Manchester United fell further behind rivals Manchester City after being held to a 0-0 draw at Arsenal.
Both teams had chances to win with Nicolas Pepe twice going close for the hosts and Edinson Cavani squandering the best opportunity for the visitors.
City’s 1-0 win earlier in the day means they have extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to three points with a game in hand on United.
Nevertheless, both sides will be relatively pleased with the point at the Emirates.
Here’s how both sets of players rated:
Arsenal player ratings
Bernd Leno – 7/10
Superb finger-tip save to deny Fred in the first-half but had little to do thereafter. Will be pleased with his eighth clean sheet of the season – beating seven from the last campaign.
Hector Bellerin – 5/10
Ugly loose pass in the first minute and things didn’t really improve from there. Solid enough at the back but offered too little going forward.
Rob Holding – 7/10
Quiet game for the most part as United struggled to get the ball to Cavani but perhaps that had something to do with his excellent positioning. No surprise he has become a staple of this Arsenal backline.
David Luiz – 7/10
Solid display at the back and as eye-catching as ever going forward. Speculative long-range effort early on that nearly went out for a corner and another from the edge of the box later on that went into row Z.
Cedric Soares – 7/10
Coped well despite being out of position on the left in the place of the injured Kieran Tierney. A bit of needle with compatriot Bruno Fernandes early on set the tone for a battling display. Wasteful free-kick late on.
Thomas Partey – 5/10
Looked slightly off the pace but that is perhaps to be expected given his lack of playing time this season. Most notable contribution was clattering into Fernandes to give United a dangerous free-kick on the stroke of half-time.
Granit Xhaka – 7/10
Won the ball and passed the ball without doing anything too spectacular… or too clumsy, which is sometimes just what you need from a defensive midfielder.
Gabriel Martinelli – 5/10
Showed some excellent anticipation while tracking back to intercept when Rashford had the goal at his mercy but struggled to escape Wan-Bissaka’s vice-like grip going forward. Replaced by Willian at half-time.
Emile Smith Rowe – 7/10
Promising moments again from Arsenal’s young No 10. Excellent driving run through midfield to set up a chance for Pepe early on and then tested De Gea with a low drive to the near post. Replaced by Odegaard late on.
Nicolas Pepe – 7/10
Threatening presence on the right but needs to work on his shooting. Scuffed one shot wide after half a dozen rapid stepovers before another was well blocked by Maguire. Nearly nicked the winner late on but shot wide again.
Alexandre Lacazette – 8/10
One shot straight at De Gea early on and an excellent free-kick off the bar on the hour mark. Looked like Arsenal’s hungriest player and was unlucky not to get the rub of the green.
Willian (sub) – 5/10
Fluffed a glorious chance to score his first Arsenal goal within minutes of coming off the bench then appeared to pick up an injury shortly after. Spent most of the time afterwards walking.
Martin Odegaard (sub) – 5/10
One nice touch after coming on for Smith Rowe late on and pressed well but had little time to impact the game.
Man Utd player ratings
David De Gea – 7/10
Made a smart save from Smith Rowe’s low shot but enjoyed a relatively quiet afternoon otherwise.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7/10
Marshalled the lively Martinelli well and was a noticeable presence in attack although his end product let him down at times. Very nearly set up Cavani for the winner only for the Uruguayan to shoot narrowly wide.
Victor Lindelof – 8/10
Has missed five of the last six games and didn’t appear to be fully fit here. Nevertheless, showed good reading of the game to stop several Arsenal attacks. Much more assured than his defensive partner.
Harry Maguire – 5/10
Danced like a confused scarecrow when Pepe drove at him in the first-half. Made up for that with a solid block from the same man in the second but gave away two dangerous free-kicks for needless fouls on Lacazette. Not his most composed display.
Luke Shaw – 7/10
A quiet first-half but burst into life in the second, creating the chance of the game for Cavani and nearly setting up the striker for another.
Scott McTominay – 5/10
Looked to be really struggling with some sort of ailment before being replaced by Anthony Martial after half an hour.
Fred – 7/10
Another busy 90 minutes for United’s spoiler in midfield. Nearly opened the scoring too but for Leno’s excellent save.
Paul Pogba – 6/10
A strangely middle-of-the-road display from United’s most polarising player. Quiet first half an hour while playing in that new free role on the left. McTominay’s exit saw him switched to the middle but he also made little impact there.
Bruno Fernandes – 5/10
Seemed to be getting easily wound up by Arsenal’s players early on and was unusually wayward when presented with a half chance from Pogba early on. Almost entirely anonymous thereafter. Looks in need of a rest.
Marcus Rashford – 7/10
Lively presence off the right. Had one of the best chances of the first-half but couldn’t quite get the ball out of his feet, a few others in the second-half but shots were wayward.
Edinson Cavani – 7/10
Cut a frustrated figure having seen little of the ball early on. Missed the best chance of the game inside the six-yard box when meeting Shaw’s cross and very nearly scored the winner late on with a spectacular bicycle kick.
Anthony Martial (sub) – 6/10
Came on for McTominay in the first-half. Nice interplay with Shaw to help set up Cavani’s chance but created little else.
Mason Greenwood (sub) – 5/10
Came on for Rashford late on, leaving him little chance of impacting the game.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3cpnw6l
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