Jose Mourinho was impressed with Jesse Lingard's team ethic in Manchester United’s 3-1 win at Arsenal.
Lingard struck in each half as United won their fourth straight Premier League game and closed the gap on leaders Manchester City despite a late red card for French midfielder Paul Pogba.
"He played well," United boss Mourinho said.
"He did what the team needed him to do, defensively and also in terms of going into finishing areas.
"We worked pre-season well and hard about playing sometimes with three at the back, sometimes four.
"When we play with two strikers we need people from the midfield that can arrive in finishing situations and that's what Jesse did for us."
Defeat for Arsenal ended their 12-game winning run at home in the league and was the Gunners' fifth in 15 league matches this season.
The loss was largely self-inflicted as mistakes from Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi proved costly in the opening 11 minutes before David De Gea made a series of fine saves to frustrate the hosts.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech told the club's official website: "The game was decided at the start with our two mistakes and they scored.
"We need to make sure that when we create chances in a big game we score and don't make mistakes.
"There are not many times you play United and you dominate the whole game, having so many chances, so this is positive, but we are disappointed."