Manchester United and Arsenal played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in Sundaya s Premier League game, giving the Gunners the chance to at least finish in 3rd place.
First Half
The first half started off brightly, with Manchester United making most of the opportunities and Arsenal being unusually poor. All the action seemed to be happening only in the Arsenal half and United certainly had the gunners on the back foot. There were some early chances that fell Uniteda s way that they could not make the most of, especially to Falaco, Mata and Smalling, who were all guilty of converting them. However, there was no danger that Arsenal would break and counter attack as United were on top of the opposition, not letting them play their short passing game.
The breakthrough finally came in the 30th minute, when Ander Herrera managed to find some space in the box and slotted the ball into the bottom corner, comprehensively beating goalkeeper David Ospina. The lead was well-deserved for Manchester United, especially they played in the first half. On the evidence of the first 45 minutes, it seemed like Arsenal were going to throw this away once again, and may even have to settle for a 4th place finish.
Second Half
The second half started in pretty much the same fashion, with Manchester United in the front foot, and the home side almost scored from a Valencia cross that was cleared away. There was another chance created for United when Mata produced some good football with a combination of 1-2s that found Ashley Young, but he was unable to convert the chance. Arsenal finally started to get into the game after that, when a good pass put Ramsey through on goal. He managed to beat De Gea, but Rojo was there to make the clearance and deny the Gunners an equalizer.
However, things changed for United after De Gea picked up a knock and had to be subbed off. In came Victor Valdes as his replacement, and this was his chance to show that he can be as good as De Gea. Unfortunately for him, his debut did not go off well, because almost immediately after his coming on to the field, a Walcott cross found Blackett, who turned it into his own goal and gift the equalizer for the gunners. United still had a chance to take all 3 points when Van Persie had a shot on goal, but he skied the volley and could not get it on target.
With the match finishing in a draw, Arsenal still have a chance to finish 3rd, having a game in hand. If Southampton can do them a favour in the final weekend and beat Manchester City and they manage to win both their games, Arsenal can even finish 2nd, which would show great progress for the team.
