For Arsenal, the introductory fixture of the Premier League weekend against Manchester United provided an opportunity to not only get supporting fans off of their back but also to get their season back on track.
The visiting Red Devils' manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently admitted that his side would be playing catch-up until at least the turn of the year due to a congested fixture schedule. Any setbacks, he warned, would see them slip further behind league leaders Chelsea and Liverpool.
Arsenal welcomed back William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre, and Theo Walcott, and the Gunners played in a special kit with a poppy badge sewn onto the middle of their chest to serve as remembrance to those who died during the First World War..
FIRST HALF
Arsenal started the game nervously, as was shown with an early pass back from Mikael Silvestre's weaker right foot that was caught by Manuel Almunia instead of cleared to safety. Manchester United though failed to capitalise on the indirect free-kick inside the penalty area.
The two most successful sides in the history of the Premier League and arguably the greatest entertainers on the English stage played the game at a customary hectic and frenetic pace from whistle to whistle. United even had the ball in the net on the seventh minute but the goal was correctly chalked off as offside.
Manchester united enjoyed the greater share of possession during the first ten minutes but Arsenal's pass and move saw them grow into the game and a few early chances that were poorly cleared by Edwin Van Der Sar allowed Abou Diaby to have a shot on goal when the Dutch glovesman was off his line. Abou's shot though was weak as he was trying to jump back as he struck the ball and could never get the necessary power on the shot to really trouble the United defence.
One of the greater moves of the half arrived when Brazilian midfielder Anderson dominated his midfield counterpart Cesc Fabregas and the ball made way to Portuguese international Cristiano Ronaldo who threaded in Wayne Rooney before the English powerhouse launched a shot into Row Z. The final shot was not deserving of the build up, and it was a motif that was to follow the Red Devils (playing in Blue today), throughout the first half.
Attack-minded Frenchman Samir Nasri opened Arsenal's account on the 22nd minute taking advantage of a set piece. United were defending the zones, not the man, and the ball spilled out to Nasri who struck it hard and took a slight deflection off of Gary Neville and into the net. Manchester United tried to defend the space, instead of the man, and out of the two commodities it is the man who will attack the ball and score, not the space. And so the move highlighted the frailties of zonal marking in the English game.
Despite the goal the visitors remained the more dominant team on the ball and had far more touches than their hosts. Arsenal struggled to keep the ball and showed little drive in closing their men down to retrieve possession, perhaps saving their energy for the latter stages of the game where, if United were still chasing a result, would go at the home side with all guns blazing.
Clichy could have scored an own goal from glancing a header past Manuel Almunia's far post as a result of a dangerous in-swinging Cristiano Ronaldo free kick minutes later, but luckily for the full back a corner kick was the result, and not a goal.
As the half hour marked edged closer Arsenal continued to ride their luck but had an opportune moment to double their lead had it not been for Denilson slowing the counter-attack down with a slow run and Bendtner then bringing the move to a halt by taking the ball into the wide area of the penalty spot.
Arsenal then started attracting the yellow cards. William Gallas for a foul to the right flank of the defensive zone and Bacary Sagna for a pull on Ji Sung Park. The home crowd grew increasingly frustrated with referee Howard Webb though as a perceived knock on Abou Diaby in between the aforementioned bookings was waved as fair play.
The half-time break loomed nearer but instead of keeping possession and seeking to suck the pace of play out of the game Arsenal relinquished the ball and allowed United to attack. Arsenal returned to the dressing room though with their one goal advantage intact.
SECOND HALF
Within two minutes of the restart Arsenal, and Samir Nasri, penetrated United's goal for the second time of the afternoon. It was a vintage Gunners goal as fifteen passes were threaded together before Cesc Fabregas attracted Nemanja Vidic toward him about three foot outside the box and was then able to play through Samir Nasri who shimmied to his right before launching a shot past Van der Sar's right hand. The net bulged and the crowd were in raucous approval for the second time of the game.
Ronaldo had the chance to halve Arsenal's lead within seconds of the restart but his sidefoot was the wrong side of the post by, at most, an inch.
Manchester United's near misses would come back to haunt them though as Wayne Rooney, together with the winking wing wizard, had ample opportunities to get themselves back into the game, but they were squandered. Dimitar Berbatov was deemed to control the ball with his hand but Webb again waved play on, the silky Bulgarian striker then swivelled round to cross the ball into Wayne Rooney but his header was directed straight toward Almunia, instead of either side of him.
Arsenal's goalkeeper had to receive treatment for a knock 22 minutes from full time as Manc midfielder Michael Carrick shinned the Spaniard square on the side of the face while he scooped to collect a loose ball. Carrick was duly cautioned for the effort even though, in truth, he had the right to try and play the ball.
The end to end display of festival football continued to treat the onlookers but United had the bit between their teeth as they constantly probed for a goal so that their travelling support had something to celebrate.
With ten minutes remaining Almunia struggled in goal due to his earlier knock and so Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was brought on to replace the number one as a purely precautionary measure.
Rafael da Silva, in the place of Gary Neville, made some assured clearances and blocks to ensure that Arsenal would not add another to Nasri's brace. The young Brazilian was solid at the back, but was also inter-linking play further up the field. His passing was sometimes questionable, but one wayward long ball was followed up with a perfectly-timed crunching challenge on fellow national Denilson, and Rafael's wall-like presence stifled a potentially dangerous counter.
If there were tired legs on the pitch in the closing stages of the game then they did not want to show themselves as the early pace of the game was maintained up until the final whistle.
Rafael ensured his impressive cameo made the backpages of the newspapers as his stunning strike seconds from the 90th minute mark gave Manchester United a lifeline as Fabianski was beaten and six minutes of added time were shown by the fourth official.
A fantastic bending through ball from Samir Nasri to Nicklas Bendtner could have wrapped up the win in the 95th minute but the big Dane failed to hit the target despite Fabregas running into the centre and begging for a cut back.
Arsenal though held on and a big win in north London could end up being a defining point in both clubs' seasons.
LINE UPS
Arsenal: Almunia - Sagna; Gallas; Silvestre; Clichy - Walcott; Fabregas; Diaby; Denilson; Nasri - Bendtner.
Manchester United: Van der Sar - Neville; Ferdinand; Vidic; Evra - Ronaldo; Carrick; Anderson; Ji Sung Park - Berbatov; Rooney.
