Arsenal lost 2-1 to Manchester United on Sunday, but the very young and inexperienced team can mostly hold their heads high after a fighting performance.
United fielded a near full strength side against the likes of 18-year-old Reiss Nelson, recent academy graduate Ainsley Maitland-Niles and debutant Konstantinos Mavropanos. It was always going to be an uphill battle, and so it proved with Paul Pogba’s early goal.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, one of few experienced players, made his return from injury. He ended up grabbing an equaliser, and it was all the team deserved at the time. Unfortunately he then went off, rested for Thursday. United took back the momentum and in the end got the goal their pressure probably merited.
Still, it was harsh for the Gunners, particularly as the centre-back pairing had performed so well. Plus they perhaps should have had a penalty in the first half.
Here are the individual player ratings:
3Attack
Reiss Nelson 6
Nelson had the least possession of any of Arsenal’s outfield players, as he struggled to really get involved. He did have the highest pass accuracy on the team, and created one decent chance. His header was powerful but off target.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 8
Mkhitaryan looked like he had a point to prove at Old Trafford, and he did it well. He was lively, he showed something Arsenal missed against Atletico with his link-up play, and he eventually got a goal to top off his efforts. Then he had to come off to preserve him for the trip to Madrid, and Arsenal suffered without him.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 5
Like Nelson, Aubameyang really struggled to get involved, and he could’ve done better with the chances he did have. Probably would’ve scored if Bellerin had managed to play him in on the counter, but only managed one shot other than that.