One set piece proves key as Manchester United close the gap on Arsenal

Arsene Wenger

Arsenal’s Premier League lead has been cut to two points following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford this afternoon. In a game of few chances, Robin van Persie secured the points with a first half headed from a Wayne Rooney corner. Arsenal tried to turn the screw, but came up with few ideas going forward as United defended doggedly.

Key Stats

Arsenal had more shots than their opponents but the stats are fairly even, as is to be expected from a game settled by one set piece. Arsenal had more possession, but a lot of this was in front of the Manchester United defence in areas in which the home side were comfortable.

Performance Score Over Time

Even before the goal Arsenal had started the slower of the two sides, and it took them until the second half to consistently score a positive Squawka Performance Score. Arsenal improved in the second half – following their sluggish start – but didn’t improve enough to make their superiority in possession count.

Man of the Match

Arsenal’s returning captain Thomas Vermaelen came in for the unwell Per Mertesacker, and performed well. Arsenal’s defence was not hugely troubled aside from the goal, and Vermaelen made 11 clearances over the course of the game. He also made 91% of his passes, as Arsenal’s central defensive partnership saw a lot of the ball around the halfway line as United sat back and defended.

Key Observations

United experienced first half success by pressing Arsenal’s midfield into mistakes. Pushing high up the pitch, United minimised the time on the ball afforded to the likes of Arteta and Flamini. United couldn’t sustain this into the second half, and had Arsenal held out until half time then it could have been a different match, but by the second half United had a lead to defend and sat deep to see it out.

This is encapsulated by comparing the action areas maps of Phil Jones and Tom Cleverley. Jones played alongside Michael Carrick in midfield in the first half, before dropping back to replace Nemanja Vidic in defence for the second half. Jones harried Arsenal’s midfield, and bullied them at times with his physicality. His action areas were far more advanced than Cleverly’s and, whilst this is to be expected given that Arsenal were chasing the game, shows the extent to which Jones exerted his influence on midfield areas.

The pressing game of United in the first half meant that Arsenal struggled to get the ball into forward areas. They were forced to go slightly longer than they would like, due to the lack of time on the ball, which meant that they left Olivier Giroud isolated and lost the ball more often than usual. The map below shows misplaced Arsenal passes in the first half alone, and unusually shows almost as many from normally safe areas of defence and midfield as from attacking areas.

United struggled to sustain their play high up the pitch in the second half, but made up for it with a solid defensive display. Over the course of the match they made 58 clearances as they stood up to Arsenal’s attacking threat. In the second half United defended their 18 yard box, but allowed Arsenal to have the ball in areas in which they couldn’t harm the home team. Consequently, Laurent Koscielny saw more of the ball than any other Arsenal player, and Arsenal were often reduced to putting balls into the box from wide and deep.