Manchester United (0) 0 Arsenal (1) 1
Premier League
Old Trafford, Sir Matt Busby Way, Stretford, Manchester M16 0RA
Sunday, 12th May 2024. Kick-off time: 4.30pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Gabriel Magalhães, Ben White, William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Thomas Partey, Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Scorers: Leandro Trossard (20 mins)
Yellow Cards: Bukayo Saka, David Raya
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 46%
Referee: Paul Tierney
Assistant Referees: Scott Ledger, Mat Wilkes
Fourth Official: Darren Bond
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR John Brooks; AVAR Constantine Hatzidakis
Attendance: 64,137
Our penultimate match of the season, and it just has to be Old Trafford on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Of course, after yesterday’s results, it is more important than ever to gain maximum points from this afternoon’s game, nothing else will do at this stage of the season. Apparently, there are fitness concerns over Bukayo Saka and Takehiro Tomiyasu; but however, if they are available it would mean that Mikel Arteta will be able to name the same starting eleven for the fourth match in a row!
We kicked off proceedings at Old Trafford, and immediately we brought the match to the home team by pressurising their defence into conceding an early corner. Bukayo Saka had the first shot of the game, which André Onana comfortably saved.
At the other end, Rasmus Højlund had a chance to score, but fortunately he scuffed his shot, and then Alejandro Garnacho also had a chance to score, but his shot was deflected for a corner. Declan Rice then made a very nervy, but weak back pass to David Raya, but fortunately the ball was cleared.
The home team advanced deep into our half through Diogo Dalot, and as the ball came loose, Declan Rice cleared it for a United corner, which went nowhere.
We then started to get a grip and had a period of good possession, and then on the twentieth minute we opened the scoring when Casemiro could not get out of the United penalty area quick enough and Kai Havertz was onside down the right wing. He simply sauntered into the Manchester United box and slotted the ball across for Leandro Trossard to tap the ball home from close range.
Now that we have scored, we were starting to control the game. Declan Rice advanced towards the United penalty area, but he lost the ball and it fell to Takehiro Tomiyasu who’s strong shot bounced off a United defender, and a couple of minutes later, Ben White was unlucky not to score when he hit the ball over the crossbar from a very tight angle indeed.
On the half hour, the home team got into our penalty area, but the shot from Casemiro was headed clear by Gabriel, which was good defensive play indeed.
A diagonal pass into the our penalty area from Casemiro which was chested down by Ben White back to David Raya, which was a good move, and after Amad Diallo stood on Thomas Partey’s foot, which although the United team appealed for a penalty (which it obviously was not), everyone took the opportunity to have a well-earned drinks break.
A poorly taken corner kick by Diogo Dalot ended up with a United player fouling Kai Havertz, and after the subsequent free kick went seemingly nowhere, the match carried on.
Amad Diallo passed the ball to Garnacho who was pushed down the line by Ben White. He sent a low cross-shot into the penalty area which was beautifully palmed away to safety by David Raya. During the three minutes injury time the home side put our defence under pressure, but we held out very well to end the first half a goal ahead.
Manchester United kicked off the second half, and almost immediately Diogo Dalot ran down the wing, but Thomas Partey slipped as he tried to clear the danger, but fortunately William Saliba was on hand to kick the ball away. Shortly afterwards, Martin Ødegaard started a good move out on on the right wing and found Leandro Trossard on the left wing, but his diagonal cross was far too heavy for Kai Havertz to do something with, and so the ball bounced out of play.
We started to gain a lot of possession, and we almost grabbed a second goal when a shot from Declan Rice was blocked on the edge of the penalty area and after the ball ended up on the left wing with Leandro Trossard, the United defence again closed down the space to stop Bukayo Saka turning the ball into the back of the net. Shortly after the hour mark, space opened up for Martin Ødegaard but his shot went straight at André Onana, and a minute or so later, Gabriel Martinelli replaced Leandro Trossard in order to press for more goals.
With eight minutes of the match remaining, Bukayo Saka slid off the steep slope behind the goal and clattered into the advertising hoardings. Mikel Arteta told him to go down, which he did, and was quickly replaced by Gabriel Jesus.
After yet another Arsenal corner, the heavens opened and torrential rain replaced glorious sunshine in seemingly an instant. A minute before the end of normal time, Alejandro Garnacho ran at our defence again, but was expertly blocked off by William Saliba. In the six minutes injury time, Jakob Kiwior and Jorginho replaced Martin Ødegaard and Thomas Partey to try and shore things up, which worked very well as soon as they came onto the pitch. Shortly after David Raya easily collected a cross, referee Paul Tierney blew his whistle to signify the end of the game.
And so this season’s title race will go down to the last match of the season next Sunday, irrespective of the result between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City on Tuesday. Today’s match was not the prettiest of games, but we got the three points which is what counts at this stage of the season. Everyone did as well as they could today, especially when the downpour happened five minutes from the end of time. All eyes on Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday evening, then. Well done, chaps!
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Everton at the Emirates on Sunday, 19th May at 4.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon