Manchester United (H)Â
A week later, Arsenal finally came up against one of their boggy teams in recent years. The Gunners haven’t beaten United in the league since 2011 and on this night, it was more of the same.
Louis Van Gaal was forced to field a inexperienced defensive backline consisting of Paddy McNair and Tyler Blackett, which would’ve given the home side huge encouragement to exploit that inexperience in a crucial area of the pitch. And Arsenal did dictate the game overwhelmingly in the earlier stages.
Jack Wilshere had the best chance to open the scoring for the home side, but hit his tame effort straight at De Gea after being put through one-on-one. The Gunners were to be left ruing that missed opportunity later on.
After failing to put their chances away, nerves began to channel throughout the stadium, as United’s belief grew back into the game. They took the lead just before the hour mark, albeit in fortunate fashion though a Kieran Gibbs own goal.
United then doubled their advantage late on through Wayne Rooney on the counter, before Olivier Giroud came on to provide late constellation for the home side as the match ended 2-1.
This was a bitter result for the Gunners to swallow after dominating large spells of the game, and failing to beat one of their biggest rivals yet again. But as we all know, if you don’t put away your chances against the big sides, you will be punished.