By NewsBits
Before the bitter rivalry match between Arsenal and Manchester United kicked off late evening on Sunday, Manchester City was breathing down the neck of the Gunners having beaten Wolverhampton.
With that win, City was just two points behind Arsenal, the league leaders. It meant that Arsenal must win United to re-establish their five points lead with a game to spare. The Gunners showed both class, desire, and resilience and at the end of the game, they retained control of the Premier League title race after Eddie Nketiah’s 90th-minute winner gave them a dramatic victory over Manchester United in a thriller at Emirates Stadium. The game was watched by who-is-who in world football including former United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and so on.
The all-important win against Manchester United, who by the way is the only team to have beaten Arsenal this season at Old Trafford, Arsenal are now unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League games – winning 11 and drawing two. This is their longest unbeaten streak in the competition since December 2018 (14 games) in all.
At the end of the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told BBC Sport: “I really enjoyed it. It was a beautiful moment at the end, and we get going with our people behind us. It was beautiful.”
On Eddie Nketiah’s winner: “I wasn’t sure; they were looking at something we hadn’t seen and we very relieved. We got to celebrate twice. We showed a lot of emotional control – being 1-0 down to Manchester United is very tricky. They will kill you in big distances, but we came back into the game. We stayed focused and I love this personality the players showed. We found the opening to win the game.
“They do surprise me with how they react. We encourage them to play free-flowing football and there is energy in the team and good things happen. To do it repeatedly against big teams, the way we played today, gives me a lot of positivity for the future. It is so tight now in the league, there are such small margins. Winning, losing, or drawing, you have to be conscious of that. If we can capitalise on the energy, it will be positive.”
In his own reaction, Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag who also spoke speaking to Sky Sports said, “Two games back-to-back have been really close. It’s hard to accept when you lose in the last stage of the game. We made mistakes with all three goals. Normally we are better in such situations. It can’t happen.”
Under too much pressure for the third goal? “No. It’s tough, that’s clear. We’ve had a lot of games that they didn’t have, then they come here and are at home. We had moments on the break, but we have to defend much better in that situation. We started the game very well, scored, are leading and then make so many mistakes that are actually unacceptable. We have to learn the lesson and move on.
“The two first goals start with a corner, and we make so many mistakes from the corner to the goal. It can’t happen. It’s a lesson we have to take. We will face the players with this because it can’t happen. Good teams don’t make such mistakes.”
Reality check? “It can be. Today we have to accept it. We are not satisfied with this performance because we can do better. You start well and you have to take benefit from that situation. It can’t happen that you concede like we did. This is one game. Last week we did very well. We kept them away from our box better and when they were in our box, we defended better.”
Progress? “We realise [what needs to improve], as well. I’ve said the same in the dressing room, but I also said that if you want to win, you can’t make the mistakes I just mentioned.”
It is also on record that Manchester United have failed to win any of their last five away games in all competitions against Arsenal, losing four times and conceding at least twice in each defeat (D1). It’s their longest winless run at the Gunners since October 2000 to March 2004 (five games).
