Arsenal beat United to move to 4th spot on the log

 

Granit Xhaka celebrates after his screamer beat David De Gea in the United goal on Saturday. Arsenal won 3-1 to leapfrog Spurs in fourth place. (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

Arsenal regained the top four advantage over Tottenham and Manchester United with a 3-1 success over the Red Devils at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners had slipped to sixth on the table and were in dire danger of missing out on the top four or even the top six altogether after three consecutive losses to Crystal Palace, Brighton, and Southampton, but the win over Chelsea in midweek restored some beliefs in the squad.

Manchester United went into the lunchtime kickoff against Arsenal on the back of a 4-0 humbling at Anfield and needed to beat Arsenal to throw the race open again but it fell apart for Ralf Rangnick's side as early as the second minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo returned after missing the mauling against Liverpool due to the loss of his son and as it was done at Anfield, the Emirates Stadium paid tribute to the Portuguese in the 7th minute, although the visitors were already behind to a Nuno Tavares strike.

Alex Telles misjudged a cross from the left and it handed Bukayo Saka a chance to score from the right, David De Gea tipped it to the path of the Portuguese left-back, he reacted faster than the United defense and tapped into an empty net. It was his first goal in an Arsenal shirt for the 20-year-old.

Arsenal continued to dominate the affair and got a second on the hour mark. Eddy Nketiah thought he had scored the second but a VAR review revealed a tiny offside, however in the build-up, Bukayo Saka was hacked down by Telles, referee Craig Pawson pointed to the spot for Saka to score from the spot.

United struck back almost immediately. Ronaldo moved brilliantly to divert a tidy Nemanja Matic's cross past Aaron Ramsdale, it was his 100th premier league goal, coming eighteen years after his first for the Manchester club.

The second half saw a different Manchester United side. They chased the game and had two big chances to claw things back; Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty after Tavares handled in the area and Diogo Dalot crashed an effort off the crossbar for the second time in the game.

Arsenal got the third that killed the game off when Granit Xhaka sent a screamer beyond De Gea, it was Arsenal’s seventh goal in two games, having managed just one in the three previous games before the visit to Stamford Bridge.

Tottenham were held to a goalless draw by Brentford, handing Arsenal a two-point lead in the race for the top four. It looks like it’s over for United, they sit six points behind Arsenal and have played one game more than the Gunners.