ARSENAL OUTGUNNED

 

 

Well United had already seen off Arsenal at Old Trafford even if only by the skin of our teeth. Since then Arsenal have remained in the title race to an extent and even topped the Premiership for a matter of hours at one point. However with United also returning to form, this Premiership match at the Emirates Stadium was to see who would be 'the' main challengers to Chelsea in the latter stages of the season. Fergie started out with Brown and Evans in central defence, Evra as captain and Nani, Rooney and Park up front. This was arguably the most important match in our Premiership campaign so far though it was even more crucial to Arsene Wenger's crew.

Well the Gunners got out attention early on with the opening chance of the match and continued to poke holes in the United defence but Fergie's crew started to turn things round with Arsenal looking more likely to concede as the first half wore on. The home side were finally breached in the 33rd minute when Manuel Almunia tipped a 33rd minute Nani cross into his own net. Arsenal then missed a chance at an equaliser before Nani and Rooney played a 37th minute 1-2 with the England assasin doing what he does. So far, nothing to complain about and further evidence that MUFC have finally returned to form. A second half comeback from the Gunners was certainly unlikely.

If there was any further doubt about the outcome of this match it was dispelled in the 52nd minute when United fastbreaked and Fletcher lobbed the ball to Park to slot in. Credit to the Gunners, they at least attempted a comeback but as the clock wore on their fate looked sealed. United for their part were able to setlle into cruise control, switching about the midfield before Arsenal finally hit the net in the 80th minute when Thomas Vermaelen slotted in a free kick. However United kept cruising and the result was argumably the biggest win of our Premiership season. From here on in it should just be United vs Chelsea for the Premiership title.

Elsewhere, Chelsea beat Bunley 2-1 at Turf Moor. The Blues opened the scoring in the first half only for the Premiership new boys to level early on in the second half but just as an upset looked on the cards, Chelsea hit a late winner. Spurs drew 1-1 with Birmingham at St Andrews. The match was goalless at half time bnut Spurs opened the scoring only for Brum to grab a share of the points in the last minutes of the game. That means that United remain in 2nd place in the Premiership, one point behind leaders Chelsea(and the Blues have a game in hand) but we're now eleven points ahead of Spurs and a detour through the Champions League preliminaries.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Motherwell at Pittodrie in the SPL. Things didn't start too well for the Dons when John Sutton opened the scoring for Well in the first half though overall the Dons had the better of the play. In the second half things got even worse though with Lucas Jutkiewicz putting Well two up before Sutton got his second. The Dons had some late chances but were unable to score even a consolation goal. An embarrassing result for Mark McGhee as he used to be Motherwell gaffer before arriving at Pittodrie. Having said that, his opposite number on the day was former Scotland Euro and World Cup manager Craig Brown.

Elsewhere, Hearts lost 1-0 to St Johnstone at McDiamond Park. The first half finished goalles only for the Saints to hit the winner early on in the second half in a game that was surprisingly dominated by the home team. Falkirk were beaten 3-0 by Rangers at Ibrox with the Gers opening the scoring before half time and then grabbed two second half goals in quick succsession - this result was not exactly the biggest surprise of the weekend. Still, it leaves the Dons remaining in 7th in the SPL, one point behind Hearts(though with two games in hand) and the top half of the table but thirteen points ahead of Falkirk and relegation. The Dons have hit another slump.

Click here to visit the football archive

Comments get emailed here

Click here to return to sports homepage

Click here to return to Matt G's homepage