Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PARTEY OVER
Fallen United star’s flicks and tricks don’t impress Keano, who has
AHEAD of this hard-earned Arsenal victory, Roy Keane was in familiar form.
He was talking Paul Pogba and it was not sweet.
Doesn’t do enough, not enough fight, not enough spirit, not good enough to play midfield for Manchester United.
Apart from that …
It was quintessential Keane and, at half-time and full-time, there was plenty more to come. The scattergun was out.
But in the case of Pogba, there was nothing in the 94 minutes to suggest Keane did not have a reasonable argument.
To put it kindly, it was a poor day at the office.
Never mind the concession of the penalty that gave Arsenal their first win at a Big Six rival in over half a decade.
Compare his performance with that of Thomas Partey.
Arsenal’s flagship signing was magnificent, keeping his game magnificently simple.
Pogba was f licks and tricks, complicating issues and flitting in and out of the game.
Perhaps the system did not help but the contrast with Partey ’s game-influencing input was stark.
On this occasion, Partey was the player Pogba should be and has been. No wonder Mikel Arteta was so desperate to secure his signing. Partey could be a game-changer.
He certainly stood out in a victory that was only remarkable in that it snapped that run of games without a victory at a blue chip rival.
For two founder members of the so-called Big Six, much of this was strictly small beer.
A single shot on target in one half of football i s a stati stic unbecoming of the self-styled elite.
The cleverly-worked opening that saw Willian’s left-footer kiss the crossbar was an anomaly in a first period Mike Dean appeared to cut short by a few seconds. No wonder.
Watching Manchester United play on the counter at home is as weird as watching in an empty 75,000-seater stadium.
But there was more positivity after the break, although that could have been because Arsenal dropped deeper.
It was an advert for the counterattacking culture, Pierre-emerick Aubameyang almost making one sharp incision pay. Instead, his clip