MANCHESTER UNITED 3, ARSENAL 2
Manchester United roared back into 5th place just three points behind Manchester City after winning back to back Premier League home games for the first time since September in another classic encounter with Arsenal filled with goals and drama on and off the pitch.
Marcus Rashford was once again United’s hero and the youth team striker scored twice and made the winner for Ander Herrera to move the Reds closer to the top four.
It also marked the first time in months that manager Louis Van Gaal made his way to the touchline in a very memorable way when he remonstrated with fourth official Mike Dean over perceived play-acting by Arsenal players in the second half and collapsed theatrically on the sidelines to prove his point.
It was a rare outburst for the normally reserved Dutchman but it earned him immediate backing from the Old Trafford fans who applauded him as he returned to his seat.
After the game, Van Gaal immediately regretted his reaction but it will go down as another great moment in another famous United victory over Arsenal.
He said: “That was too emotional. At that time you are a little bit too emotional. It’s not good for the referee, the linesmen and the fourth referee.
“Normally I am sitting on my bench and get a lot of criticism. Now I am out of the bench and I get criticism for that!
“I apologised and now it’s resolved. I have to control my emotions. I say that to all my players.”
Injuries have dictated the blooding of numerous youngsters in recent days for United. James Weir, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Donald Love, Joe Riley, and Marcus Rashford have all made good debuts for United and Van Gaal explained:
“It’s the culture of Man Utd. That’s why they take me as a manager. I don’t want to create wide selections.
“It’s crazy with all the injuries we have. We have 12 injured players. Now it’s a little bit overdone.
“But you see youngsters give always a spirit to the team. I have a lot of experience with that and it’s an important aspect of my philosophy.”
After four goals and an assist in two games, Van Gaal will find it increasingly difficult to play down the great start that Marcus Rashford has had to his Manchester United career but the youngster has come in for high praise indeed from not just his manager but the beaten Arsenal manager.
Van Gaal said: “We have to wait and see. He has only played two matches. Normally the first matches are always good for debutants. It’s consistency he has to show in the third, fourth and fifth matches.”
He added: “He has already showed an improvement on his first match.”
Defeated Gunners manager Arsene Wenger was in a bullish mood despite failing to win for the ninth time in a row at Old Trafford in the league.
He said: “It was diffcult game for us. The team put the effort in but we struggled to be dangerous and they defended very well.
“We lost the ball in our half for the first goal but we suffered on crosses today.
“We have to show we are up for the fight. The title is still possible but the answer will have to come quick and strong.”
Wenger also denied that United’s team was as makeshift as pre-match publicity had suggested, adding some fine praise for United’s two-goal hero.
Wenger said: “Let’s not go overboard, they had still millons on the pitch, From De Gea to their midfield which had experienced players. They spent a lot of money on Depay – he’s not an academy player.”
“The player who was surprising to me talentwise was Rashford.
“His movement in the box was great – he could be a very positive surprise for Manchester United given what I saw today.”
If last Thursday was a good game for team morale at Manchester United then a dramatic and deserved win over Arsenal in the Premier League, with the all-too-rare sight of Louis Van Gaal at the touchline arguing with match officials, was definitely good for fan morale.
The fact that Van Gaal fielded the fifth debutant in a week from the United youth team was merely icing on the cake as Thursday night’s Midtjylland hero repeated his goalscoring feat against the Gunners.
Marcus Rashford scored another brace of goals on his Premier League debut and Ander Herrera scored what turned out to be the match winner against an almost full strength Arsenal.
The Gunners twice reduced the deficit through goals by ex-United youth product Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil but couldn’t find an equaliser and remain five points behind league leaders Leicester City with 11 games to play.
Rashford retained his place in the United line-up after starting for Anthony Martial who withdrew during the warm up against FC Midtjylland with a hamstring problem.
David De Gea replaced Sergio Romero as expected while Joe Riley stepped down for Marcos Rojo in the only two changes from the side that beat FC Midtjylland 5-1 on Thursday.
Fosu-Mensah, an 18-year old defensive utility player, was United’s 254th youth product to make the first team match day squad was named on the bench alongside Adnan Januzaj as he made his return to training.
Arsenal, with two days additional rest, made three changes – handing Theo Walcott a start in place of the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and replacing Per Mertesacker with Gabriel Paulista, while Olivier Giroud made way for former Reds striker Danny Welbeck.
Nacho Monreal had an early chance blocked after just seven minutes when he was put through by Ozil’s flicked pass but De Gea made the save.
United had a penalty shout turned down when Marcus Rashford was caught by Gabriel on the edge of the area but Memphis’ low free kick was saved by Petr Cech in the 14th minute.
Rashford wasn’t going to be denied on his Premier League debut, however, and scored twice in three minutes as Arsenal’s defending once again let them down.
The United youngster thrashed in Gabriel’s attempted clearance of Guillermo Varela’s right wing cross on the rebound after 29 minutes to awaken Old Trafford.
And the Theatre of Dreams was rocking three minutes later when then Gunners were undone down the right flank again when Rashford was given the freedom of the Arsenal area to meet Jesse Lingard’s cross and head in his second goal to make him the youngest United striker to notch twice in a game in the Premier League at 18 years and 120 days.
It was his fourth goal in two games for United and Old Trafford saluted the youngster’s achievement.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Reds, however, as the Gunners reduced the deficit five minutes before the break with a Mesut Ozil free kick that was headed in by former United youth product Danny Welbeck.
To his credit, Welbeck didn’t celebrate his goal but the Gunners couldn’t generate much momentum after the restart despite contolling much of the possession.
Memphis was proving a distraction as much as a danger and he should have done better with a shot that was comfortably saved by Cech.
The Reds did a fine job breaking down down Arsenal’s attempts to get back into the game, disrupting the Gunners’ passing rhythm in midfield and launching counter attacks.
United put clear air between them and Arsenal when Ander Herrera’s strike took a wicked deflection off Laurent Koscielny’s chest to wrong-foot Cech after Rashford had squared the ball on 65 minutes.
But Ozil was on hand to reduced the deficit after stabbing home the rebound after Cech had blocked Welbeck’s shot on the line four minutes later.
Arsenal tried hard to retrieve the game but some of their less savoury tactics in attempting to win free kicks and get United players booked had clearly incensed Van Gaal who was finally roused out of his seat.
Louis van Gaal may have found himself a place in United fans’ hearts with his touchline antics but there was an even bigger cheer and another standing ovation for Rashford as he was replaced by Adnan Januzaj.
There was even time for James Weir, United’s U21 captain, to savour the atmosphere at the end of added time after Fosu-Mensah had earlier replaced Rojo who limped off in the 55th minute – the fourth and fifth youth players to get a debut in a morale boosting week for the Red half of Manchester.