Rice to the rescue as Gunners secure three points against poor Man Utd side

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 1      
Premier League   
Sunday 3rd September 2023 4.30pm   

It was a glorious September afternoon that saw Arsenal take a deserved three points against Manchester United, although that was in serious doubt until second half injury time. The opposition turned up for all the world looking like Newcastle United, which makes me ponder which Man Utd fans would actually buy such a replica top. More significantly, Arsenal’s defence had a far more familiar look, as Gabriel returned, Zinchenko started and Ben White was moved back to right back. In front of them it was as expected with Kai Havertz retained and Eddie Nketiah given the nod over the not yet match fit Gabriel Jesus. 

 

Havertz did not have a particularly impressive game. He mishit a clear chance to score early on and lost possession in the build-up to United’s first goal, which gave them the lead with less than half an hour gone. There seem to be too camps where the German is concerned. Those that have already written him off as a Chelsea misfit who is not going to succeed at Arsenal. And those who consider that he needs more time and perhaps a different role. 

Although he put in a decent performance against Manchester City in pre-season at Wembley, playing centre-forward, that’s been largely forgotten since Arteta moved him into the Granit Xhaka-sized hole on the left side of the Gunners’ team. He’s certainly imbalanced things, as he does less defensively than the departed former captain, and struggles to intuitively find space to receive the ball, as Xhaka seemed to. Perhaps that will come in time, but to this observer, it feels like he is a utility forward who would be more effective coming on from the bench. Whether or not you consider that £65 million well spent is another discussion, especially when you consider what the club laid out for Leandro Trossard. An alternative option open to Arteta is to play Rice in the Xhaka position and bring Jorginho into the starting eleven. That could offer greater defensive solidity and would likely not weaken the attack. 

It was pointed out how much of a miss Partey is in the holding midfield position to me yesterday, in terms of his ability to pick a pass and drive the team forward. Whether or not he can do this as frequently in the inverted full back role I’m not certain, but the manager certainly has options once Partey returns to fitness, likely around the Christmas period if unofficial reports are to be believed. 

 

Anyway, back to Havertz’s loss of possession and from the resulting counter-attack, Eriksen fed Rashford, whose finish was good enough to beat Ramsdale off the post, although credit to the keeper for at least getting something on the shot, almost preventing the goal. Fortunately we didn’t have to wait long for an equaliser, as the ball went from Zinchenko to Martinelli via Nketiah, allowing the Brazilian to pick out Odegaard for a sweet low finish into the bottom corner of the net. Phew, and not for the last time yesterday as it turned out.

 

I was disappointed with Manchester United’s ability to take the game to their hosts. It’s certainly a long way from the Alex Ferguson years. United did well in the last half of the previous season, and it looked like Ten Haag had found a winning formula. This season they’ve been fortunate with refereeing decisions and that continued after the interval when an improved Havertz was awarded a penalty after going down when seemingly through. The fact that referee Anthony Taylor took so long as he was waiting on Jared Gillet at Stockley Park did not bode well, and when the former was called over to the monitor, the home support resigned itself to the penalty being chalked off. It did look as if Odegaard was going to take it, although we’ll never know. Maybe there is an agreement to alternate with Saka.

 

United were obdurate and frustrating, but their gameplan worked in limiting Arsenal’s clear-cut chances for the most part. Arteta’s players looked tired as the second half wore on, partly due to the heat, partly due to the intensity of their first half efforts in pressing the opposition. It seemed amazing that the manager did not make any changes until the 77th minute, but when he finally did, Nketiah, Zinchenko and Havertz made way for Jesus, Tomiyasu and Vieira. Tomiyasu did a fair imitation of Zinchenko positionally, often playing in the midfield, evidently something developed in training which didn’t really work for Kieran Tierney. Then again Tomiyasu seems to be comfortable on either foot. 

 

The new introductions sparked a little more life into matters, not least the greater unpredictability of Jesus’ movement, which you’d expect given his experience. The chance Arsenal were waiting for came after 80 minutes, when a low Ben White cross made its way through to Saka to simply slot the ball either side of Onono in the United goal, but put it straight at him. Soon afterwards, Jesus was dispossessed, and the ball was played through to sub Garnacho, who looked to have beaten the offside trap with his run and then put the ball past Ramsdale to give his team the lead. The linesman kept his flag down and this observer was pleasantly surprised to see a VAR check being conducted for offside, and hopeful as it dragged on. For once, a decision did not go United’s way, but the only subjectivity where VAR and offside are concerned are where you determine the line is for the player involved on each side, unless to course a defender is missed completely by the VAR official as happened in the Arsenal v Brentford match last season. 

 

The eight minutes of injury time announced gave hope there would be time for an Arsenal winner, and by this time the introduction of Maguire and Jonny Evans made the United backline feel a bit more fragile. The Gunners had plenty of corners over the course of the match, reflecting their territorial dominance, but too many of them failed to beat the first man, which surely can’t be a tactic. That highly paid footballers like Martinelli and Saka cannot get height on a cross never fails to astonish me. And currently, Arteta’s team are not short of tall men. 

No matter, a late one went over everybody except Declan Rice on the back post, who took it on his chest and had enough time to get in a speculative attempt at the near post. It deflected off Jonny Evans, who had a case to say he was impeded by Jesus, but these days it seems all’s fair in love, war and corner kicks, with the possible exception of a challenge on the keeper. Onana was unable to react and bat out the shot, and the ball went over the line to send the Emirates into ecstasy, although a few foolish early leavers missed a great climax. It’s 6.30pm on a Sunday evening, where do they have to be exactly? They obviously haven’t learned from the Community Shield.

 

United suddenly changed their policy and played with intent, but this left them exposed when Vieira won the ball and fed Jesus who put a United defender on his arse before slotting past Onana with aplomb. Game over. There were ultimately something like 12 minutes injury time played in the end, but the main thing was that Arsenal had won the points. Last week, I commented that Arteta’s tactics leave his team too exposed, and United could have scored three, instead of one, on the break, but for the offside and a last-ditch challenge from Saliba. It only takes one good pass when Arsenal lose possession in the opposition half and they look highly vulnerable. 

 

Still, the points are what count, and given how poorly United have been playing this season, it would have been a real disappointment not to beat them at the Emirates. That Rice scored the key goal was extra cause for celebration, as he has taken Arsenal to his heart as much as Gooners have taken the player to theirs. And the more goals he can chip in, the better. He had a more defensive brief at West Ham and rarely scored. Maybe Artetaball could see that change. 

 

10 points from 12 is an excellent start to the season, even if we look back with some regret at the Fulham game. Having lost two seasons in a row at Goodison to what has become a relegation battle side, you’d have to fancy Arsenal’s chances when they visit Everton in the first fixture after the international break, if nothing else due to the law of averages. 

 

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