That’s all from me. Here’s the match report again. Bye!
“Is Arteta going to go all Fergie mind games now, and question the integrity of the Spurs players?” wonders Ben Watson. “Surely he will?” Er, no. Here are his post-match thoughts:
We know the difficulty of it, that’s why we have only won twice in 20 years now. We started well but the goal affected us I think in a negative way. We played too safe and played backwards, there wasn’t progress in our play and we started to give a lot of balls away because of that and the game becomes open. But we defended so well. We are really happy to win. You want to play better, but that’s another step the team has to take, to be even more dominant. The difficulty today was high stakes, so big credit to the boys.
Today we wanted top open that door. Let’s live one of the most beautiful days we’ll have lived together and see what happens. It’s football, there’s always possibilities.
This was not the dismal Manchester United of recent weeks. It was a non-humiliating Manchester United. Even so, here’s Wayne Rooney on their performance:
The team looks so disjointed. They’re a team of strangers. You look around the PL, even teams towards the bottom of the table there’s a togetherness about the teams.
And a bit more Roy Keane:
Arsenal will be sitting in that dresssing-room and they’ll be saying, ‘How easy was that?’ I bet Arsenal can’t believe how bad Man United are.
Here’s David Hytner’s match report:
The television cut-aways to the enclosure that housed the Arsenal supporters perfectly captured the anxiety. It was not supposed to be like this, not against this Manchester United. But the lesser spotter acceptable version of Erik ten Hag’s team was on show, fighting for the badge, and Arsenal were made to suffer.
Leandro Trossard scored their goal midway through the first half after a United defensive malfunction – of course, it was – but the advantage was slender and everybody knew, least of all Mikel Arteta, that it could take only one moment to rub out.
With five minutes to go there was thunder and lightning. Very, very frightening. Arsenal had not exactly made the habit of winning here in recent years, doing so only once in their previous 16 Premier League visits. They desperately needed the points, to answer Manchester City’s victory at Fulham from Saturday, to jump back above them at the top of the table, to make sure that their challenge would go to the final day next Sunday. Arsenal got the job done.
Much more here:
Roy Keane is laying into Manchester United: “I couldn’t believe what I was watching. Terrible quality. Decision making. They seemed to be doing it all wrong. So poor.” Etcetera and so forth.
There was no flood of goals at Old Trafford. There was, in the end, a flood.
Old Trafford ☔️ pic.twitter.com/MyQQYjJsQu
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) May 12, 2024
Leandro Trossard says some words:
We had only one job today and that’s winning. Maybe it wasn’t the prettiest one but in the end it was a good win for us. We were looking for that second goal and if it doesn’t come you know it’s going to be a tough second half, especially here with the atmosphere. But credit to the boys, we defended very well and it was a good win. We’ve done our job today, it’ll be up to the last game and that’s what we were aiming for. It’ll be a nice week now and then hopefully we can celebrate something. We’ve done our job and that’s the only thing we could have done.
“That United team there,” Roy Keane says, shaking his head … and then he shakes his head for a little longer … and a bit longer … “so bad.”
Proper rain, this. I fear quite a few fans would have gone to the ground in summertime, without predicting that they’d have to leave in midwinter.
The Old Trafford waterfall 😳 pic.twitter.com/2Xibzh200l
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 12, 2024
“It’s time for Man United assistant coach Steve McClaren to break out his umbrella, wouldn’t you say?” suggests Peter Oh. Ten Hag should at least known McClaren would have one to hand when the downpour came.
The top of the table looks like this, with Arsenal topping the tree and Manchester City a point behind with a game – at Spurs on Tuesday – in hand.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 37 | 61 | 86 |
| 2 | Man City | 36 | 58 | 85 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 36 | 43 | 78 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 36 | 20 | 67 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 36 | 12 | 63 |
Final score: Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal
90+7 mins: Not a lot. A rubbish Garnacho cross, to be precise. And that’s the end of the game – the title race will go to the final day!
Updated
90+6 mins: Half a minute to play. United have the ball. The crowd roars. What have they got?
90+5 mins: Havertz tries to lead a break, but Kambwala slides in to take the ball and absolutely flatten him in the process.
90+4 mins: Raya is booked for timewasting over the goal kick.
90+3 mins: The rain has heightened a sense of potential chaos around these last few minutes. Garnacho runs to the edge of the area, is nudged at the vital moment by White, and shoots wide.
90+3 mins: Jorginho and Kiwior come on for Partey and Odegaard, as Arsenal try to see out the game with a five-man defence.
90+2 mins: Arsenal haven’t done enough to win this game convincingly, but they’ll be happy enough to win it unconvincingly if that’s what happens. Meanwhile, more thunder, and it’s suddenly pouring.
90+1 mins: There’ll be six minutes of stoppage time, or thereabouts.
90 mins: Garnacho is blocked by Gabriel Jesus, and goes down clutching his face. The referee doesn’t think it’s a foul but has to stop the game because of a potential head injury, and it isn’t one of those either. Drop ball.
89 mins: Close! Rice’s low pass across goal is nudged out of Martinelli’s path by a combination of Eriksen and Onana.
87 mins: Some changes for the home side: Christian Eriksen replaces Amrabat, Omari Forson comes on for Wan-Bissaka, and Ethan Wheatley swaps in for Hojland.
86 mins: The commentators spy some lightning, and as they report that thunder loudly rumbles over the ground. Mainoo is down and getting some treatment.
85 mins: United have the ball on the right, but take an edge sending in a cross and when they do it’s not very good. But Arsenal have everyone back, and the clearance just hands the ball back to United.
83 mins: Another save! And another! Arsenal have a corner, and it comes off Wan-Bissaka and was on its way into the goal before the keeper pushes it away. The ball ends up at the feet of Rice 20 yards out, and he hammers a shot goalwards but Onana turns it round the post.
81 mins: Saka receives treatment off the pitch, then comes back on, then goes back down. That’s his game over, and Gabriel Jesus comes on to replace him.
80 mins: Saka takes on Amrabat but loses the ball, careers off the pitch and ends in the advertising hoardings. United break, and win a corner at the other end, with Saka still off the pitch and looking sore.
79 mins: Save! The best save of the game, in fact, Onana tipping the ball over the bar with his left hand after Martinelli sprints down the left, cuts in, cuts in a little bit more, and then shoots with his right foot.
77 mins: Amrabat gives the ball away to Saka, who promptly gives it away to Mainoo, who sets his team away on a break that ends with Garnacho shooting wide from 12 yards or so.
Updated
75 mins: Jonny Evans goes off, and Willy Kambwala replaces him.
74 mins: Arsenal certainly aren’t playing like champions here. Just over 15 minutes to go, and United are growing in confidence.
72 mins: Antony wins the ball in the centre circle and sets off towards goal. He has passing options left and right but he goes alone, reaches the edge of the area and then basically passes it limply, straight to Raya.
71 mins: The first booking of the game is earned by Bukayo Saka. Arsenal have a corner, take it short, mess around a while, and when Saka is dispossessed by Amrabat his attempts to make amends are a little too enthusiastic.
69 mins: United bring Antony on for Amad.
68 mins: Casemiro doubles United’s shots-on-target stats with a 35-yarder that Raya catches.
66 mins: Substitution! Leandro Trossard leaves the field, and Gabriel Martinelli enters it.
65 mins: Then Arsenal break, Wan-Bissaka slips, and Havertz cleverly touches Trossard’s pass to Odegaard. His shot, though, isn’t good enough to seriously worry Onana.
63 mins: United have the ball and keep it for a bit. Eventually Dalot sends in a bad cross and Arsenal clear, but they’re not keeping the ball well and the home crowd is sounding increasingly heartened.
61 mins: A nice pass from Amad to Garnacho on the left. He slows down, sucks in White and Saka, and then speeds away from them, opening an excellent shooting chance in space on the edge of the area. He very emphatically misses the target.
Updated
58 mins: That’s just a fabulously calm challenge from William Saliba. Garnacho hares down the left and into the area, he takes on Saliba, and at the crucial moment the defender sticks out a foot and cleanly snaffles the ball.
55 mins: The best passing exchange of the half, and it ends with an excellent shooting opportunity for Rice at the edge of the area. His shot hits a defender.
54 mins: Now Amrabat has the ball, lifts his head, assesses his options, and then passes firmly into touch.
52 mins: Arsenal just don’t look too fussed about doing any more scoring. They have the ball in a good position, work it out to Trossard on the left, and in the middle three players jog very slowly towards the penalty area. None of them reach the cross when it comes.
51 mins: Amad has the ball on the right-hand side of the area. He waits for Wan-Bissaka to overlap, and then plays a pass behind him. The crowd howls with frustration.
48 mins: A slightly dodgy couple of minutes from Arsenal, who let Dalot bundle his way into a dangerous position but get away with it because the ball into the box isn’t worrying enough.
46 mins: Peeeeeep! United start the second half.
The players are back out, and Arsenal having a more conventionally-located huddle just outside the centre circle.
So far this game has been a case of the resistible force against the movable object. Arsenal haven’t been great, particularly in attack, but United have still let them score a goal and have done little to suggest they’re likely to get one of their own.
“We are, sadly, in danger of forgetting how good Casemiro was when he first arrived,” writes Adam Roberts. “But that ties into my second point: why does Ten Hag persist with playing so many of his squad out of position? Blood a youngster or experiment (3 man defence?) - we’d learn more. Amrabat doesn’t look awful today - not good, but not awful - when he gets a whole game and isn’t at left back.” There is always a bright side to look on.
Half time: Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal
45+3 mins: A half with hardly any goalmouth action but importantly with a goal, and Arsenal take a precious lead into the break.
45+1 mins: Amad loses the ball, wants a free-kick and is annoyed when he doesn’t get one. It runs to Odegaard, who loses the ball, wants a free-kick and is annoyed when he doesn’t get one.
43 mins: A nice crossfield pass from Amad to Garnacho, whose cross is pushed away from goal by Raya, leading to a few seconds of panic and danger.
41 mins: “My builder has gone away for the weekend and left our electric front gate switched off and wide open, and what’s more he’s taken the tool with him that would have enabled me to shut it manually,” writes Kim Thonger. “I’m absolutely certain that my 5ft tall 61-year-old wife is doing a better job than Casemiro would in preventing our two dachshunds breaking through the last line of defence and slipping out for an evening foraging leftovers in the pub car park up the road.” This is cruel, and Casemiro’s dog-handling skills are unknown, but evidence suggests it’s probably not inaccurate.
39 mins: United win a corner, but it’s not very good and not only is it headed clear but in attempting to influence things McTominay raises a foot and concedes a free kick.
36 mins: An excellent run from Amad, but when he gets to the edge of the area he goes down – Partey was down so early, way before Amad actually got to him, that the United player trod on him and lost his footing. He stays down, holding his knee.
Updated
33 mins: A better spell for United. Arsenal seem to be defending them pretty comfortably, but they have at least had the ball a bit.
31 mins: It’s not been a great opening half-hour for the home side, but Amad Diallo has looked handy whenever he’s got the ball.
29 mins: It’s gone back to the game of the first few minutes, with Arsenal imperious. White bursts into the penalty area and hammers a shot from a wildly acute angle not too far from the far top corner, but far enough.
27 mins: Saka tries to hold off Dalot, who grabs his waistband and hauls him down. Free kick.
Man Utd have set up to defend Casemiro like he's the actual goal. Perhaps Onana should also stand in front of him
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) May 12, 2024
24 mins: Arsenal slice and dice the United defence again, but White’s cross from the byline, with three yellow shirts to aim for, is poor, and drifts out of play.
22 mins: Casemiro has taken a lot of criticism this week, and I don’t want to join in the pile-on, but for 60 seconds or so there he could have played no differently had he actively wanted to assist Arsenal. “For a quick summary of how far Man Utd have fallen you only need to look at the two benches,” writes Richard Hirst. “A fair number of the Arsenal bench would get in the United first XI; the other way round … maybe not.” The United bench does make grisly reading, for sure.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal (Trossard, 20 mins)
Arsenal take the lead! Havertz is played into all sorts of space on the right – played onside by a dawdling Casemiro – then gets to the byline and plays a low ball across goal, where Trossard has got in front of Wan-Bissaka!
Updated
17 mins: United give the ball away twice in their own half, worryingly.
14 mins: Now Dalot goes on a long diagonal run, and wins a corner at the end of it. It’s headed clear.
13 mins: United started the game poorly, but the last 10 minutes or so have been really encouraging. They might not humiliate themselves here.
10 mins: Rice’s backpass is weak, and the crowd roars as Raya momentarily decides not to come for it. But then the keeper has second thoughts, hares out and boots it downfield.
9 mins: So far Arsenal have completely dominated four minutes, and United another four. Perhaps another shift now, as Saka is played down the right and wins a corner.
7 mins: United stay on the front foot. Garnacho has a couple of shots and both are deflected, the first back to a teammate for the move to continue, the second wide of goal.
Updated
5 mins: And suddenly United get a chance! Csaemiro’s through-ball doesn’t quite reach Hojland but as Arsenal try to pass it out of defence McTominay turns up to steal it and it runs back to Hojland, who has a free shot from the edge of the area. He completely fluffs it.
4 mins: The first shot of the day comes from Saka, but is straight at Onana. The ball has barely left the quarter of the pitch closest to United’s goal.
2 mins: A great first minute from Arsenal, which ends with them winning a corner but only because Trossard didn’t anticipate Saka’s cross and get there first.
1 min: Peeeeeep! Arsnel, in luminous yellow kit, kick off.
They’re out, hands have been shaken and preambles completed. A quick huddle – Arsenal are conducting theirs in an unusual location, just to the left of their penalty area – and it’s game on.
The players gather in the tunnel. Football imminent!
“Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. Hello! “I’d be much more concerned about Arsenal’s poor form at Old Trafford if I hadn’t spent all of April seeing Manchester United drive their home fans crazy. Trying and failing to spoon-feed a win to Liverpool, trailing (twice!) against Sheffield United, playing so poorly against Burnley that the 1-1 result can fairly be called an affront to Burnley, not Man U. I expect the Gunners to take decisive steps to address that shrinking goal difference between them and Manchester City.” That is the only sensible conclusion to be drawn from the teams’ recent performances. Football, happily, is still occasionally insensible, though.
Quarter of an hour before kick-off. The pitch empties of players as the players of both sides head in to receive their final instructions.
Talking of Manchester United and FA Cup finals: “45 years ago today (the day I was born), these two teams met in the ‘five-minute final’,” writes Graeme Thorn. “Arsenal will definitely need the same sort of result today, but maybe without all the stress of those last five minutes.”
Further reading:
Silverware ahoy! It’s now 2-0 in that game and with that United should be home and hosed. I saw Tottenham in their semi-final and they were absolutely rubbish, if not quite as rubbish as Leicester, though I am led to believe this was an anomaly.
Manchester United are currently competing in the women’s FA Cup final against Tottenham at Wembley, and have scored an absolute screamer to take the lead:
ELLA TOONE.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) May 12, 2024
Wow.#BBCFootball #WomensFACup pic.twitter.com/bUWadEz2iw
Mikel Arteta has a chat:
It’s always a big challenge [to win here]. A great place to come. We’re obviously playing for something massive and we need to prove that we can come to this stadium and deliver. They have a lot of individual quality and they can turn momentum in any action, and that’s a big quality to have. Today we have to earn the right to go into the last day with the option to win the Premier League. That’s the challenge, but the opportunity is huge. But to be favourites here you have to earn the right over many, many years – we haven’t done that.
The teams!
Team sheets have been submitted, and the names in the frame are these:
Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Casemiro, Evans, Wan-Bissaka, Mainoo, Amrabat, Diallo, McTominay, Garnacho, Hojlund. Subs: Bayindir, Eriksen, Antony, Kambwala, Forson, Collyer, Amass, Ogunneye, Wheatley.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz, Trossard. Subs: Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketiah, Kiwior, Jorginho, Vieira, Zinchenko.
Referee: Paul Tierney.
Red and ready for #MUNARS 👊#MUFC || #PL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 12, 2024
🟡 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠𝙉𝙀𝙒𝙎 🔵
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 12, 2024
Unchanged for the fourth game running.
Let's give it everything we've got, Gunners 👊 pic.twitter.com/2pw6b4zRCY
Preamble
Hello world! It’s a big old game, this one, and it’s one the visitors have to win if this year’s title run-in, which just a few weeks ago was being spoken about as perhaps the best ever, is not to prematurely become a procession. There will be some nerves among their fans, and it’s true, Arsenal do have a dismal record at Old Trafford (last 16 league games: W1, D5, L10). But this Manchester United side are fairly dismal themselves, so that probably shouldn’t be too much of a worry. The Gunners have only lost one league game this calendar year, which suggests they are coping pretty well with the pressures of a title chase even if those three dropped points currently look likely to cost them the pot at the end of it all. Win this, though, and if Tottenham can just do them a favour on Tuesday it’s on again. Meanwhile if United win this they go level (on points, if way behind on goal difference) with Newcastle and Chelsea in sixth/seventh, so could yet rescue a poor season with a non-humiliating league position and, potentially, an FA Cup-shaped bonus. So, yes, it’s a big old game, this one. Welcome!
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST
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