Arsenal could only manage a draw against Manchester United on Wednesday, despite taking the lead twice at Old Trafford in an injury-filled controversy-ridden encounter.
Some described the match as a ‘proper Arsenal-Manchester United clash’ afterwards, but in all honesty, it was more like a classic game against Stoke City. Arsenal players went down all game thanks to rough and sometimes dangerous challenges, leading to two first-half injuries.
Marcos Rojo should certainly have been sent off for any number of second-yellow-worthy fouls, Marouane Fellaini bizarrely avoided any kind of card after pulling Matteo Guendouzi’s hair, and United’s first goal should have been disallowed for offside.
The fans booed Guendouzi for getting injured and the main tactic employed by the home side was crossing it in and playing long balls. It was your standard Arsenal encounter against Stoke.
Nonetheless, Unai Emery’s side managed to at least take a point, gaining on Chelsea and leaving United eight points behind. Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match.
3Forwards
Aaron Ramsey 6.5
Coming off the back of his impressive substitute performance against Tottenham, Ramsey captained Arsenal from the start at Old Trafford. He made one half-chance for Bellerin and had a fairly solid half before suffering an injury which forced him off at half-time.
Alex Iwobi 6
This was a fairly average performance from Iwobi, but there were two bizarre moments where he gave up on balls he should’ve gone for. A loose pass back to David De Gea perhaps could’ve been his if he’d sprinted for it, and he could’ve turned Herrera’s cut-back behind for a corner if he’d slid in for it, instead of letting it go for Martial to score.
The forward did complete a couple of dribbles and win three of his four duels, but eventually came off early to allow Lacazette the chance to score a winner.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7
After scoring his last 10 shots on target, Aubameyang saw his run put to an end by a couple of saves by David De Gea. Though the Gabon striker perhaps wasn’t involved as much as he would’ve liked, they were two good efforts on goal and he was unlucky to see both saved by a goalkeeper who was otherwise pretty poor.
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