Pep puts Fod down
victory. Arsenal – with 75 per cent of possession – had 15 shots on target, yet only an ingenious assist from Aaron Ramsey enabled Alexandre Lacazette to beat De Gea.
The best goalkeeper in the world? We genuinely don’t see enough of other leagues to make that assertion, but he is clearly the best in this one.
Keeping De Gea out of Real Madrid clutches has been the United board’s greatest achievement in recent transfer market times. This was not just about De Gea (right), though.
It was about a frenetic defensive effort all over the pitch. It was about a commanding show from Pogba until his aberration.
It was about doing what you have to do when coming to places like the Emirates. It was about punishing mistakes.
And boy, did Arsenal make some serious ones, but they still needed punishing.
Laurent Koscielny’s ill-advised chipped, lateral pass still needed intercepting by Antonio Valencia, still needed the exchange of passes with Pogba, still needed the low, drilled finish.
Shkodran Mustafi’s dawdling still needed to be capitalised on by Jesse Lingard, still needed Anthony Martial’s sublime assist and Lingard’s calm conversion.
It was the sort of composed finishing Arsenal lacked until Lacazette gave them genuine hope early in the second half – hope extinguished when Pogba brushed aside Koscielny and plated up a sitter for Lingard. After their clean sheet against Huddersfield in the week, Koscielny had posted a picture on social media of his jersey alongside those of Mustafi and Nacho Monreal. Above the picture, he had just written ‘STOP’. We all know what comes before a fall. Rightly, Arsenal fans appreciated their team’s efforts in as absorbing a game as you are likely to see all season. But the brutal truth is this is the type of result and occasion that probably erases any doubt over the futures of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. They were part of it so they share culpability.
Yet if competing for titles is a motivating factor behind each player’s decision, this was probably the sort of evening that will convince them to seek new challenges.
In a possession sense, in a chance-creating sense, Arsenal were largely dominant.
Yet they were still not quite strong enough, not quite savvy enough, not quite quick enough, not quite good enough.
Mourinho found a way to win a big away game like he used to a good while ago.
He found a way to make sure his United team can put pressure on City next Sunday.
It was a statement result and performance.