Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal
A stunning free-kick from Owen Hargreaves saw Manchester United come from behind to beat Arsenal, and stamp their authority on the Premier League title race.
Arsenal took the lead against Chelsea a few weeks ago and blew it. They went ahead against Liverpool earlier this week and blew it. And on form, they took the lead against Manchester United at Old Trafford and hit the self destruct button.
Emmanuel Adebayor gave the Gunners the lead, and moments later, Cristiano Ronaldo converted from the spot after William Gallas handled in the area.
With the scores level, it was anyone's game, but United showed the determination of champions, breaking through thanks to a fabulous Owen Hargreaves free-kick.
The result takes them a massive nine clear of Arsenal with four games remaining, and six clear of Chelsea, who have a game in hand. They can now win the title with two games to spare if they win their next two games.
First Half
Arsenal started the match brightly, anxious to put the misery of midweek behind them. A fast and furious opening saw them take control of the match and dominate possession.
After only five minutes Fabregas had a good chance after an awful clearance from Brown fell straight to his feet. Unfortunately for Arsenal the young Spaniard blasted his shot straight over Van der Sar’s bar.
The chances kept falling Arsenal’s way and in particular Emmanuel Adebayor who missed a number of opportunities to open the scoring for Arsenal. Firstly Eboue crossed for the tall striker but Rio Ferdinand managed to get back just in time to make an important block.
Just after the half hour mark it was Hleb’s turn to put Adebayor through. The Togolese strike raced into the penalty area but shot weakly at Van der Sar who saved easily.
Within seconds, United broke and the action was at the other end of the field. Wayne Rooney in acres of space tried to dink the ball past Lehman but the German goalkeeper just managed to get enough on the ball to divert it wide.
At this point Arsenal were playing with a huge amount of confidence, first to the ball and forcing the home side into mistakes as they threw bodies forward searching for the opening. United by contrast were being forced to play on the counter attack, an unusual sight at Old Trafford.
However despite the Gunners’ dominance their fragility at the back was still evident with United finding space between Kolo Toure and Alex Song and Wayne Rooney, in particular, looking the most likely for the home side.
As it was, a fast and furious first half ended goalless. Arsenal somehow contriving not to finish one of the numerous openings they had carved open and United, simply happy to get to half time still level.
Second Half
It did, however, take Arsenal only three second-half minutes to take the lead. United failed to clear a Van Persie free kick and the Dutchman ran across the pitch to pick up the loose ball before dropping in a great cross which Adebayor managed to convert from only one yard after both Ferdinand and Van der Sar failed to clear the ball effectively.
Seconds later and United should have been two down. Rio Ferdinand, whilst trying to clear the ball somehow diverted the ball towards own goal forcing Van der Sar into a great save to keep United in the game.
Minutes later however and the game was level. A Carrick shot was blocked in the area by William Gallas’ arm and referee Howard Webb had no choice but to point to the spot.
The drama didn’t end there however. Ronaldo scored the penalty but was ordered to retake it after stopping half way through his run up which meant a number of players encroaching before he had finally slotted the ball away. However the Portuguese kept his cool to score second time around, slotting the ball low to Lehman’s right.
Alex Ferguson responded further by throwing on Anderson and Tevez for Scholes and Park and slowly United began to get a foothold in the game before eventually taking the lead with twenty minutes to go.
Gilberto Silva gave away a free kick on the edge of the area and despite Ronaldo looking interested, Owen Hargreaves stepped up to plant a brilliant free kick over the wall and down into Lehman’s bottom right hand corner.
Arsenal tried to get back on level terms but as has happened so often this season they were unable to make their chances count and they will rue yet another lost lead. United hung on for an important victory that takes them one step closer to the title.
Goals
0-1 Arsenal (Adebayor, 47)
1-1 Man United (Ronaldo, 50)
2-1 Man United (Hargreaves, 73)
Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Pique, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, Hargreaves (Giggs, 90), Scholes (Anderson, 55), Park (Tevez, 55), Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Anderson, Giggs, O'Shea, Tevez.
Arsenal: Lehmann, Toure (Hoyte, 85), Gallas, Song Billong, Clichy, Eboue (Walcott, 60), Fabregas, Silva, Hleb, Van Persie (Bendtner 75), Adebayor.
Subs: Djourou, Fabianski, Bendtner, Justin Hoyte, Walcott.
Referee: Howard Webb
Gill Clark
