It has to be said that the Arsenal squad were reportedly hit by a sickness bug. It goes some way towards explaining the performance, as Arsenal looked sluggish, while Manchester United were sharper in possession, defended with alacrity, and deserved their 1-0 win.
Wojciech Szczesny - 6 – He was pretty blameless for the Robin Van Persie goal, and was knocked unconscious after a nasty clash of heads with Phil Jones. Kept goal competently.
Bacary Sagna – 7 – He was arguably Arsenal's best player. He had numerous tussles with Wayne Rooney, when the England man drifted to the left flank. However, Sagna defended solidly, and put over a couple of sumptuous crosses in the second-half, which deserved better from his teammates.
Laurent Koscielny – 6 – The Frenchman made some good clearances, and also passed the ball tidily from defence. However, Koscielny was never altogether comfortable when dealing with Rooney
Thomas Vermaelen – 6 – Given that the club captain was pressed into the starting XI at the last minute, his display was creditable. He made some excellent defensive headers in the first-half, but you feel the back four missed the influence of Per Mertesacker.
Kieran Gibbs - 6 – Gibbs looked off the pace in the early exchanges. He improved as the game progressed, but used the ball poorly, and was kept largely busy having to deal with Antonio Valencia.
Mathieu Flamini – 6 – Flamini failed to perform to his usual standard. He only made one successful tackle, and his pass completion rate was far too low (76%). He was eventually substituted as Arsenal searched for an equaliser.
Mikel Arteta – 7 – After a poor start, Arteta passed the ball relatively well, with a completion of 94% (more than any other player). However, his teammates failed to make the most of the platform. He was another to be sacrificed as Arsenal chased the game.
Aaron Ramsey – 6 – The Welshman may have suffered for not playing in his natural central midfield position. However, that doesn't excuse some of his poor passing and decision making. He failed to make the most of getting into some decent positions in the second-half.
Mesut Ozil – 5 – This felt like a learning experience for Ozil, as this was arguably his worst game for Arsenal. He constantly gave the ball away, and moved around the pitch to try and influence the game. Ozil will know he has to perform better than this in future.
Santi Cazorla – 5 – He was a peripheral presence in the first-half. He moved central in the second, and got a few more touches on the ball. But the Spaniard failed to threaten the United defence, evinced by his six crosses, which found its mark only once.
Olivier Giroud – 6 – The Frenchman spent the first-half in Nemanja Vidic's pocket. He was more of an influence in the second, managing to be something of a pivot for Arsenal's attacks. However, he failed to be assertive enough in his positioning when Sagna put crosses into the box. He needs a goal soon.
SUBS
Jack Wilshere – N/A – He added more energy and thrust when coming on.
Nicklas Bendtner – N/A – Unable to get on the end of a great Sagna cross late on.
Serge Gnabry – N/A – Probably should have been brought on earlier than he was.
Losing to United is always irritating, and more so when it's Robin Van Persie who makes the difference. However, being two points clear at the top of the league is still a good place to be in, and I think many of us would have taken two wins from our past three games.
I confess, however, that tonight was an opportunity to knock the champions out of the title race permanently. A look at the table now shows that United are back in it. There's still a lot of work to be done for the Gunners.
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