The stats were, on paper, pretty damning on the opposition by the end of the game. 25 shots to 6. 2.68Xg to 0.39. 63 touches in the opponent's box - the highest registered by any side in the Premier League this season. Against supposed title contenders!?!
The thing is, though, that it never actually felt that way. Granted, the last 20 minutes or so were very much one way traffic following the removal from the fray of the over-priced and over-rated Antony (one of The Weasel Brothers - for those who remember 101 Dalmatians - alongside his sour-faced and equally obnoxious team-mate Bruno Fernandes)... but I digress...
One way traffic towards the end, but that's something to do with the way Arteta and Ten Haag approach their football. Arsenal manage to be methodical and exciting at the same time, but United are a 'team of moments' - like Tottenham, but with more threat. They'll sit and look to soak up pressure, and then try to hit you hard. Whereas Arteta, like his mentor Guardiola, looks to suffocate the opposition. It feels more structured with Arsenal. But exciting at the same time.
Yet United ARE dangerous. Marcus Rashford is in the form of his life, and scored a superb goal. Bruno Fernandes may look (and indeed behave) like a rodent, but is a fine attacking footballer. And Cristian Eriksen has always been a very cultured player.
But let's face it; McTominay is not an adequate replacement for the suspended (lol) Casemiro. On the other hand, the reverse fixture - Arsenal's only loss of the season, as we are well aware - came with Lokonga playing in the absence of the injured Partey. So hey-ho; swings and roundabouts. And for Arsenal, with new signing Leandro Trossard on the bench (still no Elneny), that meant a shortage of double-barrelled under 21s behind the coaching staff.
The pressure was on a little more, I guess, following City's earlier demolition of Wolves. But despite having closed to just two points, Arsenal had two games in hand. The incentive to win this one - thereby also knocking one of the more difficult remaining fixtures out of the way - was very clear. And the other game in hand is against Everton, so...
I'm going to cover this game like I did the Tottenham one - in a little more timeline detail - because it was so important. I think I'll be reverting to a different style for Everton, for example, but there's a lot to cover in here. So here goes:
A fast start from Arsenal led to an early corner and a couple of half chances, but the first real excitement of the game came with the first piece of gamesmanship. All the work of Weasel #1, who threw himself over Ramsdale in order to try to 'win' a penalty. No ref - not even some of the terrible ones we've had to put up with this season - is going to give that. And Anthony Taylor did pretty well at the World Cup; so he's definitely not going to fall for pantomime nonsense, you Weasel!
Rashford then proceeded to score a goal befitting of his current form, picking up the ball following a loose pass from Partey (to be fair, there is a camera angle that shows that had he managed to thread the eye of the needle Thomas would have sent Ben White clear into the United half in acres of space - see this screen grab)...
...chopping the ball past Partey, advancing on goal and larruping the ball right into the corner of the net from fully 25 yards. A terrific piece of play from United's standout player.
There was a momentary silence from the Arsenal fans, and then that now all-too-familiar roar of support. “Arsenal! Arsenal! Arsenal!” Saka remarked afterwards how it spurs them on. We, the fans, are as one with the team; feeding off of each other. And as previously this season Arsenal took up the gauntlet - and were behind for just 6 minutes.
The intensity went up a notch, United were pegged back by a full court press, and following the subsequent corner Nketiah's bullet header from Xhaka's pinpoint cross was far too much for De Gea. Easy to blame the sleeping Wan-Bissaka for losing his man, but the move that led to it split United apart - the impressive Zinchenko playing a key pass - and it was the least that Arsenal deserved.
The pressure on the United defence continued, with the pattern well-established; Arsenal on top and United living off of 'moments' - like Weasel #2's run and a pass to McTominay that led to a decent effort on goal. Palmed away by Ramsdale.
It's just worth noting a couple of disciplinary issues at this point, Firstly Ben White, almost impeccable all season, was really struggling with Rashford and was booked for one particularly late challenge. It made sense, with Tomiyasu on the bench, to take Ben out of the firing line at half time. He'll be back.
And secondly a booking for Arteta for doing what many managers do - appealing for a card for an opposition player. In this case a microcosm of one aspect of Arsenal's season; Saka caught badly by Shaw - who had trouble with him throughout - foul given but no card (I thought it deserved one, but as on many previous occasions this season the punishment did not befit the crime of touching our Starboy), and Arteta's protests leading to him receiving the card that should have gone to Shaw.
I should mention at this point that we had some serious rodent-based discussion around where I sit during the course of the second half. It was decided that ferrets are OK (almost cute, in fact), but weasels are not. BF and A are definitely weasels.
I've also made a list of PL footballers with punchable faces (seeing as Fernandes definitely qualifies) - see if you can add any more to this dirty dozen: Emi Martinez, Cucurella, Jamie Vardy, Mo Salah, Bruno Fernandes, Antony, Almiron, Lingard, Dier, Son, Richarlison (captain!) and of course Diego Costa.
Arsenal had almost all of the outstanding players on show, and one of them - the ever-brilliant Saka - gave Arsenal the lead with a sensational left-footed effort; bent into the far corner from fully 25 yards out. United were ceding too much space to him and Martinelli, allowing them both to cut inside onto their stronger foot, and paid the price here as Saka squared up the opposing Eriksen (something of a mismatch) before using McTominay as a shield to unsight De Gea and crack the ball home.
Almost immediately following that, Rashford - now essentially United's lone threat (whatever the question is, and despite his sensational goal at the World Cup, Weghorst is clearly not the answer) - went close to equalising following a mazy run and a deflected shot that Ramsdale did well to keep out. Yet a few minutes later a mistake from the keeper at a corner - he was slightly impeded by his own man (Tomiyasu) as he tried to catch the ball when a big punch would have been far more effective, and it fell close to Lisandro Martinez. The little guy bent even lower, scooped a clever header back over the Arsenal defence and it looped into the top of the net despite Gabriel's best efforts to clear. Against the run of play? Yes... but as I say... 'moments'.
On 70 minutes Saka hit the post with a carbon-copy effort to that of his goal. Around us, we didn't realise how close he'd got. And immediately thereafter Ten Haag declared - or surrendered perhaps - by withdrawing Antony and bringing on Fred (you can't have more than one single-named Brazilian on the pitch at the same time is the PL rule, I understand...).
And from here on in it was pretty much all Arsenal. Wave after wave, penning United back, and interspersed with numerous acts of time-wasting from the away side. Most notably by the consistently annoying Fernandes and - comi-tragically - from De Gea).
During the interruption for Weasel's 'head injury', Trossard replaced Martinelli for his debut. And the little Belgian had a hand in the winning goal, driving forward with the ball before finding Zinchenko. His cross was flicked on to Nketiah by Odegaard, and Eddie did the rest with a clever, improvised back-heeled flick. Cue bedlam in the stands. But wait - a VAR check for offside. But it was OK - and so we got to celebrate twice!
And that was that. 5 point gap restored. We move on. But there are a few things to cover still.
Firstly, this result makes it firmly a two-horse race for the title. It's either Arsenal or Manchester City now. And City have finally woken up. And look; I have to take some responsibility for this. At half-time in the City vs Spurs game, I questioned on a WhatsApp group quite when City were going to finally wake up this season. And a combination of my big mouth and the embarrassment of being two goals down at home to Tottenham finally did the trick. From Pep's interview afterwards it was clear - he was fed up with the complacency of both the players and supporters. And the beast has now stirred. They've still got to play Arsenal twice, which may help them, but the question is: have they given themselves too much to do? Time will tell, but the bookies have Arsenal at odds on now.
And now a few thoughts about performances. I'd have to lead by saying that an element of jeopardy led to Ben White's half-time substitution. And equally neither Thomas Partey nor Gabriel Martinelli were at their best. But others made up for it. In particular Zinchenko was magnificent - a performance almost without blemish - Xhaka and Odegaard oiled the wheels, Bukayo Saka was his normal excellent self, and Eddie's crucial brace made the difference. If you weren't worried when Gabriel Jesus got injured, I'd have questioned your sanity. But Eddie has stepped into the breach and more than compensated for his absence to the extent - if I may be so bold - that I may suggest that with a cloud hanging over Ivan Toney at the moment Eddie has a good chance of making the next England squad!
And finally a question about squad management etc. The signings of Trossard and Kivior are going to help, and ESR is on his way back. I continue to have concerns about the lack of numbers up top - I guess Arteta feels he has enough solutions. But central midfield continues to worry me.
On top of that, there's an FA Cup game against no less than Manchester City at the weekend. How does Mikel play it? I feel that he has to go strong and hope to put down a marker; but that's risky. Some rotation, but not too much I reckon. Remember, City can rotate and you'll hardly notice. After that it's Everton and a possible 'new manager bounce'. But the flip side of that is that Everton are an absolute shower!
So I think we'll be OK for that one. Let's continue Living On A Prayer. COYG!!!
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