minutes left. We lost the ball and United broke quickly and the move culminated with Rooney clipping a ball to the back post for the Dutch skunk. The fraud got his head to the ball and seemed certain to give United the lead, only for Szczesny to produce an unbelievable reaction save to push the ball on to the bar. It was probably the closest either side came in the match and thank Bergkamp we have a keeper in such brilliant form. The ability to pull off such a save after being a bystander for most of the game is absolutely invaluable in a keeper and I have no doubt that Szczesny saved us from defeat with that stop. At the other end, De Gea had to pull off two decent stops of his own, both from Santi Cazorla efforts and that was as close as we got. 0-0 was probably a fair result.

Quite unbelievably, loud boos rang out at the end of the game. Maybe it was a reaction to taking one point from two games, or the lack of urgency the team showed towards the end, but I was absolutely shocked and appalled. How can you boo the team when they’re a point off the top of the league and will remain so even if City win their game in hand is beyond me. I’m not going to labour the point because I’m working on a piece about our support, or lack thereof for the team and I’m coming off a very long run up on that one. In short though, booing the team after the brilliant season they’ve given us is fucking disgraceful.

The Gunners now have a break from the league, with an FA Cup tie against Liverpool and a Champions League game against Bayern. Wenger has said he will have to rotate in the FA Cup and there were certainly some tired legs out there last night. I’d suggest we might see Flamini, Chamberlain, Gnabry, Jenkinson and even Bendtner get some game time. Maybe we can get behind the team and give them a lift during a difficult time. Lord knows we’ve hardly instilled them with confidence after last night, so let’s hope they can find some in time for Sunday.

Stat of the game

Özil created six chances for his team mates against United. #Flop.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Szczesny, Sagna (Y), Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Özil, Rosicky (Chamberlain 74’), Giroud
Subs
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Monreal, Podolski, Sanogo, Bendtner, Chamberlain

Manchester United (4-2-3-1)
De Gea, Rafael (Ferdinand 45’), Vidic, Smalling, Evra, Carrick, Cleverley, Valencia (Y) (Young 82’ (Y)), Shrek, Mata (Januzaj 75’), Dutch Skunk
Subs
Lindegaard, Ferdinand, Januzaj, Young, Hernandez, Büttner, Fellaini

Player Ratings

Szczesny - 8/10 - Made a stunning save to keep the scores level, brilliant keeper
Sagna - 7/10 - Worked hard all game and defended without incident
Koscielny - 7/10 - Very good as usual and handled our former captain well
Mertesacker - 7/10 - A similar return to form with his partner, much better
Gibbs - 7/10 - Restored to the starting line up and had a solid game
Arteta - 6/10 - Made a huge gaff early on but recovered to put in an ok performance
Wilshere - 5/10 - Had a poor game, came under a lot of pressure and lost the ball a lot
Cazorla - 6/10 - Looked lively and had two efforts saved
Özil - 7/10 - Looked determined after Saturday, all he needed was some options
Rosicky - 6/10 - Tried and ran himself into the ground as usual, but couldn’t break through
Giroud - 6/10 - Gave it everything, squandered some chances but got little support
Subs
Chamberlain - 6/10 - Didn’t make the most of his chance to run at two ageing defenders

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