Arsenal 1 Manchester Utd 2IF MANCHESTER United are to relinquish the Premier League title it is clear their grip may have to be released finger by finger. This was an examination of nerve for Alex Ferguson's team and they passed it with distinction on a day when Arsene Wenger faced mutinous chants and Manchester City were given a stark reminder of their neighbours' staying power.
A lesser team might have been gripped by anxiety after Mario Balotelli’s late winner for City against Spurs. Instead, United merely reiterated their determination to keep hold of the trophy as they set about the business of cutting back the gap between themselves and City to three points.
It was Arsenal’s third successive defeat and Wenger was subjected to sustained and embittered abuse throughout the final stages. The substitute Andrey Arshavin was booed when he replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and there was more vitriol at the end.
Arsenal had been obliging opponents, desperately short of ideas for long spells, and there was something close to sympathy in the way Ferguson consoled his old adversary on the touchline. United had made it a traumatic experience for them.
The champions played with drive and purpose and will reflect that they probably made the job of winning harder than was necessary. Robin van Persie’s 71st-minute goal had threatened to take the game away from them but it is when the heat of the battle is at its most extreme that Ferguson’s team usually show their durability and their response was quickly delivered.
Paul Scholes restored some calm after being introduced. Shortly afterwards, Antonio Valencia exchanged passes with Park Ji-sung inside the penalty area before teeing up Danny Welbeck. The striker lashed in the winner to ensure United had the last word of a telling weekend for the Manchester clubs. The win was deserved even if Arsenal had recovered from a wretched first half to produce something close to the incisive passing with which they are associated.
The champions were in command for long spells, taking the lead when Valencia headed in Ryan Giggs’s cross in first-half stoppage time. These are the moments when it feels highly improbable Van Persie will choose to stay beyond the end of the season.
United made the first half a particular ordeal for their hosts, with Johan Djourou so disorientated at right-back that he was spared from any further torment after the break and replaced with the 18-year-old Nico Yennaris.
Had Nani and, to a lesser extent, Patrice Evra been more accurate with their crosses during this period, United might have been spared the trauma of coming so close to losing points.
Giggs, playing Arsenal for the 48th time of his career, showed how it should be done for Valencia’s goal, in keeping with a wonderful performance of craft and intelligence from the oldest player on the pitch. This was the culmination of a 20-minute spell of almost unremitting pressure from the away side. Almost everything originated on the left, targeting Djourou’s uncertainty.
Nani and Evra tormented a player who, in mitigation, was hopelessly exposed at times because of the lack of tracking back from Oxlade-Chamberlain. Welbeck was a constant menace once he had stopped straying offside. Wayne Rooney was a tireless worker, even if his performance was undermined by the moment when he exaggerated the impact of Alex Song’s challenge to try to win a cheap penalty.
United were so on top at half-time that it may have been complacency that allowed Arsenal to drag themselves back into the match in the second half. The away side lost their impetus and, in a 15-minute spell, Van Persie missed the kind of chance he would usually score blindfolded. Aaron Ramsey shot over, Oxlade-Chamberlain dragged another effort wide and Evra blocked Tomas Rosicky’s goal-bound effort beforeWelbeck ran clear and turned his shot past Wojciech Szczesny only for Per Mertesacker to clear off the line.
Other chances were passed up before Van Persie’s equaliser, stemming directly from a United chance when Rafael da Silva ran from inside his own half to have the opportunity to make it 2-0. The Brazilian was still out of position as Oxlade-Chamberlain fed Van Persie and the Dutchman scored with a diagonal finish in off the post.
Rafael, a first-half substitute after Phil Jones had sprained his ankle, was substituted himself and, at that point, his naivety looked as though it could be costly.
Instead, Welbeck pounced and, once again, we saw United’s determination not to let City disappear into the distance.
GuardianService
