GUNNERS FIRING FOR ARTETA
Pepe sparks first win as new boss outwits lacklustre United side
The street traders off the holloway Road seemed to be stretching a point as they punted unofficial merchandise in honour of Mikel Arteta.
Slogans on the scarves and flags declared ‘return of a legend’ and while Arteta made a solid and professional contribution during five years when Arsenal won the FA Cup twice, he resides a long way down the club’s list of greatest players.
his return as head coach, however, does offer scope to carve his name into history because the red-and-white side of north London has been in desperate need of inspiration in recent years.
Last night Arsenal wore the look of a team who might be rising to the challenge, performing with purpose and intensity during the first half and showing the guts to resist when they faded and Manchester United forced them to defend in the second.
The home crowd reacted by ditching their penchant for a quick getaway and stuck around until the end to offer vocal support as Arteta celebrated his first victory, courtesy of first- half goals by Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis.
It stopped a run of four home defeats and reversed an alarming slide towards the Premier League relegation zone.
Of course, this is only one game and there is serious work ahead for Arteta but here was muchneeded relief and something to build on.
For United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, even in the midst of the mitigating circumstances of the festive fixture chaos, it felt like a missed opportunity on a day when Chelsea, Tottenham and Wolves dropped points in the scramble for the top four.
United were insipid in the first half and lacked penetration when they improved after the interval.
It is hard to imagine how, at the start of this century, this fixture represented the most fearsome rivalry in english football — when the two famous clubs were fronted by genuine legends and the upper hand might hold the key to the title. At the start of a new decade, it is a europa League six-pointer at best and more fuel to a burning debate about where it is all going wrong.
United rolled into London without Paul Pogba or Scott McTominay and a central midfield of Fred and Nemanja Matic did not get to grips with Arsenal until it was too late.
The visitors were first to threaten, testing Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno after his costly error on his previous outing against Chelsea. Leno responded confidently with an early save from Marcus Rashford and a firm punch to clear a swerving free-kick.
Arteta had strengthened his back four with Sokratis and Sead Kolasinac fit after injuries and they made vital contributions in attack.
Kolasinac created the first goal, charging on an overlapping run to collect a pass from Mesut Ozil. his low cross clipped Victor Lindelof and rolled kindly towards Pepe who cut in from the right and swept the ball into the net with his left foot.
Pepe, recalled in favour of Reiss Nelson, continued to sparkle, wriggling past Lukeuke Shaw and picking out Pierreemerick Pierreyang Aubameyang who fired only narrowly arn over with an acrobatic volley.
Alex Lacazette fluffed his finish after showing great strength and control to turn past harry Maguire.
Lucas Torreiraa crashed anotherer effort narrowly wideide and Pepe seized on a poor kick by David de Gea and beat the Unitedited goalkeeper goal with a curler from 25 yards only to see the ball strike the foot of a post and rebound to safety.
Arsenal were wary, they had produced a similarly impressive, high-energy start against Chelsea on Sunday only to collapse, leak two goals late on and lose.
This time they needed the comfort of a second goal while they were in control and it came three minutes before half-time as just reward for their dominance.
A corner was flicked on at the near post by Lacazette and parried by De Gea but he could only push it down, towards Sokratis who wwhacked the bball gleefully intinto the roof of the net. UnitUnited flickered without conviction. It might have been different had Maguire converted a chance in first-half stoppage time, when he escaped his marker at a free-kick only to head tamely at Leno. Solskjaer’s team generated more pressure and purpose in the second half but Leno stood firm when his well-organised defensive unit was pierced. he made a reflex save from a cross by Dan James deflected by Kolasinac and then to deny Fred from long range. Andreas Pereira slammed an effort into the side-netting but Arsenal bonded and took pride in keeping a clean sheet, which must go down as an early success in Arteta’s attempt to tackle the big issue of the team’s attitude towards defending.
A small step, maybe, but one in the right direction and encouragement for the future.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 6.5; Maitland-Niles 6.5, Sokratis 7, Luiz 6.5, Kolasinac 7 (Saka 69min, 6); Torreira 7, Xhaka 7; Pepe 7.5 (Nelson 62, 6), Ozil 7.5, Aubameyang 6.5; LACAZETTE 8 (Guendouzi 82). Subs not used: Martinez, Holding, Willock, Ceballos. Scorers: Pepe 8, Sokratis 42. Booked: Kolasinac, Saka.
Manager: Mikel Arteta 7. MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 5; Wan-Bissaka 6, Lindelof 6, Maguire 5, Shaw 5; Fred 6, Matic 6 (Mata 81); James 6 (Greenwood 58, 6), Lingard 5 (Pereira 58, 6), Rashford 6; Martial 5.
Subs not used: Romero, Jones, Williams, Young.
Manager: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 6. Referee: Chris Kavanagh 6.
Attendance: 60,328.