Gunners do just enough for top spot
TO BE brutally honest, it would have taken a monumental effort NOT to beat this current Manchester United team.
To be brutally honest, Arsenal keeper David Raya was more worried about a lightning strike than a United strike.
And to be brutally honest, it was one of Arsenal’s ugliest displays of the season.
But there was serious pressure on them in a game that most saw as a formality.
To a large extent, this was not Arsenal against United, this was Arsenal against themselves, against their own insecurities, against the pressure.
And they passed the test, simple as that; there are no pictures on the scoreboard.
Incisive
It was a bit fraught, it was very workmanlike but the win was all that mattered – and it was a win that was produced by one instance of incisive play.
The bottom line is that for any team to sustain a title challenge, every first team squad member has to contribute.
Yes, the marquee players need to enjoy stellar seasons and the contributions of the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice have been first class.
But the chorus line has to produce quality on a regular basis.
And while it might be a little disrespectful to suggest Kai Havertz – a 24-year-old who has already commanded fees in excess of £125million (€145m) – is a member of the supporting cast, you would not find too many Arsenal fans who believed the German would have such in late-season form.
He was given a free pass by Casemiro, who played Havertz onside with some unforgivably lazy play, but still had to have the presence of mind to perfectly time his run and pass for the assist for Leandro Trossard.
Havertz has now scored or assisted 19 Premier League goals this season and has eight goals and six assists in his last 14 league games.
He has stepped up for Mikel Arteta, which is exactly what Trossard does when called upon.
In truth, their link-up for the goal – even though that goal was facilitated by calamitous United defending – was a rare instance of quality from either side in a low-grade contest.
It did not help that United appeared to have greased the surface and it seemed a job merely for the players to remain upright but, even so, it was poor stuff.
There were a couple of defensive performances to admire – William Saliba was in confident form and Diogo Dalot was prominent for United.
Ropey
To everyone’s surprise, Sofyan Amrabat put in a decent performance but, generally, it was a ropey watch.
It took the home side almost 70 minutes to have an attempt on target and that was a spot of simple catching practice for Raya.
But, of course, the quality did not matter to Arsenal – the result was all that mattered.
Still, it must have been a little frustrating for Arsenal supporters to watch their team not get on the front foot against a United team that could kindly be described as very limited.
There was still a good quarter of an hour left when substitute Gabriel Martinelli was taking the ball towards the corner flag.
But he was excused by those fans – because the win was all that mattered.
Arsenal have taken the title race to the wire … and their unsung players deserve credit for that.