Arsenal v Manchester United result: Mikel Arteta makes a statement as slick Gunners earn big win

Every tackle, every successful pressing action and every block from Arsenal drew applause and a standing ovation at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta made his first major statement as manager with a 2-0 victory over Manchester United.

The late defeat last time out to Chelsea had been “cruel” on the new man in the dugout after such a promising display, but the definitive way they bettered Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men was the perfect tonic.

In the build-up to Wednesday’s showdown, Arteta signalled Arsenal’s intention to remain an aggressive, front-foot side. To “defend all the time” would not an option and so his team selection revealed massive cojones against a side whose power source stems from the counter-attack.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Nicolas Pepe were stacked into the XI and it was the latter that first speared United. The hosts had found themselves on the back foot three times, but fantastic work down the left flank from Sead Kolasinac was side-footed in by the £72 million man.

Pepe was a conundrum Luke Shaw couldn’t crack throughout the first half as he persistently and efficiently toyed with the fullback. It was the kind of dynamism Arteta will expect of the winger consistently and he was unlucky not to have another goal, curling a shot onto the base of the post after David de Gea directed a clearance to Lacazette that fell for him.

Arsenal could have been in the distance by that point, their offensive might encouraged by United’s laboured midfield and passive defending.

Lacazette and Torreira both had efforts to double the advantage before Pepe was denied by the woodwork, but Sokratis then blasted in a flick-on from Ozil’s inswinging corner.

It was 2-0 to Arsenal at half-time, a scoreline that spared Solskjaer’s side greater embarrassment. They were overrun and outclassed, unable to effect any short passing game or ignite trademark breaks.

Paul Pogba’s absence here was big news pre-match with United’s manager revealing “he’s feeling some discomfort in his ankle and he’ll be out for a few weeks, definitely.” But it was the energy and bite of Scott McTominay, another on the injury list, that the visitors missed in the centre of the park.

Harry Maguire, meanwhile, would do well not to type his name into Twitter’s search bar. Remembering he is an £80m centre-back, who is meant to be one of the reference points of this United team would be a good New Year’s resolution.

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Solskjaer’s charges had plenty of the ball as they chased the encounter in the second half, but lacked the invention to properly put Arsenal under pressure.

Arteta will have noted the declining levels of intensity from his players again, which will require work over time, but there was no depreciation in their desire to dig in.

Arsenal had an overflow of fight and had they been more composed on the break, a ballooned scoreline in their favour would have followed.

The amplified noise and obvious pride from the home support inside the Emirates spoke volumes.

There is bucket loads of work for Arteta to do, but the early signs have been promising and are worth singing about as they celebrated their first league win on their own ground since 6 October.