Déjà vu for Arsene Wenger and the Gunners? Part2
The selection of rookie goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who made his Premier League debut, was a pretty sane choice and he did his job pretty well by denying Anderson, and then, Wayne Rooney to save Arsenal’s blushes. The debutant
was infact, preferred ahead of Lukasz Fabianski and was absolutely blameless for the loss, putting in a good performance.
But it was Sir Alex Ferguson’s selections that were more significant and effective. When the starting line-up was shown before the match, it was very surprising that Dimitar Berbatov, who scored 5 goals in the 7-1 mauling of the
Blackburn Rovers, was not included in the starting XI. It was a very bold decision but the formula of having 3 tried and tested midfielders in Michael Carrick, Anderson and Darren Fletcher to support a lone striker in Wayne Rooney, worked.
Park, in the absence of Dimitar Berbatov, who is currently the top scorer in the league, scored the only goal. Rio Ferdinand notices that the Korean loves to score against Arsenal.
Nani drilled in a low cross that was deflected off left-back, Gael Clichy and Ji Sung beautifully and instinctively controlled his header to divert the ball into the net.
Premier League debutant, Szczesny made a brilliant stop to deny Anderson in a very Peter Schmeichell-kind-of style.
Manchester United could have doubled the lead when Nani narrowly missed a half volley in the first period and then wasted a clear goal scoring chance when he diverted the ball high over the cross-bar.
It seems that the hardest job for Wayne Rooney these days is scoring a goal in open play and he has not scored a goal in open play for some time now. He took a lot of chances but couldn’t convert and was clearly frustrated before
Gael Clichy was very harshly adjudged to have handled the ball while falling down in his own penalty area. A penalty was given and Wayne Rooney stepped in to take the kick. Instead of going into the net, his kick took the ball to the Stretford End.
The young Polish goalkeeper Szczesny was once again tested by Wayne Rooney’s audacious lob but was equal to it.
There was a certain degree of timidity in Arsenal’s attacking play and only Arshavin seemed to be willing to test Van der Sar. There was however, one exception when Nemanja Vidic made a superb tackle to deny Morocco international,
Marouane Chamakh after Van der Sar initially spilled Samir Nasri’s effort.
Arsene Wenger accepted that his side never created chances and they were not quick and sharp enough against a highly focused and motivated Manchester United side.
The defensive line of Manchester United was absolutely flawless and not a single error was made in the entire 90 minutes.
Anderson was the man of the match and after seeing a stop –start kind of career at Old Trafford, the Brazilian appears to have found his feat. The Brazilian was energetic and lively throughout his stay on the pitch and combined
well with Darren Fletcher to support Wayne Rooney.
Overall, Manchester United team was good in all areas and Van der Sar had a fairly quiet night between the goal-posts bar the save from Nasri. Next week, the Premier League leaders travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea and
it will be interesting to see if any changes will be made in the team that just beat Arsenal. Paul Scholes, who missed the game through injury, might find it very hard to displace someone for a place on Sunday.
For Arsenal, it was a very disappointing result provided the attacking talent Wenger had at his disposal. Perhaps, the late substitution of Theo Walcott was a mistake as his introduction did seem to help Arsenal a bit offensively.
The game came too early for Cesc Fabregas and he came in as a substitute for the ineffective Tomas Rosicky.
Arsenal’s centre backs could never match the class of Vidic and Ferdinand and it seems that they need a proven centre-back to guarantee a good defensive performance.
It’s high time that Arsene Wenger’s side learns from their mistakes and becomes mentally strong to see off title contenders if Arsenal wants to have a trophy in their cabinet after a 5 year drought.
The questions is, is the current Arsenal team mature enough to survive a mental and physical battle to win the Premier League?
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