Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United : Five Talking Points

Moyes manages to rekindle an old flame

For the first time in a really long time, United looked solid at the back as they notched up only their third away clean sheet all season. The lack of defensive solidity had often been their downfall this season and for the first time they took a safety-first approach and were hard to beat.

Unlike their other matches thus far, they were compact in defense and much was the result of the reuniting of an old flame in Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand in the center of defense. The familiarity at the back, was more than sufficient as that halted their ability to self-destruct, which was their undoing on many occasions already this season.

The defensive solidity meant that there was a strong foundation from which to launch counterattacks. And it almost worked when Van Persie combined with Wayne Rooney, only for Wojciech Szczesny to tip the header on to post.