Manchester United Back On Top Of Premier League After 1-0 Win Over Arsenal

With Arsenal failing to meaningfully test van der Sar for most of the match - with their best chance coming when Nasri had come inside - we’re left to ask why. Why would Arsenal isolate Nasri on the right, especially since United are themselves a right-leaning team? When United built their attacks through Nani, Nasri’s right flank position put him as far from the play as possible.

To answer my own question, Nasri went out right because it’s not uncommon for him to do so. Arsenal often has Nasri wide, though with the young attacker’s recent success in the middle (and Cesc Fàbregas still not fully fit), I assumed that Nasri’s time on the flanks would be limited against United. Wrong. Advantage: United.

For Gooners the result will be less painful than the way it came about. Losing at Old Trafford is neither new nor something to rue. Arsenal hasn’t won their since 2006, a record that isn’t uncommon in the Premier League. But going the whole match without meaningfully tested Edwin van der Sar? That’s something that will given Arsenal supporters pause, leave them asking whether their team was ready for today’s match.

In the 41st minute, Manchester United finally broke through, they they had barely been more effective than Arsenal. While the Red Devils were clearly controlling the match, that wasn’t manifesting as opportunities. Then minutes before half time, Nani picked up a ball 35 yards from touch, attacked Gaël Clichy and got into the box, eventually chipping a ball toward Park Ji-Sung. Nominally United’s left midfielder, Park had made his way to the middle of the area, alluding Sebastien Squillaci as he leaned back and arced a headed shot inside Szczensy’s left post, putting United up 1-0.

Within moments of the substitutions, Arsenal had generated a half-chance, van Persie nearly getting on the scoresheet with his first touch. But despite the infusion of talent for Arsenal, the dynamic remains the same. The Gunners are still trying to break through a deep and compact United defense, with Anderson, Fletcher and Carrick trying to dispossess at the edge of the area. United is still trying to find insurance through counterattacks with a left-footed chance from Anderson in the 68th minutes coming two feet from doing so.

But until they do, United’s going to rely on the counter attack, a tactic that has already generated three scares for Arsenal in the second half. In the 59th minute, Nani missed a golden opportunity from 16 yards out, putting a ball over goal after Szczesny, coming of his line, committed prematurely to going low.

The action is wide open in the second half, with United holding a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute.

I repeat: Edwin van der Sar had to play the ball.

Now in the 52nd minute, Arsenal continues to build attacks, and while van der Sar hasn’t been meaningfully tested, Arsenal has created a different tone to the match. Just into the second half, Manchester United continues to lead Arsenal, 1-0.

Before the game, we identified five match-ups to look for today. For our halftime update, let’s evaluate how those match-ups are playing out.

Nani vs. Gaël Clichy - Big win for United here, as Nani’s ability to beat Clichy and create the ball that led to Park’s goal is the difference in the match. Clichy should have tried to stand-up Nani when the Portuguese winger took possession, high on the right, 35-yards up the pitch. Instead, Nani was able to back Clichy into the Arsenal area, where even service off his bad foot could create a goal.

The main part of the movement started on United’s right wing, with Nani taking on left back Gaël Clichy. The defender heavy played Nani’s right foot, allowing the right win to cut back onto his weaker, left foot. As Nani entered Arsenal’s area from the right flank, he chipped a cross toward the center, a ball that went off Clichy’s right foot.

In fairness to Webb, he’s not the only person who would have let that play go. It was an innocuous movement from Song, slightly moving his left leg into Fletcher. The United midfielder made his run too close to Song. As such, Webb judged the contact incidental.

But Flether, jumping to his feet to protest, made contact with Webb and should have been carded. The scene drew memories of Michael Ballack berating officials two years ago in the Champions League semifinal. Tonight, though Fletcher went unpunished, and the scoreless match went on.

The play came off a Manchester United corner, played in by Nani but immediately headed out. Was United played the ball back into the area Chamakh, standing at the end of the six yard box, whiffed on an attempted header only to have the ball strike his right hand. There’s no way the Arsenal striker could have been intentionally putting hand to ball. In missing the header, he obviously was misjudging where the ball even was.

So by the rule, Chamakh’s contact was not a foul. The contact was incidental, though for some players and fans, the hand ball that could have prevented a shot on goal, could have prevented a Manchester United player from running onto the ball, should have been a foul.

Now in the 16th minute, Manchester United and Arsenal are still scoreless.

Now into the seventh minute, Arsenal is still have trouble coming into the match. The teams are still scoreless, with the Gunner just starting to identify the seems in United’s formation.

Arsenal Starting XI (4-3-3): Szczesny / Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy / Song, Wilshire, Nasri / Rosicky, Chamakh, Arshavin, Bench: Fabianski, Fabregas, van persie, Walcott, Denilson, Djourou, Bendtner

Edwin van der Sar starts in goal.

Manchester United Starting XI (4-5-1): van der Sar / Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra/ Fletcher, Carrick, Nani, Anderson, Park / Rooney, Bench: Kuszczak, Hernandez, Berbatov, Brown, Smalling, Obertan, Giggs

Those are the odds William Hill is giving on today’s match, though the mainstream plays may be more interesting than those obscure bets. Of those plays, Manchester United is favored to win today’s match, currently going off at 10/11. You can get 12/5 odds on a draw, while Arsenal winning is currently a 3/1 bet.

It’s all fun with numbers. You can check them out here, though if you’re excessively interested, don’t forget this link, too.

Now you might be saying to yourself, “That’s far from conclusive. He may just be playing cheeky with a fan.” OK Captain Cynicism. Granted, but consider reports that Fabianski has failed a fitness test, unable to play thanks to a groin injury suffered in training. Sure, Arsenal doesn’t have Fabianski listed in the injury section of their web site, a page that accounts for the rest of the club’s known injuries, but why are you being so negative, man?

I don’t see why that page and the lack of confirmation from Arsene Wenger should be trusted over a vague tweet. We and the rest of the Twittersphere have enough to go on. Szczesny to start. Sure. Let’s go with that.

Were you to judge Arsenal only on their words, you’d be fairly convinced the Gunners were ready for something big. Sitting in first place ahead of their annual trip to Manchester United, Arsenal has a chance to solidify their much scoffed-at title challenge, as if the criticisms of the punditry matter. If they did, the Gunners would not be in first place, still having their strengths picked apart by league followers desperate the label them mentally soft - a team that will fade. But for manager Arsene Wenger, such narratives are irrelevant when preparing his team for Monday’ match.

“We have an opportunity to show how good we are - that is what you want in life,” Wenger said, in quotes distributed on the league’s web site.