A new year, and a new look Arsenal. And I don't just mean the new look of being awarded 3 points for a change! It should have come against Chelsea (#StillNotBitter) but today was the day that this squad really came together and won as a fully functioning unit that everyone is proud to be a part of. 2020 isn't looking too bad so far!
Pre-game, the talk was the sort of line up that Arteta was going to have available to him. With so many injuries and the exertions of Bournemouth and Chelsea both less than a week old, it was hard to see how things were going to be kept fresh. Rumour had it Mustafi and Saka hadn't trained the day before, so were Bola and Mavropanos going to be drafted in? To everyone's pleasant surprise though the line up was much stronger than expected. Sokratis and Kolasinac were back in the starting XI for fresher legs, and Pepe got his first start in a while to make up the attacking four for the first time.
The changes paid dividends and it was Pepe who opened the scoring to the delight of Arsenal fans everywhere. After a scrappy and cagey start to the game that Man Utd had probably edged truthfully, Kolasinac and Auba progressed the ball up the left wing. Kolasinac found himself inside the Man Utd penalty area in acres of space, keeping himself just onside as Auba fed him the ball towards the byline. His cut back nicked off Lindelof as Pepe ran onto the loose ball and tucked home. Just what we all needed!
As the half wore on, Arsenal were the ones that kicked on into the ascendancy. Auba volleyed a difficult chance over the bar not long after the goal, Lacazette spurned a glorious opportunity that he should have scored, seconds later Torreira spun Fred and his effort was inches wide of De Gea's post, and later Pepe almost capitalised on a De Gea error by picking up his loose ball that ricocheted off Lacazette and curling an effort onto the post. You felt Arsenal were sniffing a second goal that they needed.
Thankfully with five minutes remaining in the half, they got the second goal that eluded them against Chelsea just days prior. Pepe's corner swung menacingly towards the near post and Lacazette flicked the ball on goal wards. De Gea's save wasn't convincing and the ball dropped right in front of Sokratis about four yards out who smashed a volley into the roof of the net. The emirates was full of voice and optimism once again!
The second half was less open. Arsenal kept things airtight at the back but looked to choose the moments they went forward and cause Utd some problems. For all of Man Utd's possession though they created precious little and Leno only had one save of real note to make. Perreira went close with a good opportunity that he smashed wide into the side netting, and Leno bravely met Mata's lofted ball as Rashford looked to swivel and shoot on the volley. Arsenal fully deserved the clean sheet and three points and can now safely look towards an FA cup tie with Leeds at the weekend, before a well earned week off in the build up to our next outing away to Palace.
Ratings:
Leno - 6.5
Wasn't worked as much as he might have expected, but when called into action he was sensible and did everything well. Can't give him much above average for not having much to do but scores an extra half point for bouncing back very well after his mistake against Chelsea.
AMN - 7.5
Another extremely impressive performance, didn't give Rashford a sniff or any space to run into and continues to link up well with Pepe when they play together. He appears to be benefiting the most under Arteta if anyone.
Sokratis - 8
The Sokratis of last season has returned! Was quick to react so he scored the important second goal. Defended superbly winning most of his duels and most of his aerial battles. If I'm being SUPER critical he still looked wobbly in possession when he had to carry the ball and use it, but he never lost possession so I take nothing away from his game.
Luiz - 8.5
It's like we've already signed an upgraded defender! Looked calm and assured, steps more into challenges as opposed to consistently backing off the ball, wins every header, and always makes the right choice when distributing the ball. His long balls caused Utd a lot of problems when they began to press.
Kolasinac - 6
He did very well to get the assist for Pepe, but aside from that I didn't think he had a great performance in all honesty. I do have sympathy for him, he was clearly pushing through the pain barrier and probably came back too early, for that he does deserve praise and I can't score him below average. I was however convinced he was going to get himself sent off the number of times he made silly fouls.
Torreira - 8
Another contender for the player benefiting the most under Arteta. He looks so much happier under his stewardship and is playing some his best football. Provides the back four with much more and much better protection than they've had in months. He's played 270 out of 270 minutes in six days to boot and looks like he would do another 90 minutes today if he was asked.
Xhaka - 8
For the first time in months, maybe even years, I've seen not a single criticism of Xhaka after one of his performances and rightly so. Even the news that he should be staying beyond this transfer window was met with a lot of welcome applause. He was excellent again today and showed some of what we missed against Chelsea, control in midfield that didn't mean we surrendered possession constantly as we looked to defend a lead. He and Torreira look pivotal to making this team function.
Pepe - 7
Looked very dangerous during the first half but was less effective in the second. Took the goal well, unlucky not to have a second when he hit the post and caused Shaw all sorts of problems. He's not great defensively but he did try harder to help out his side and work for the cause.
Ozil - 7.5
This was his most assured performance for a long long time. Made more ball recoveries than any other player on the pitch, was menacing when in possession and wanted the win. Very impressed and hopefully this keeps up!
Aubameyang - 7
Worked hard for the cause, there was even one stage late on that he covered Xhaka in holding midfield! He's playing like a captain and doing what the team requires even if it isn't his strong suit. Still manages to maintain looking dangerous even if the chances didn't fall his way today.
Lacazette - 6
Still not quite got his shooting boots on, but today the other aspects of his game were improved. His hold up play was better and more effective, he made himself a nuisance and difficult to deal with all game. If only he hadn't completely fluffed the one golden opportunity he had in the first half which he had done so well to get himself in the right position...
Nelson - 6
Someone needs to remind Nelson to put the studs back on his boots! It was amusing how many times he slipped and we can say that now we've won but it was a slight worry. Perhaps over excitement to try and work hard for his team and help out AMN defensively. All in all though he did the job he was asked to do.
Saka - 6
Looked a little rusty when he came on giving the ball away a few times. I put it mostly down to the amount of football he's been asked to play in a short space of time in an unfamiliar position but overall he defended well and didn't look troubled.
Guendouzi - N/A
@groningergooner
Pre-game, the talk was the sort of line up that Arteta was going to have available to him. With so many injuries and the exertions of Bournemouth and Chelsea both less than a week old, it was hard to see how things were going to be kept fresh. Rumour had it Mustafi and Saka hadn't trained the day before, so were Bola and Mavropanos going to be drafted in? To everyone's pleasant surprise though the line up was much stronger than expected. Sokratis and Kolasinac were back in the starting XI for fresher legs, and Pepe got his first start in a while to make up the attacking four for the first time.
The changes paid dividends and it was Pepe who opened the scoring to the delight of Arsenal fans everywhere. After a scrappy and cagey start to the game that Man Utd had probably edged truthfully, Kolasinac and Auba progressed the ball up the left wing. Kolasinac found himself inside the Man Utd penalty area in acres of space, keeping himself just onside as Auba fed him the ball towards the byline. His cut back nicked off Lindelof as Pepe ran onto the loose ball and tucked home. Just what we all needed!
As the half wore on, Arsenal were the ones that kicked on into the ascendancy. Auba volleyed a difficult chance over the bar not long after the goal, Lacazette spurned a glorious opportunity that he should have scored, seconds later Torreira spun Fred and his effort was inches wide of De Gea's post, and later Pepe almost capitalised on a De Gea error by picking up his loose ball that ricocheted off Lacazette and curling an effort onto the post. You felt Arsenal were sniffing a second goal that they needed.
Thankfully with five minutes remaining in the half, they got the second goal that eluded them against Chelsea just days prior. Pepe's corner swung menacingly towards the near post and Lacazette flicked the ball on goal wards. De Gea's save wasn't convincing and the ball dropped right in front of Sokratis about four yards out who smashed a volley into the roof of the net. The emirates was full of voice and optimism once again!
The second half was less open. Arsenal kept things airtight at the back but looked to choose the moments they went forward and cause Utd some problems. For all of Man Utd's possession though they created precious little and Leno only had one save of real note to make. Perreira went close with a good opportunity that he smashed wide into the side netting, and Leno bravely met Mata's lofted ball as Rashford looked to swivel and shoot on the volley. Arsenal fully deserved the clean sheet and three points and can now safely look towards an FA cup tie with Leeds at the weekend, before a well earned week off in the build up to our next outing away to Palace.
Ratings:
Leno - 6.5
Wasn't worked as much as he might have expected, but when called into action he was sensible and did everything well. Can't give him much above average for not having much to do but scores an extra half point for bouncing back very well after his mistake against Chelsea.
AMN - 7.5
Another extremely impressive performance, didn't give Rashford a sniff or any space to run into and continues to link up well with Pepe when they play together. He appears to be benefiting the most under Arteta if anyone.
Sokratis - 8
The Sokratis of last season has returned! Was quick to react so he scored the important second goal. Defended superbly winning most of his duels and most of his aerial battles. If I'm being SUPER critical he still looked wobbly in possession when he had to carry the ball and use it, but he never lost possession so I take nothing away from his game.
Luiz - 8.5
It's like we've already signed an upgraded defender! Looked calm and assured, steps more into challenges as opposed to consistently backing off the ball, wins every header, and always makes the right choice when distributing the ball. His long balls caused Utd a lot of problems when they began to press.
Kolasinac - 6
He did very well to get the assist for Pepe, but aside from that I didn't think he had a great performance in all honesty. I do have sympathy for him, he was clearly pushing through the pain barrier and probably came back too early, for that he does deserve praise and I can't score him below average. I was however convinced he was going to get himself sent off the number of times he made silly fouls.
Torreira - 8
Another contender for the player benefiting the most under Arteta. He looks so much happier under his stewardship and is playing some his best football. Provides the back four with much more and much better protection than they've had in months. He's played 270 out of 270 minutes in six days to boot and looks like he would do another 90 minutes today if he was asked.
Xhaka - 8
For the first time in months, maybe even years, I've seen not a single criticism of Xhaka after one of his performances and rightly so. Even the news that he should be staying beyond this transfer window was met with a lot of welcome applause. He was excellent again today and showed some of what we missed against Chelsea, control in midfield that didn't mean we surrendered possession constantly as we looked to defend a lead. He and Torreira look pivotal to making this team function.
Pepe - 7
Looked very dangerous during the first half but was less effective in the second. Took the goal well, unlucky not to have a second when he hit the post and caused Shaw all sorts of problems. He's not great defensively but he did try harder to help out his side and work for the cause.
Ozil - 7.5
This was his most assured performance for a long long time. Made more ball recoveries than any other player on the pitch, was menacing when in possession and wanted the win. Very impressed and hopefully this keeps up!
Aubameyang - 7
Worked hard for the cause, there was even one stage late on that he covered Xhaka in holding midfield! He's playing like a captain and doing what the team requires even if it isn't his strong suit. Still manages to maintain looking dangerous even if the chances didn't fall his way today.
Lacazette - 6
Still not quite got his shooting boots on, but today the other aspects of his game were improved. His hold up play was better and more effective, he made himself a nuisance and difficult to deal with all game. If only he hadn't completely fluffed the one golden opportunity he had in the first half which he had done so well to get himself in the right position...
Nelson - 6
Someone needs to remind Nelson to put the studs back on his boots! It was amusing how many times he slipped and we can say that now we've won but it was a slight worry. Perhaps over excitement to try and work hard for his team and help out AMN defensively. All in all though he did the job he was asked to do.
Saka - 6
Looked a little rusty when he came on giving the ball away a few times. I put it mostly down to the amount of football he's been asked to play in a short space of time in an unfamiliar position but overall he defended well and didn't look troubled.
Guendouzi - N/A
@groningergooner
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