Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal: 5 Talking Points

Manchester United v Arsenal - Premier League
Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho greeted Arsene Wenger on the touchline prior to kickoff

#2 Arsenal only looked to play on the counter-attack

Aubameyang
Aubameyang struggled at times as the lone striker in United's half

Despite such an inexperienced starting lineup, Arsenal played with a disciplined approach at the back. They were pretty sturdy with two banks playing a 4-5-1 off the ball as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played up top as a lone striker.

Their only attacks came through the pace of Hector Bellerin on the right flank and Reiss Nelson on the left. Henrikh Mkhitaryan made a few good runs through the middle to get involved but he was dealt with quite easily by Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic in the first half.

The Gunners' main outlet was out wide but Hector Bellerin's crosses were not the best while Nelson was never in synch with Aubameyang's movements. On the rare occasions that they did get opportunities on goal, David De Gea had them very well covered.

However, the Spanish shot-stopper could do nothing about Henrikh Mkhitaryan's goal which came against the run of play after Arsenal had won the ball back in midfield and United had lost their shape.

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Edited by Rohith Nair
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