Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United Player ratings and Match Reaction

Raya - 7.5 - Looked comfortable playing the sweeper keeper and made a good save from De Ligt


Timber - 8 - Has looked good every game where he’s played on the right, and a well deserved goal added to his overall contribution. Shows the squad depth we have where we don’t miss White


Saliba - 8 - Didn’t really know much about the goal but they all count, and took the initiative well in the absence of his centre back partner


Kiwior 7 - No major problems, Saliba helped him through the game


Zinchenko 5 - Didn’t really offer much going forward and was made to look like a horse’s arse by Zirkzee


Partey 7 - Not great start but grew into the game


Rice 7.5 - Much improved, good midfield engine and good set piece deliveries


Odegaard 7 - Kept relatively quiet tonight as was marked out of the game in large part


Saka 8 - Gave Malachia a headache and also offered a set piece clinic


Havertz 7 - Hard working as always but struggled to have great impact on the game


Martinelli 6 - Dalot had him in his pocket



Subs


Merino 7 - Unlucky not to score, and unluckier still to give away a free kick


Trossard 7.5 - Decent cameo


Jorginho N/A - Only brought on to give Odegaard a rest after the game was sewn up


I thought we might have to be patient, because I thought United weren’t going to roll over and die. And no one could honestly blame them for coming to the Emirates as spoilers to grab a point. I think United defended well, and if you’ve got an ace up your sleeve in the form of creating chaos from set pieces why not bring it out…from what I’ve seen the only team that doesn’t get that ruffled by it is Newcastle.

Played a bit within ourselves, I think that was us being mindful of not having our first choice defence. Once we established a lead we played with much more confidence and freedom.

Been goading one of my United supporting colleagues this morning. He’s crying over our set pieces like we’ve done some illegal. :haha:

Kindly reminded him their best chance last night came from a set piece with the De Ligt header and asked if he would’ve sat there quietly had he scored.

I love United tears.

It's honestly so refreshing to be on the right end of this at last.

At times it felt like Wenger was ideologically opposed to scoring from set pieces.

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Originally Posted by WMUG

It's honestly so refreshing to be on the right end of this at last.

At times it felt like Wenger was ideologically opposed to scoring from set pieces.

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Remember all those games we’d dominate and create chance after chance but not win? Imagine what having a set piece threat could have done for us back then. It’s a great tool to have if you are trying to score against teams with no intention of attacking.

Only one team turned up to win last night and the fact United didn’t have a single fucking corner shows who had the right intent.

Loved this win over that lot.

We can't expect West Ham and Sporting performances every time, and Manure came to stifle and play us on the break. I was amazed by how much more dynamic and pressing they look under Amorim - clearly a number of players trying to impress their now manager. I think they are going to be a tough proposition at their place in March. But we dealt with the little they had well, with a patched up defence. Does Kiwior look better at CB?

Watched the latter stages of the Newcastle Liverpool game in the half time break, before turning off in disgust when Salah scored their 3rd. Very happy the Geordies equalised. Was struck by the contrast with our game there - open spaces all over the place! Liverpool seem so reliant on Salah...looking forward to him being gone for the AFCON.

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Originally Posted by IBK

Loved this win over that lot.

We can't expect West Ham and Sporting performances every time, and Manure came to stifle and play us on the break. I was amazed by how much more dynamic and pressing they look under Amorim - clearly a number of players trying to impress their now manager. I think they are going to be a tough proposition at their place in March. But we dealt with the little they had well, with a patched up defence. Does Kiwior look better at CB?

Watched the latter stages of the Newcastle Liverpool game in the half time break, before turning off in disgust when Salah scored their 3rd. Very happy the Geordies equalised. Was struck by the contrast with our game there - open spaces all over the place! Liverpool seem so reliant on Salah...looking forward to him being gone for the AFCON.

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Nothing I can add to This 100% agree

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Originally Posted by IBK

Loved this win over that lot.

We can't expect West Ham and Sporting performances every time, and Manure came to stifle and play us on the break. I was amazed by how much more dynamic and pressing they look under Amorim - clearly a number of players trying to impress their now manager. I think they are going to be a tough proposition at their place in March. But we dealt with the little they had well, with a patched up defence. Does Kiwior look better at CB?

Watched the latter stages of the Newcastle Liverpool game in the half time break, before turning off in disgust when Salah scored their 3rd. Very happy the Geordies equalised. Was struck by the contrast with our game there - open spaces all over the place! Liverpool seem so reliant on Salah...looking forward to him being gone for the AFCON.

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I hadn't thought about the Salah/AFCON thing, that will indeed be a real issue for them

Kiwior's natural position is CB so no surprise he looked more comfortable and had a very good game I thought

And yes Moan U did a good job on Ode and Saka but overall we were patient and used our set piece speciality perfectly - I've always been a big believer in the importance of corners and used to tear my hair out at Odegaard's too-clever-by-half short corners and Trossard's wayward attempts, but Saka and Rice's delivery is spot on and even without Gabriel we've players who will step up and score

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Originally Posted by Mac76

I hadn't thought about the Salah/AFCON thing, that will indeed be a real issue for them

Kiwior's natural position is CB so no surprise he looked more comfortable and had a very good game I thought

And yes Moan U did a good job on Ode and Saka but overall we were patient and used our set piece speciality perfectly - I've always been a big believer in the importance of corners and used to tear my hair out at Odegaard's too-clever-by-half short corners and Trossard's wayward attempts, but Saka and Rice's delivery is spot on and even without Gabriel we've players who will step up and score

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Yes that was a key takeaway last night - that our corner routines still work even without Big Gabi. Can't remember which podcast this observation was on but panic is the enemy of defending corners, and the fact that (a) we are so good at them, and (b) teams just cannot know how we are going to take them means that it has almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy that we will score via this method at some stage. I also think that increasingly we are playing for corners in the face of low blocks, and teams that shepherd us out wide. Given that we are rarely a fast counter attacking team, it makes a lot of sense to combat these tactics by set piece efficiency.

I think we actually had an off game overall, 1st half was terrible but the second half was more assured.

Done them with two sweet set pieces, and now their tears are flowing.

You love to see it.

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Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club

I think we actually had an off game overall, 1st half was terrible but the second half was more assured.

Done them with two sweet set pieces, and now their tears are flowing.

You love to see it.

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Yes - not our brightest showing, but if we can win convincingly without being at our free-flowing best I'm all over that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club

I think we actually had an off game overall, 1st half was terrible but the second half was more assured.

Done them with two sweet set pieces, and now their tears are flowing.

You love to see it.

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Yeah certainly can’t argue we were at our free flowing best

But I think in a way you do have to credit United to a degree with having a game plan in place to stop us.

I also think not having our first choice defence contributed to us being somewhat more cautious as well

First half they did very well to contain and frustrate us, but we did well too - we kept plugging away and didn't do anything silly which would have allowed them to catch us on the break. It was a really mature performance. Second half we stepped it up and after the goal there was only one winner really, Raya did well to keep that header out, that could have made things interesting.

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Originally Posted by IBK

Yes - not our brightest showing, but if we can win convincingly without being at our free-flowing best I'm all over that.

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The stuff of champions tbh.