EYEWITNESS: Richard Osley's view on Arsenal 1 Manchester United 3
ARSENAL 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 3
EYEWITNESS report from THE EMIRATES STADIUM
by RICHARD OSLEY
FROM the surprisingly timid sound levels inside the Emirates Stadium at kick off, you would think it was a bit of a Sunday afternoon chore to turn out to watch these two big names lock horns once again, rather than the mouth-watering treat it was once regarded as. In the Keane vs Vieira days, this fixture used to generate such a deafening noise from the stands. Today, the buzz was missing from the off and it's hard to explain why. Amid the stony silence, the only time the fans in the lower tier seemed to open their mouths seemed to be when they were either moaning or mocking Sir Alex Ferguson.
And, by and large, you get what you cheer for.
The players responded to the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd with a lacklustre display in which a limp resistance to Wayne Rooney and Nani was steadily broken down by the visitors and the Gunners were duly put to the sword.
Arsenal fans won't need reminding of the massacre but Nani opened the scoring by buying space with a clever trick to deceive Gael Clichy adn Denilson and turning his cross into an artistic lob. Manuel Almunia threw a paw at it but could only help it into the far corner. Before Arsenal could really catch breath, Rooney scored on the break and then Ji-Sung Park did the same on the other side of half-time. Thomas Vermealan's deflected volley late on was Arsenal's only real reply.
It said a lot that Andrei Arshavin waited until the 86th minute to give the young United defender Rafael the run around, spinning away from him effortlessly. He should have done that much more in a game the Gunners should have prioritised as a must win. This after all was United without Ferdinand and Vidic. Their deputies should have been given a greater test in such a pivotal fixture.
In a panic over the catastrophic scoreline, Arsenal created more chances in the last ten minutes of the match than they did for the previous 80 minutes. In those sleepy, silent 80 minutes only Gallas, Fabregas, Song and Vermealan could claim any credit. In contrast, Rosicky, Clichy and Sagna put in awful shifts an Almunia once again looked suspect when put under pressure. With their electric counter attacks, United might have scored several more.
This time next week and Arsenal's campaign may be already over. An away match at Chelsea and defeat would almost certainly leave the Gunners with too much ground to make up. If they play like they did today, so devoid of ideas and, in some areas, effort, Chelsea could deliver a hiding. And all this just a couple of weeks after Arsenal hit the top of the table for a couple of nights with a midweek win over Bolton. The summit suddenly looks a long way off.
ARSENAL: Almunia, Sagna, Clichy, Vermaelen, Gallas, Song, Denilson, Rosicky, Nasri, Fabregas (c), Arshavin.
Subs: Walcott, Ramsey, Silvestre, Fabianski, Eboue, Traore, Bendtner
MANCHESTER UNITED: Van der Sar, Evra (c), Rafael, Brown, Evans, Park, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Scholes, Rooney
Subs: Owen, Berbatov, Giggs, Valencia, Gibson, Kuszczak, De Laet