Manchester United facing battle to keep David de Gea

There is a reasonable chance this might have been David de Gea's final performance for Manchester United at Old Trafford and if the suspicion is correct and he is bound for Real Madrid it is fair to say he cannot have expected it to end with such an unorthodox farewell game. Arsenal played at times as if it would have been impudent to trouble the Spaniard. They did not manage a shot of any description in the opening half, the first time that has happened since a game against Liverpool in 2004, and De Gea's vast appreciation society in Manchester will have noted how the recovery took shape only after he was forced off during the second half.

Imploring

Arsenal waited until the 51st minute before any of their players felt emboldened enough to try a shot and, even then, Alexis Sánchez’s effort was wildly off target. After that, De Gea produced one save from Olivier Giroud to demonstrate why the crowd spent so long imploring him to reject Madrid’s advances. He was hurt stretching to punch away a cross, after 72 minutes, and what happened next was cruel on Victor Valdés, making his first appearance in United colours, and fortunate in the extreme for Arsène Wenger’s team.

Valdés had not even got his gloves on the ball for a reassuring first touch by the time one substitute, Theo Walcott, ran at another, Tyler Blackett, and drove what was intended to be a cross in the vicinity of the goal. The ball took a killer deflection off Blackett, wrong-footed the former Barcelona goalkeeper and flew into the far corner for an equaliser of supreme fortune.

Arsenal had at least started to play with enough momentum to feel they deserved their luck and they could also think back to several late breaks when they might have won the match, most notably with the shot that Giroud turned into the side-netting two minutes later. Yet a draw was probably fair. The truth is neither team excelled and it was clear why two sides that once locked horns for the top honours are now arguing over third and fourth place.

Louis van Gaal must have been startled, for example, by the way his United side lost their defensive shape in the final 20 minutes. Valdés was so unprepared after De Gea had strained his hamstring the game was delayed by three minutes as he scrabbled to get his kit. Collectively, the home side had a dishevelled look when play finally restarted.

Before then, United had been the better team and fully deserving of the moment, half an hour in, when the game's outstanding performer, Ashley Young, crossed from the left and Arsenal's defence was so preoccupied with crowding out the obvious target, Marouane Fellaini, they left Herrera unmarked at the back post to score with an expertly controlled volley. Herrera and Juan Mata have now scored 18 goals between them this season. United still have imperfections but they do appear to have solved the long-standing issue, post-Scholes, of not getting enough goals out of their midfielders.

They also have a left-sided midfielder who might think it extremely unjust if his 19-month exile from the England team is not ended when Roy Hodgson announces his squad on Thursday for next month’s games against Republic of Ireland and Slovenia. Young has been rejuvenated under Van Gaal and would be a contender for the club’s player-of-the-season award were it not for De Gea.

Polished floor

Young was instrumental in United’s first-half superiority, when the home side passed the ball with confidence and Arsenal’s only chance comprised a comedic moment when Phil Jones slipped under pressure and almost left Giroud with a clear run at goal. Jones managed to turn what could have been a costly fall into a sprawling, ground-level header – imagine, perhaps, a stricken buffalo sliding across a polished floor – and showed great bravery bearing in mind the close proximity to Giroud’s studs. Otherwise, there was nothing in that period to test De Gea.

“Too timid, too conservative, too far away from each other,” was Wenger’s verdict.

He was more satisfied with the way the game ended – “we took over,” the Arsenal manager said – when Aaron Ramsey became increasingly involved and Blackett’s arrival coincided with United’s defence repeatedly being stretched. By that stage, Radamel Falcao had left with a polite wave to the crowd. The Colombian lasted only an hour and it was another performance that brought back memories of Diego Forlán and made it feel inconceivable that United would pay the £43.2m Monaco want to turn his loan arrangement into a long-term deal.

The bigger issue for United is what happens with De Gea. Van Gaal did not sound overly hopeful of keeping him at Old Trafford, but for now the only certainty is that if Madrid get their man – and they generally do – Valdés will hope for better luck next season. Guardian Service