Three well crafted goals took the tarnish off United and vaulted Arsenal to second in the league.
Arsenal’s first goal was early, an Ozil cross to Sanchez, whose back flick whipped past the stranded De Gea. About a minute later they struck again, this time Walcott fed Ozil, who passed the ball into the corner of the net.
About ten minutes later came the third. Walcott fed Alexis who cut inside and then unleashed a cracker into the top corner of the net.
United looked shell shocked and almost conceded a fourth when Ramsey volleyed over the goal.
They managed to get some possession and they crafted one good opportunity prior to halftime. Martial turned in the box and managed to shoot, but Cech’s leg deflected the ball wide.
The second half saw United have most of the possession, but create few good opportunities. Arsenal were content to defend and hit United on the break and they had several good opportunities to poach a fourth.
Ozil, Giroud, Cazorla all had notable chances, but the best fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain at the end who hit the crossbar with his attempt to kick over De Gea.
Hopefully this will soothe wounded Gunner’s fans still smarting over last weeks fiasco against Olympiakos.
Player Ratings:
Cech 8: He made a great save on Martial’s shot in the first and he made several decent saves in the second half. Was commanding in the area. My only beef is that I wished he would have thrown the ball more, as his kicks upfield were almost always won by United.
Bellerin 7: He had a good game against Memphis and kept him under wraps, although Ashley Young was somewhat of a pest. Hector also gave the ball away a couple of times, which could have been costly.
Mertesacker 8: A massive game for Per, who was rock solid at the back. Most, including myself, expected him to have a long afternoon chasing Martial. For some reason this never materialized and he only lost him once, in the 80th minute.
Gabriel 7: Made a couple of sloppy passes, but for the most part he was steady at the back.
Monreal 8: Another solid game for Nacho. Valencia wasn’t able to make much of an impact when he came on. He made a good cross to Ozil, which was squandered.
Coquelin 7: A good match. He did what he does best, shield the back four and harry the opposition. He particularly kept an eye on Rooney and Mata.
Cazorla 8: He remains central in being the conduit for moving the ball forward. He worked hard, defended well, and had one good scoring chance.
Ozil 9: Last week I castigated him for a poor game against Olympiakos. Today he was my co-man of the match. He set up the first, scored the second and was instrumental in much of the offensive play. He probably should’ve scored a second from Monreal’s cross.
Ramsey 7: He runs and runs and works and works. Still, his form could be better. He should’ve scored in the first half, but volleyed way past the goal. He’s a liability with the ball in our own half when he wants to slow the game down or play passively. He coughs the ball up and chances arise. He did this a couple of times. Just go forward or get rid of the ball.
Walcott 8: Another great match for Theo. He’s starting to work with Mesut and Alexis now and good things are happening. He had one or two chances today, but he was better as the provider with two assists.
Sanchez 9: My other man of the match. A brace and the generator of several other good chances. The first goal showed his opportunism, the second showed his power. Six goals in the last week!
Substitutes:
Giroud 5: His right footed effort from the Ox’s cross was a disappointment.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 6: In limited time he made an excellent cross to Giroud and he hit the crossbar when he tried to loop the ball over the goalkeeper.
Gibbs n/a: Replaced a limping Alexis at the end. Helped provide some defence.