3 things we learned from Manchester United and Arsenal settling for a 1-1 draw

This was a back-and-forth battle that Manchester United dominated for much of the match, but Arsenal were able to do enough at the right time to see the points shared with a 1-1 draw, meaning the order of the top four stays the same -- for now.

It took half an hour for anyone to score, but it was clear for much of that time which side would be doing the scoring. Arsenal managed to hold a fair bit of possession and had some dangerous-looking attacks, but nearly all the good creative play went Manchester United’s way, and more importantly, every shot of the first half was taken by a United player.

So it wasn’t really surprising that Manchester scored the opening goal, when Ander Herrera swung his right foot and lashed a shot past David Ospina. It was even less surprising that it was Ashley Young twisting and driving and setting up the shot, since he’d been driving his opposite number in Arsenal’s defense, young right back Hector Bellerin, into the dirt all match long.

United kept dominating possession and scoring chances for the rest of the half, and in point of fact it took until the 51st minute for Arsenal to get their first shot away. That seemed to help wake the Gunners up, though, and after that wildly lashed strike from Alexis Sanchez, the visitors grew in quality and confidence going forward, forcing United slowly back and restricting the free attacking the hosts had been doing and forcing their midfield and fullbacks to be more restrained in how they got forward.

Arsenal eventually made a pair of substitutions aimed to boost their attack, bringing on the pace of Theo Walcott as well as the creative threat of Jack Wilshere. Manchester responded by putting young Tyler Blackett on for a tired Marcos Rojo, but were forced to use their final sub on an injured David De Gea, giving Victor Valdes his first appearance in over a year since he hurt his knee in Spain last season.

Those subs changed the tone of the match in a big way. Arsenal were able to take the attacking edge they’d been building and literally run with it, in the form of Walcott targetting Blackett over and over. It was quickly clear that Blackett wasn’t sure how to deal with Walcott’s pace or on-ball trickery, and it surprised exactly no one when the 21 year old’s uncertainty saw him deflect in a cross from Walcott to score an own goal and level the scoreline.

Neither side were able to find another goal despite some fairly vigorous efforts, but the final minutes ticked away with no one finding the net. The draw means that Manchester United are still alive in the race for third place and a guaranteed place in the Champions League group stage -- instead of having to go through the playoff qualification round -- though Arsenal have a big edge in that race with a two point lead and a game in hand. This match does all but guarantee, however, that Manchester City finish second, with this draw and City’s earlier win giving them a five-point edge over Arsenal with a very winnable final match next weekend.

Goal: Herrera (30’)

Goal: Blackett OG(82’)

1. Ashley Young’s return to glory has been huge for Manchester United

When Young first showed up at Manchester, he was an expensive attacking midfielder who didn’t really fit what Alex Ferguson was doing. Then he got hurt a few times, kept on not playing well, and didn’t really fit David Moyes’ tactics a year ago either. This year, though, it’s almost like the 29 year-old winger has been reborn, playing a few different roles out on the left side for Louis Van Gaal but performing like something had finally clicked and made sense for him again. He’s been playing very, very well again at long last, and that turnaround has helped United so much this season, adding a steady and reliable presence to an area of the pitch that they’ve struggled at for some time. That quality was on display again today, turning Arsenal right back Hector Bellerin around over and over, dominating the fullback all day long, and using that to set up Manchester’s opening goal and provide the service for several of United’s most dangerous chances.

2. Arsenal have to figure out their midfield woes this summer

They’ve had players hurt, they’ve had players showing their advancing age, they’ve had players simply underperform. What Arsenal haven’t had, though, is players in their midfield pivot playing well. Not consistently at least. Mikel Arteta has been a shadow of his former self, Mathieu Flamini has been slow and of only mixed effectiveness, and while Santi Cazorla has been willing, he is much better in more advanced positions and has large deficiencies in his defensive performance. Francis Coquelin has certainly had some impressive moments, but his skillset is somewhat limited and it’s been easy at times for teams to target him and knock him off balance to open up a hole to exploit. It’s too late in the season to fix that now, but Arsenal have to sort out the deeper part of their midfield this summer if they want to try to challenge for the title or even assure they stay in the top four next season.

3. Manchester United’s key is their versatility

Louis Van Gaal has found a combination of players in his United side that has worked wonders, propelling his side to the upper reach of the table with some impressive wins along the way. The key to that has been finding a core group of players that offer him a number of tactical options either without making substitutions or to be supplemented by a sub. Today’s starting eleven, for instance, was a 4-5-1 of sorts, but just as easily could have been any of several different formations with a three man back line. More than that, it could have been a very defensively-set side, or as it wound up being, a very attacking side that offered threats from several areas of the pitch. It makes it harder to gameplan against United, especially knowing that with a few shouted words, Van Gaal can completely change the shape and approach at any moment.