Manchester United vs Arsenal result: Gunners win underwhelming battle against worryingly volatile hosts

Arsenal win away from home against a member of the top six for the first time in more than five years, but does that count for much when this is the standard? 

Mikel Arteta will return to London pleased to have taken three points from a poor game and edged past an off-colour Manchester United thanks to Paul Pogba’s clumsy foul on Hector Bellerin and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half penalty.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, meanwhile, should be more than a little concerned with the sheer volatility of United’s season. After the brilliant midweek win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League, his side’s performance was a mirror image of that display, lacking all of the fury and intensity that Solskjaer’s change to a diamond shape in midfield had appeared to bring.

Pogba’s performance was in sharp contrast with that from Wednesday night. A driving and dominant force from midfield against Leipzig, he was instead ponderous and lethargic here, no more so than for his careless and ultimately decisive challenge on Bellerin. That moment – marking the fifth spot-kick United have conceded in their last seven games – means United have now taken just one point from their opening four home matches at Old Trafford this season, failing to win at least one of them for the first time since 1972/73. 

They finished 18th that year and were relegated the following season, you may recall. Of course, the modern-day United are all but insulated from such a fate in the era of super clubs, but the table does not make for pretty reading. Solskjaer’s side remain 15th after seven games and are suffering from a wild inconsistency in their results, veering from famous European wins to dour, lifeless domestic displays.

Arsenal were not at their best themselves but did not need to be and just about deserved their win. Even in the goalless first half, the few moments of quality were theirs. Arteta’s side enjoyed a lot of patient, promising build-up play but registered just three shots on David de Gea’s goal plus several near misses. Bellerin’s crossing from the right would prove particularly threatening, but Aubameyang failed to connect with the right-back’s most dangerous delivery, a low pass which skimmed across the face of goal. 

Aubameyang – stationed out on the left wing rather than centrally – did better with another Bellerin cross towards the end of the half, controlling and playing the ball back across goal. Alexandre Lacazette swung his right boot with relish but, in comical fashion, found only thin air. Victor Lindelof’s ever-so-slight touch on the ball had diverted it out of his path and prevented an almost certain goal.

Lindelof was in trouble a minute later when pressed close to his own penalty area and a one-two between Aubameyang and Willian saw the latter bounce a shot off the top of the crossbar. Bukayo Saka then cleared the same woodwork at the very end of the half after rising unchallenged to meet another Bellerin cross but heading over. Arsenal were misfiring, when they were firing at all, but at least Arteta could claim that they were clearly the better side.

United’s one moment of note was a sublime Marcus Rashford pass in behind that resulted in Mason Greenwood forcing a save out of Bernd Leno. Other than that, they were toothless. The diamond that had worked so well against Leipzig looked more like the world’s largest cubic zirconia. Fred looked uncomfortable as the deepest of the four central midfielders, Scott McTominay struggled with the ball and Bruno Fernandes did not offer the discipline and late runs into the box of Donny van de Beek.

United posed more of a threat when the two sides re-emerged, if only through Harry Maguire twice heading wide from set-pieces, but the standard remained pitifully low. Few players were struggling as much as Pogba, making his second start in the space of four days. Solskjaer spoke of the need to rest the midfielder during his three-game run on the substitutes’ bench. The careless foul on Bellerin to concede the penalty was one of a fatigued player.

It was also the third penalty that Pogba has conceded since football’s restart in June, all at Old Trafford, all against London clubs, all of them examples of questionable decision-making. This was not as comically poor as the foul on Ben Davies against Tottenham, but there was no immediate need to try and win the ball back from Bellerin. Aubameyang ensured that it would be punished, firing low into the right-hand corner and sending De Gea in the opposite direction.

Solskjaer finally made an attacking change – two of them in fact. Edinson Cavani and Van de Beek were introduced. Pogba, somehow, was spared. Arsenal rode their luck in the final stages. Gabriel Magalhaes was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card and Mohamed Elneny breathed a sigh of relief when his deflection of a Donny van de Beek cross hit the upright, but the story of the closing stages was the story of the game at large, with United not possessing enough quality to break Arsenal down.