Arsenal vs Manchester United Summary
A truly dry performance against another big six side as Arsenal held Manchester United to a goalless draw. While this point extends United’s unbeaten away run to 18 league matches, it means they are three points adrift of City in first. United failed to take their chances despite an impressive defensive performance. Rashford, Bruno and Cavani all had glorious chances to score but failed to take them. Arsenal missed a few with Pepe and Lacazette hit the post from a devilish freekick. Neither side deserved to win but easily either side could have.
This will be a bitter disappointment for United but with City’s next few matches looking difficult, United must start winning again if they are to close the gap and Southampton at home will be a tricky opponent. However, this side certainly has the ability to win this comfortably.
Arsenal vs Manchester United Player Ratings:
Bernd Leno 8.5/10
Stunning saves to deny Fred and Cavani. Stopped Rashford from having time on the ball for his chance too. Good game.
Hector Bellerin 7/10
Decent defensively but not really tested. Poor in attack, tried to cut in every time.
Rob Holding 8/10
Very strong game. Turns up in big matches.
David Luiz 8/10
Vintage performance. Brilliant defensively and dealt with his former teammate excellently.
Cedric Soares 5/10
Was given the runaround by Rashford. The one weak link in the Arsenal defence.
Granit Xhaka 7.5/10
Crisp passing and solid in defence.
Thomas Partey 8/10
Dynamic and composed in the heart of the Arsenal midfield. Showed what they were missing when he was injured.
Nicolas Pepe 7/10
Got in great positions but missed three good chances.
Emile Smith-Rowe 4/10
Couldn’t get into the game. Don’t doubt he will bounce back.
Gabriel Martinelli 6/10
One decent run but not much else.
Alexandre Lacazette 5/10
Lacklustre performance almost masked by an excellent freekick but hit the woodwork.
Substitutes:
Willian 4/10
Almost opened the scoring but failed to make an impact after that. Poor.
Martin Odegaard N/A
Eddie Nketiah N/A
Mikel Arteta 6/10
Set up to counter United and worked to a degree. Created some chances but failed to make it count. Sat 10 men behind the ball in the second half to hold United off. Should have brought on Odegaard sooner.
David de Gea 7/10
One decent save and composed in his distribution.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 8.5/10
Excellent in attack and defence. Fantastic cross to Cavani and played like an auxiliary striker at the end of the first half. Super block to deny Willian.
Victor Lindelof 8/10
Did well against Lacazette. Strong performance.
Harry Maguire 8.5/10
Once again aerially dominant and his passing is becoming very important against low blocks. Brilliant block to deny Pepe.
Luke Shaw 9/10
Excellent again in both attacking and defensive departments. Starting to really have an impact in the team. Hard to drop him at this point.
Scott McTominay N/A
Hope he feels better!
Fred 5/10
Struggled to say the least. Precise shot but not enough power to beat Leno. Gave the ball away so many times and clearly missed McTominay.
Paul Pogba 7/10
Disciplined, dominant and composed. Should have had an assist to Bruno but he failed to take his chance.
Bruno Fernandes 4/10
Struggled against both Partey and Xhaka. Missed a big chance. Didn’t recover from it.
Marcus Rashford 2/10
Ran around Cedric but that’s about it. Had a shocker of a game and missed a big chance in the first half. He needs to bounce back. For that to happen, he has to start on the left.
Edinson Cavani 3/10
Missed two chances and should have scored both. His linkup was good.
Substitutes:
Anthony Martial 5/10
Decent play on the left and playing better with Shaw.
Mason Greenwood N/A
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 6/10
Should have brought on Donny and kept Pogba in a wide area. I don’t know why he plays Rashford on the right, it doesn’t work. Pogba could have beaten Cedric for pace and strength and have Rashford bomb past Bellerin. Despite this, you cannot blame him for the draw as his tactics as United created enough chances to win the game but, as he said post-match, they were not clinical enough.
