Gunners Revive Top 4 Hopes After Trampling United

WE’RE RIGHT BACK IN IT.

Just over two weeks ago, I had conceded the fact that Arsenal had cost themselves Champions League Football, following a 2 game (soon to be 3 game) losing streak.

In what is yet another twist to the Top 4 tale, the Gunners have worked their way right back into the competition, beating Manchester United 3-1 to go 2 points clear of Spurs in 4th, who drew 0-0 to Brentford.

It’s on.

Since Arteta bested Rangnick to win the ‘6-pointer’ against United, let’s take a look at how everyone performed.

Mikel Arteta – 8

It seemed as if Arteta did all that he could. He got the team going for a fast start, he found a good way to exploit United’s weaknesses by constantly putting their defence under pressure with runs in behind and crosses into the box, as well as an overload of numbers in attack. The Spaniard went bold and played both Cedric and Tavares, which I found very… ‘interesting’. But hey, if it gets us a win, why not?

Aaron Ramsdale – 7.5

First, let’s look at the obvious – he did seem uncertain on whether or not to claim Matic’s cross into the box, ultimately leading to Ronaldo’s goal. He did also nearly give away an early goal due to poor distribution. Other than that, however, he was brilliant. He made a big 1v1 save against Elanga, denied Dalot from close range brilliantly with his fingertips and even managed to get his patented taunting in after Bruno Fernandes put his penalty off target.

Nuno Tavares - ???

I honestly have no idea what to rate Tavares. That performance was one of the most confusing things I’ve seen on a football pitch. On one hand, he scored the opener off of a great back post run and contributed greatly to the offense. On the other hand, he got caught out of position many times and gave the ball away horrendously many times. I want to give him a 4 but that seems harsh for a goal scorer, so I’ll make it a 5.

Gabriel – 7.5

Just like in the last game against Chelsea, the only criticism I have of Gabriel’s performance is that he was a bit too passive in defending the cross that lead to United’s goal. Other than that he kept the ball well, won the ball both in the air and on the ground and even came up big to bail out Ramsdale by diverting Bruno’s chip shot off target, after the Englishman gave the ball away and was stranded in no-mans-land. He also covered for Tavares many times.

Ben White – 8

White also had a solid game defensively. He was less at fault for the goal in comparison to others, yet he played equally as well as his defensive partner Gabriel in the way he pushed back against the United attacks and covered well for Cedric.

Cedric – 7

It wasn’t the best performance I’ve seen him put in, it wasn’t the worst performance I’ve seen him put in, it was certainly better than the performance that Tavares put in but he still got caught out of position due to his advanced attacking positioning. I’ll call that a 7/10.

Granit Xhaka – 9

I started yelling Xhaka boom when he got the ball as a joke, but oh my… XHAKA BOOM. Another brilliant performance from the Swiss, disrupting United’s play through the midfield and attack well whilst also being just as much as a menace on the offensive end, drilling home a brilliant shot from around 20-25 yards out.

Mohammed Elneny – 8.5

The name will tell you he’s the Egyptian magnifique but the haircut and performances will tell you he’s Ruud Gullit. Just like against Chelsea, he ran the midfield against United in that central CM role. The way he was able to help win the ball in defence, transition to offence (whether that be on a counter attack or by holding possession) and contribute to the offence provided the perfect performance that Arsenal needed and will continue to need in the absence of Thomas Partey. He even picked up the team’s only assist.

Martin Odegaard – 8

If United pressed him, he’d dribble past them. If United gave him space, he’d undo them with a through ball. The only thing I don’t like about him playing RCM is that he doesn’t get the ball as much as when he played in CAM. Those little dink through balls in behind the United defence that he’d pick out when he was on the edge of the box absolutely killed the Manchester defence – it got Saka his penalty and set Nketiah up for a chance he should’ve tucked away. The Norwegian continues to pull the strings.

Emile Smith-Rowe – 7

He probably had one of the quietest games on the team. With that being said, he did still protect the ball well and look to link up with the rest of the frontline.

Bukayo Saka – 8.5

Bukayo Saka terrorized the left hand side of United’s team, just like he did against Chelsea. Alex Telles got torn apart. Every time he got in and around the box, he’d either lay it off successfully to a teammate or get in behind the defence and receive the ball. He won the penalty and changed from his usual bottom right corner target, sending De Gea the wrong way and putting the Gunners up 2-0.

Eddie Nketiah – 7

Nketiah was another player who was hard to rank – his brilliant work ethic showed once more as he picked up the ball in all sorts of areas on the pitch, leading the line in the press and being the first person forward on a counter attack. With that being said, however, he had a terrific chance in the first half which he put straight at De Gea, allowing the Spaniard the chance to deflect it off-target. Overall, I’d still easily take him over Lacazette.

SUBSTITUTIONS:

Gabriel Martinelli – 7

He came on as what seemed to be a second striker, working hard in the press and having no hesitation to bomb forward on the counter.

Rob Holding – 7.5

Rob Holding came on in the 74th minute, meaning that Arsenal had 3 points by the 75th minute. Simple.

Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6.5

You can talk about how he played, how he skilled past Ronaldo, but the thing I’m most excited about is that we now have proof that Tomiyasu in an Arsenal shirt wasn’t just an illusion.

MAN OF THE MATCH:

Granit Xhaka – 9

XHAKA BOOOOOOOOOOOOM