Arsenal 3-2 Man Utd (Nketiah 24′, 90′, Saka 53′ | Rashford 17′, Martinez 59′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — This is what you want from a top-of-the-table meeting between two historic clubs, Arsenal and Manchester United accepting the responsibility bestowed by the pre-eminent status of the Premier League to enthral its global audience. And at the heart of it two young, English champions shaping the present in their image.
Arsenal avenged their only defeat this season with a late winner that was reward for the endeavour they showed in chasing victory in the final 15 minutes. United were never out of the contest but would accept they were stretched as Arsenal demonstrated the mettle required of champions. The effort spent saw the Arsenal players fall to the ground at the final whistle, relieved and exhausted.
This was United’s ninth game in 26 days, three more than Arsenal in the same period. In the end, fatigue was arguably the difference, contributing perhaps to the conceding of a last-minute goal for the second time in four days. For an hour of this compelling Sunday there was bugger all between teams. This was indeed the stuff of yesteryear, Mikel Arteta and Erik ten Hag suggesting a developing rivalry as intense as the pizza days of Wenger and Fergie.
There is always something special about the visit of United to London, especially to this barrio where the Busby Babes played their last in England, a barnburner of similar dimension, before embarking on that fateful journey to Belgrade in February 1958. United are grinding like the blazes to return to the vanguard of English football, and in Marcus Rashford, have a player growing into the challenge.
We have all moved on since the summer of 2021. Nevertheless, it was heartening to witness the abused of that lost penalty shootout in one corner of north London rise in another. Rashford opened the scoring with his ninth goal since the World Cup, another OMG moment, or should that be OMTMG, Oh-My-That’s-Mbappe-Good? The vision to see the opportunity, the confidence to try, the skill to make Thomas Partey disappear, and the technique to ram the ball in the net from 20 yards.
MARCUS RASHFORD! What a goal this is!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 22, 2023pic.twitter.com/5NqKfKZrxF
If big Wout Weghorst, lumbering around the park like an obelisk on wheels, is the anti-United factor in this ensemble Rashford is its soul, the player who carries in his brilliant feet the spirit memory of the greats that have gone before.
United have hit some mighty notes at Highbury and the Emirates, particularly in their Fergie pomp. Lee Sharpe, Ruud van Nistlerooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, all tattooed their names in the grass. Rashford matched the best of them.
He would be matched in his virtuosity by Bukayo Saka, who responded with a trademark cutter from the right, curling Arsenal into the lead. Saka has grown into an emblematic figure at Arsenal the equal of Rashford at United, a player the group seeks out to make the difference. And he was that here, edging his team ahead as they set about United after the break.
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Another is that Puskas-like left foot. Making his first Premier League start since the World Cup Martinez captures the essence of Ten Hag’s early United incarnation; able, disciplined, efficient. The tackle to dispossess the flying Martin Odegaard as the half-hour mark approached and calmly restart the engine was as pure an example you will see of the libero’s art.
BUKAYO SAKA. WHAT A TALENT
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 22, 2023pic.twitter.com/0qKwbHrd95
Rashford’s opener invited Arsenal to demonstrate a mettle that has rarely been tested at the Emirates during the eight wins in nine matches leading into this encounter. Coming from behind to beat West Ham and Fulham was commendable but nothing like this in scale.
In the first half the threat, or rather the preference for Arsenal, was to crack United open from the left, Gabriel Martinelli the principal source. The surprise was not that the telling cross should come from that quarter but that Granit Xhaka should supply it. You would have sworn Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s feet were nailed to the floor. However, it was a jet-heeled jump from Eddie Nketiah to nod the leaders level.
Nketiah seems to have outgrown the role of understudy whilst deputising for the injured Gabriel Jesus. His tireless running was a persistent challenge for the United defence, and when Arsenal began to dominate his urgency created panic in the box.
His second goal at the death survived the clinical attention of VAR to inflict a first defeat on United since the first week of November and re-establish Arsenal’s five-point lead over Manchester City. That’s 50 points at the half way mark. Oh, and they have a game in hand.
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