United stun Arsenal
MANCHESTER: Teenage forward Marcus Rashford’s dream start to life at Manchester United continued yesterday as he scored two goals in his team’s 3-2 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford. The win represented Louis van Gaal’s third victory, in three competitions, over the past six days, but more significantly, damaged Arsene Wenger’s hopes of winning Arsenal’s first league title in 12 years. The 18-year-old forward, who scored twice in the mid-week Europa League victory over FC Midtjylland, was on the mark again in an astonishing first half in which he beat Petr Cech on two occasions.
To make his impact all the more stunning, the goals came within three minutes of each other as United delivered a serious blow to Wenger’s aim of narrowing the five-point advantage that leaders Leicester City held before kick-off. After 29 minutes, Ander Herrera started a move with a telling tackle on Theo Walcott, sparking a counter-attack that ended with Guillermo Varela crossing from the right and Gabriel hacking a poor clearance directly to Rashford.The teenager did the rest with a composed finish from a dozen yards, the first shot of his Premier League career resulting in his first goal.
Arsenal’s poor defending was badly exposed in that attack and worse was to follow from the next serious foray into their territory with Varela again influential, making an important header that kept the ball in play. Jesse Lingard received the ball and picked out Rashford, who had again slipped his marker Gabriel, and the youngster planted a perfect header past the diving Cech. Wenger looked stunned on the Arsenal bench, a mood reflected by his players, although his side were able to pull an important goal back before the interval, predictably through the former United striker Danny Welbeck. Mesut Ozil was the architect with an inch-perfect free-kick from midway inside the United half and Welbeck, who eluded his marker Marcos Rojo too easily, guided a header past David de Gea from 10 yards.
The goals were the highlight of a thrilling first half in which Nacho Monreal should have given the visitors the lead after just seven minutes when he chased Ozil’s through-ball into the area and was denied well by De Gea. Rashford won a free-kick inches outside the area after a trip by Gabriel, with Memphis Depay’s low set-piece being well held by Cech, while Alexis Sanchez replied for Arsenal with a snapshot that flew narrowly wide.The entertainment continued after the restart as United sought to continue a remarkable run of close to 250 Premier League home games in which they have led at half-time and not lost.