Sunday 20 November 2016 09:09, UK
Olivier Giroud came off the bench and scored a late equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw for Arsenal against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Frenchman headed home Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross in the penultimate minute of normal time after Juan Mata had given United a deserved lead midway through the second half.
It was a bitter blow for Jose Mourinho's side, who dominated the game for long periods and restricted Arsenal to just a single shot on target. Here, we round up the top talking points.
Mourinho described his side as the "unluckiest team in the Premier League" in his post-match interview with Sky Sports. He might well have a point. United have had 74 shots to their opponents' 14 in their last three league games at Old Trafford, but somehow they have drawn them all.
The United boss was keen to emphasis his side's "phenomenal" performance, but it was a maddeningly frustrating outcome after such a one-sided encounter. United produced one of their best performances of the season despite a raft of injuries and suspensions, and until the 89th minute it was looking like a statement of intent that could kick-start their season.
United were utterly dominant in the second half and they could easily have been ahead before the break. Mata and Anthony Martial went close, and United had a strong claim for a penalty when Nacho Monreal tangled with the excellent Antonio Valencia shortly before half-time.
United played with intensity. It was only the second time all season they have ran further than their opponents, and the defensive work-rate made a real difference. Arsenal have averaged 14 shots per game this season but they only managed five at Old Trafford. United should have killed the game earlier, but it was typical of their bad luck that Arsenal's only effort on target ended up in the back of the net.
Alexis Sanchez went straight into the Arsenal team despite his injury scare on international duty, but the Chilean looked well short of his best. Instead, it was left to Giroud to come up with the equaliser. The Frenchman only touched the ball 10 times after replacing Mohamed Elneny, but it all came down to that dramatic moment in the 89th minute.
Giroud timed his run perfectly to meet Oxlade-Chamberlain's delivery and his bullet header was unstoppable for David De Gea. "Just when the team needed him most, it was the perfect piece of centre-forward play," said Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp.
The muted celebration hinted at frustration at his lack of playing time, but it is only a few weeks since he came off the bench to inspire Arsenal's 4-1 victory at Sunderland. He has scored with eight of his nine shots on target in the Premier League, and he is proving to be a perfect Plan B following Sanchez's emergence as Wenger's first-choice striker.
"Giroud does ever so well," said Thierry Henry in the Sky Sports studio. "He is saving points for Arsenal again. I don't know if he's going to like doing that job but you need a guy who's going to come off the bench and spark something."
It seemed the writing was on the wall for Mata when Mourinho was named Manchester United boss in the summer. The playmaker was dropped and sold by the Portuguese at Chelsea, and a similar situation appeared to be in the offing when he suffered the ignominy of being subbed after coming off the bench during the Community Shield win over Leicester in August.
Mata, though, has made himself indispensable, impressing both centrally and on the right. He netted United's first goal of the Premier League season against Bournemouth, and his sweeping equaliser against Arsenal was reminiscent of his winner in United's EFL Cup clash with Manchester City last month.
Graeme Souness praised his "fabulous football brain" after the game, but Mourinho will have taken just as much satisfaction from his work-rate. Mata's defensive frailties did for him at Chelsea, but he has worked tirelessly to win over Mourinho this season. Only three players covered more ground at Old Trafford, and Mata also made three tackles and two interceptions.
Wenger picked a defensively-minded central midfield duo of Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny in an effort to shore up the middle of the pitch, but the lack of creativity was striking. Neither player created a single scoring opportunity, and they also struggled to work the ball to the players in front of them.
Coquelin only found Sanchez once in the entire game, while Elneny only managed to pick him out five times. With Mesut Ozil similarly peripheral, this was another game in which Arsenal missed Santi Cazorla's passing ability from the base of midfield.
The Spaniard has been sidelined with an Achilles problem since Arsenal's 6-0 win over Ludogorets last month, and it's a major headache for Wenger. Cazorla is the player who makes the Gunners tick. This season they have created just 8.4 chances per game without him in the team compared to 11.9 with him. They need him back as soon as possible.
Arsenal left as the happier side but this was a grimly familiar performance from Wenger's men. Once again they appeared to freeze at Old Trafford, the scene of so many disappointing results in recent years. They never looked like winning the game, and there was barely any attacking intent in the second half before Giroud's late leveller.
Against a makeshift back four, should Arsenal not have gone for the jugular? "They will be going back down south really happy with themselves because they've dug out a result scoring in the last couple of minutes, but they didn't put a marker down," said Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness.
"They haven't turned up at one of the big stadiums, one of their biggest historical rivals and said: 'We're the team in form, you're not, and we're going to show you how good we are.' They didn't do that today. They'll think it's a good point but I was looking for them to come here today and show how good they were."
