Football matches are usually fluid, free-form entities but, just occasionally, they can be shaped in the image of one participant.
Think of Roy Keane’s performance against Juventus in 1999, dragging Manchester United into the Champions League final with a performance of exceptional leadership. Or Steven Gerrard single-handedly bursting West Ham’s bubbles to lift the 2006 FA Cup.
It’s an exclusive genre but, at a windswept Emirates Stadium on Saturday, we witnessed a new entry into the pantheon. Step forward Nuno Tavares.
Tavares was at the centre of everything during Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United, inserting himself into many of the game’s incidents with the shamelessness of a film director that elects themselves as lead actor.
A goal scored here, a penalty conceded there, general chaos in between; the performance of Tavares encapsulated a bonkers match which saw Arsenal stare into the abyss but emerge as favourites to qualify for the Champions League.
It’s been that kind of season in the red corner of north London. And Tavares is that kind of player.
Since joining from Benfica last summer, Tavares has endured a difficult time at Arsenal.
Earlier this month, he was taken off at half-time at Crystal Palace after he was deemed at fault for Palace’s first two goals. Tavares was also hooked after just 35 minutes at Nottingham Forest in January following a glut of misplaced passes and overall inadequacy.
But, having ended their April wobble with a madcap victory at Chelsea, Arsenal came flying out of the traps on Saturday and set about United with the relish of lions finding an errant human in their enclosure.
United looked to have strengthened their defence by dropping Harry Maguire but failed to notice that both Raphael Varane and Alex Telles emerged from the dressing room with their shoelaces tied together.
Their ‘attempt’ at clearing the ball only saw it drop to Bukayo Saka. His curling effort was parried into the path of an…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…