Arsenal took a colossal leap towards the Premier League title after beating Manchester United 3-2 in an epic contest.
The pressure was on Arsenal after Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Wolves earlier in the day, a result that meant Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table had been cut to just two points.
But they responded brilliantly, turning up and producing an exceptional performance at the Emirates against in-form Manchester United. Mikel Arteta’s men put in a lively and authoritative performance and were never cowed despite the visitors scoring twice.
It was Manchester United that took the lead through a superb long-range effort from Marcus Rashford in the 17th minute. But it didn’t take long for the hosts to respond, equalising through an Eddie Nketiah far-post header after he drifted in unmarked behind Aaron Wan-Bissaka to convert Granit Xhaka’s cross.
Arsenal then took the lead in early stages of the second half, courtesy of a wonderful strike from Bukayo Saka – before Lisandro Martinez pegged them back on the hour mark.
But Arteta’s men bounced back from the set-back and penned United back for large stages of the final half-hour, eventually finding the breakthrough with Nketiah pouncing in the six-yard box for his second goal of the game – a last-gasp injury-time winner.
There were some hearts in mouths as the goal went to a VAR check, but the goal was given after replays showed that Nketiah – and Oleksandr Zinchenko in the build-up – were just about onside.
“I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful moment at the end of the match, the way we won it after how much we tried and just kept going and going with our people behind us. It was just beautiful,” Arteta told BBC Sport after the final whistle.
“I think we showed a lot of emotional control because when you go 1-0 down against Manchester United it is very tricky. We managed to come back into the game and it happened at Old Trafford, when you are in total control of the game they scored.
“We stayed focused and I love the personality the players showed to keep playing and keep playing our way and doing it better and better until we found the opening to win the game.”
Here are 12 amazing statistics from Arsenal’s latest big win, which places them five points ahead of Manchester City (plus a game in hand) in the Premier League table.
– The hosts were deserved winners on the balance of chances. Their expected goals (xG) rate…
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