Arsenal sink United, Reds held
ARSENAL are back in the hunt to qualify for the Champions League after Arsene Wenger finally got the better of Jose Mourinho in a 2-0 win over Manchester United, while Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton yesterday.
Wenger had failed to win any of his previous 14 competitive clashes against Mourinho dating back to 2004, with his only victory over his old rival coming in the 2015 Community Shield, when the Portuguese coach was in charge of Chelsea.
The Gunners boss brought an end to that frustrating streak at just the right time as goals from Granit Xhaka and Danny Welbeck improved Arsenal’s chances of salvaging a troubled season by finishing in the top four.
Sixth-placed Arsenal are now six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City with four games to play, while Pep Guardiola’s side have only three matches remaining.
Fifth-placed United remain four points behind City with three games left.
With Mourinho prioritising the Europa League semifinal second leg against Celta Vigo in midweek, United, who hold a 1-0 first leg lead, fielded a much-changed side in north London.
United can qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League, and they may well need to do exactly that after surrendering their 25-match unbeaten run in the Premier League.
The Gunners’ only route back into Europe’s elite club competition is via a top-four finish, so it was not surprising that they played with more hunger than United.
Even so, they still needed a stroke of luck to open the scoring in the 54th minute.
Xhaka blasted a long-range strike that slammed into the back of United midfielder Ander Herrera, looping high in the air before dropping into the net just out of the reach of goalkeeper David de Gea.
Infamously labelled “a voyeur” and “a specialist in failure” by Mourinho in the past, this was a sweet moment for Wenger, but it will not mean much unless Arsenal find a way to catch City.
At Anfield, Liverpool’s James Milner saw his penalty saved by Fraser Forster.
It was Milner’s first missed penalty since November 2009, when he was playing for Aston Villa against Bolton, and it summed up the feeling that this would not be Liverpool’s day.