Manchester United made a piece of history at the Emirates Stadium, but not quite as they wanted. With a draw to this stalemate, they set a new club record for league games without defeat.
The series now stands at 18 and contains 14 wins. Ole Gunnar Solskjær wanted a reaction to the shambolic home loss against Sheffield United on Wednesday night, and he got it in the form of a much better performance. But his team could not find the lead.
They got the chance to score during a dominant first half, and none better than the one who blamed Edinson Cavani in the second half. From outside the distance, he could not find the target of a Luke Shaw intersection. The Uruguayan was also centimeters wide with a scissor kick from the 89th minute.
Arsenal were much better after the interval and also they had the chance to win with only the crossbar that left the free kick of Alexandre Lacazette out of account. It’s now been an encouraging seven league games since they suffered a defeat.
United’s crash against Sheffield United set up the match and it was definitely one of the shocking results of a unique season. Before that, the club’s last defeat was against Arsenal in the reverse game at Old Trafford on 1 November. United’s unbeaten run in the competition stood at 13 games and it was almost impossible to foresee the failure against the division’s bottom club.
Perhaps it was an illustration that cracks were still lurking in United’s squad and the question at the beginning was whether Arsenal could detect it. Clearly they had to do it the hard way, as Mikel Arteta was without three key players in Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Saka, who reported a hip problem, was in a blowing form.
The bitter cold in north London did not cool the passions from the start, while Cédric Soares crackled his compatriot Bruno Fernandes. Cédric leads with his arm to a challenge from the air and he catches Fernandes before going after him with a few words of choice in his ear. Fernandes jumps up and pushes the fullback; Cédric was booked.
Fernandes could be seen in conversation with Granit Xhaka, and shortly afterwards he left his shoe in a challenge with Arsenal midfield and made it through the Achilles tendon. This time there was no card. It was ominous, even though it was almost Arsenal-United hostility at the highest level.
The game was more open than it was at Old Trafford, with United pressing on the front foot and controlling the first half. Their passing and movement was smoother, their ease on the ball was more pronounced. The final action eluded them, however, with Marcus Rashford playing one heavy pass to the overlapping Fernandes and also unable to fire a shot from close range after a Luke Shaw cross came through to him.
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Fred extended Bernd Leno after a half-cleared corner – it was an excellent save by the Arsenal goalkeeper – and Aaron Wan-Bissaka pulled his head out when it was unmarked. Then there were Fernandes’ moments in the first half. After being released by Paul Pogba, he penetrated David Luiz before curling up outside the target. Then he saw a 45-minute free-kick on the edge of the area hit a jumping David Luiz in the wall and just ran over.
Arsenal were happy to stand at 0-0 at halftime. Gabriel Martinelli almost played in Lacazette while Nicolas Pépé curled a yard wide after a chase, but Arteta’s team did not show enough as a cohesive attacking force.
Solskjær made five changes from Sheffield United and had to shuffle further when Scott McTominay was forced on 37 minutes, and Pogba stepped in from midfield into the midfield. Arteta changed choices in the second half and replaced Martinelli with Willian, and his team was more purposeful with the restart; there was more intensity.
Twice they advertised the opening goal and twice United had to make decisive interventions. First, Willian popped up at the farthest point to meet Héctor Bellerín’s cross just for Wan-Bissaka to make a save block, and then he cut back for Pépé just for Harry Maguire to turn around.
A goal felt close and United thought they had it when Shaw cut back for Cavani. It is unbelievable that the striker hit from inside a short point from outside. Arsenal came back and so were the best margins against them. Lacazette’s free kick struck David de Gea just to get back from the crossbar before Emile Smith Rowe was denied by a sharp save from the goalkeeper. Pépé also sees another low shot flash wide.