3 Crucial factors which contributed towards Arsenal's 2-0 victory over United

#3 United conceded a soft penalty and did not have enough attacking players on the bench

Pierre-Emerick Aubemyang

Just as United continued trying hard for an equalizer in the second half, they ended up conceding a soft penalty in the 68th minute. Fred tipped Lacazette from behind inside United’s penalty box, and the referee pointed to the spot.

It was an unnecessary and clumsy challenge, as Lacazette was not even in a goal-scoring position. Aubameyang made no mistake in scoring his 20th goals of the season from the penalty spot. That goal destroyed United’s morale, and they gave up all hopes of staging a comeback.

Ashley Young and Matic some good long balls to the forwards, but the latter could not put them to good use. Rashford and Dalot were very ordinary last night, and the latter had to be replaced by Anthony Martial in the second half. However, Martial did not seem to be fully fit, and could make no significant contribution.

Several United players were out with injuries, and Solskjaer did not have any experienced forward left in the bench to replace Rashford. Young Mason Greenwood had to be introduced in the 80th minute, as Matic was taken off. However, United midfielders kept playing a lot of miss-timed passes and conceding possession easily, as heavy rain kept lashing the pitch of the Emirates stadium.

It was only a matter of time before the final whistle was blown, and Arsenal collected 3 valuable points.