Manchester United sit two points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League, with the added cushion of a game in hand, following a hard-fought 1–0 win over Arsenal in front of 75,227 fans at Old Trafford on Monday.
The hero of the hour was Ji-Sung Park who scored the winner in the 41st minute. For several years, the South Korean international was essentially a squad player and rarely played a full 90 minutes.
Times have changed however, as Park was not only in the starting line-up for United’s biggest match of the season so far, but he stayed on the pitch for the entire 94 minutes, with his work rate still as high in the last minute as it was in the first.
“The game plan was to stifle the midfield and to make sure we got possession of the ball in there. We did that well in the first half,” said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on www.manutd.com. “We played very well and maybe we should have been further in front.”
“Manchester United defended very well,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on www.arsenal.com. “Manchester United played a very simple game, but they were efficient at it because they scored a goal and we didn’t create enough chances.”
After a quarter of an hour it was Arsenal that was looking the more composed and managing to string more passes together. The Londoners’ first chance came when Marouane Chamakh cut across Nemanja Vidic and his diving header brought Edwin Van der Sar into the game; but it was a comfortable enough stop for the United keeper.
In fact it was United, who invariably looked more dangerous in the final third, particularly when Nani had the ball at his feet. The Portuguese international’s free kick from 35 yards out gave Arsenal debutant goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny his first test, but the shot was straight at him.
Neither set of players seemed inclined to venture too far out of position for fear of being caught on the break, but someone needed to take a chance if the deadlock was to be broken. Then, just under five minutes before half-time came the match defining moment.
Nani was again the instigator as he angled inside from the right wing. His cross took a deflection, which took the ball onto Park’s head and into the Arsenal net via Szczesny’s right-hand upright. Park did very well to make meaningful contact on the deflected cross.
The hero of the hour was Ji-Sung Park who scored the winner in the 41st minute. For several years, the South Korean international was essentially a squad player and rarely played a full 90 minutes.
Times have changed however, as Park was not only in the starting line-up for United’s biggest match of the season so far, but he stayed on the pitch for the entire 94 minutes, with his work rate still as high in the last minute as it was in the first.
“The game plan was to stifle the midfield and to make sure we got possession of the ball in there. We did that well in the first half,” said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on www.manutd.com. “We played very well and maybe we should have been further in front.”
“Manchester United defended very well,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on www.arsenal.com. “Manchester United played a very simple game, but they were efficient at it because they scored a goal and we didn’t create enough chances.”
After a quarter of an hour it was Arsenal that was looking the more composed and managing to string more passes together. The Londoners’ first chance came when Marouane Chamakh cut across Nemanja Vidic and his diving header brought Edwin Van der Sar into the game; but it was a comfortable enough stop for the United keeper.
In fact it was United, who invariably looked more dangerous in the final third, particularly when Nani had the ball at his feet. The Portuguese international’s free kick from 35 yards out gave Arsenal debutant goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny his first test, but the shot was straight at him.
Neither set of players seemed inclined to venture too far out of position for fear of being caught on the break, but someone needed to take a chance if the deadlock was to be broken. Then, just under five minutes before half-time came the match defining moment.
Nani was again the instigator as he angled inside from the right wing. His cross took a deflection, which took the ball onto Park’s head and into the Arsenal net via Szczesny’s right-hand upright. Park did very well to make meaningful contact on the deflected cross.
The second half followed a very similar pattern to the first. With Vidic and Rio Ferdinand both fully fit and back together in the center of United’s back line, the defensive frailties that resulted in dropped points earlier in the season were no more, and Arsenal struggled to fashion clear-cut opportunities.
Indeed, it was United who always looked more likely to score when going forward, and Brazilian midfielder Anderson looked certain to extend their lead when fed by Rooney only a few yards out. Coming to his team’s rescue, the 20 year-old Szczesny was quickly off his line to parry the shot to safety.
“In fairness, with the goal we did score, we deserved that. In the second half we had some great opportunities on the counter-attack, we were disappointed [not to make more of that],” Ferguson said.
Arsenal’s best chance came when Samir Nasri showed a touch of magic with a shimmy and shot from the left corner of the area. Van der Sar did well to get down and execute a finger tip save at full stretch. The United keeper got just enough on the ball to make it difficult for the lurking Chamakh and Vidic was able to clear his lines.
The out of sorts England striker Wayne Rooney did have an opportunity to add his name to the score sheet and wrap things up for his side on 73 minutes. Nani took the ball down the right into the box and tangled with Clichy near the byline. The Arsenal defender was adjudged to have handled the ball during the tussle, though television replays suggested it was probably unintentional.
From an Arsenal standpoint justice was done when Rooney blazed his spot kick well over the bar.
Arsenal substitutes Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Theo Walcott were sent on to try and turn things around, but made little impression on United’s solid defense.
Walcott looked like Arsenal’s most dangerous player, serving a couple of effective crosses but no teammate could get on the end of them. Walcott squandered a last gasp chance for the Gunners, firing his volley high and wide in the final minute of stoppage time.
The match was by no means a beautiful display of English football. Both sides were not at their best but Manchester United were more dangerous and they defended extremely well, limiting Arsenal to very few clean chances.
Indeed, it was United who always looked more likely to score when going forward, and Brazilian midfielder Anderson looked certain to extend their lead when fed by Rooney only a few yards out. Coming to his team’s rescue, the 20 year-old Szczesny was quickly off his line to parry the shot to safety.
“In fairness, with the goal we did score, we deserved that. In the second half we had some great opportunities on the counter-attack, we were disappointed [not to make more of that],” Ferguson said.
Arsenal’s best chance came when Samir Nasri showed a touch of magic with a shimmy and shot from the left corner of the area. Van der Sar did well to get down and execute a finger tip save at full stretch. The United keeper got just enough on the ball to make it difficult for the lurking Chamakh and Vidic was able to clear his lines.
The out of sorts England striker Wayne Rooney did have an opportunity to add his name to the score sheet and wrap things up for his side on 73 minutes. Nani took the ball down the right into the box and tangled with Clichy near the byline. The Arsenal defender was adjudged to have handled the ball during the tussle, though television replays suggested it was probably unintentional.
From an Arsenal standpoint justice was done when Rooney blazed his spot kick well over the bar.
Arsenal substitutes Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, and Theo Walcott were sent on to try and turn things around, but made little impression on United’s solid defense.
Walcott looked like Arsenal’s most dangerous player, serving a couple of effective crosses but no teammate could get on the end of them. Walcott squandered a last gasp chance for the Gunners, firing his volley high and wide in the final minute of stoppage time.
The match was by no means a beautiful display of English football. Both sides were not at their best but Manchester United were more dangerous and they defended extremely well, limiting Arsenal to very few clean chances.
Ferguson summed it up best saying, “Arsenal had more of the game in the second half without actually making many chances.”
