Arsenal have stolen a march on their rivals in the race to finish fourth by beating Manchester United by the 3-1 scoreline this afternoon.
We went into the match on the back of an impressive 4-2 victory over Chelsea in midweek, and we didn’t disappoint on our return to the Emirates either.
Before we could barely get comfortable in our seats, we had put ourselves ahead.
Some neat work in the build-up allowed us to get ourselves deep upfield, and Bukayo Saka took on the shot from just inside the box, and while the goalkeeper managed to parry the effort away from goal, it fell to Nuno Tavares to direct it in off the rebound under three minutes from kick-off.
We continued to be the better side in the early exchanges before the game became much more even as both sides appeared to cancel each other out.
Eddie Nketiah was denied a third goal in a matter of days when he was deemed to have been offside by VAR, but the same incident also checked for a penalty kick for a foul on Bukayo Saka which was awarded, and our 20 year-old star stepped up as he did against the Blues to double our lead.
That comfort was short-lived however when a cross from the left saw Cristiano Ronaldo sneak in front of the defender to guide the ball into the net.
We went into the break with the lead, but Man United really took the game to us in the second half.
Aaron Ramsdale denied efforts from both Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes in impressive fashion, but things looked likely to be turning on us when Tavares gifted away the penalty as he headed the ball into his outstretched arm. Fernandes’s trademark run up may well have gone against him however as he steered his tame effort off the outside of the post after sending Aaron the wrong way.
The result was assured when Granit Xhaka landed a trademark strike from outside the box however with 20 minutes left on the clock to make it 3-1, and we never looked like giving up our lead from that point onwards, while United’s frustrations showed as they picked up some late cautions.
A top-four finish now looks back within our sights after a tough run of fixtures, with key matches with West Ham and later Tottenham the biggest challenges ahead in our bid to claim a return to the Champions League.
Patrick