MANCHESTER — Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-2 in a pulsating clash at Old Trafford on Sunday as Louis Van Gaal‘s injury-hit outfit battled hard and the title-chasing Gunners collapsed.
[ MORE: 3 things learned ]
Marcus Rashford stole the show with two goals and an assist, while Van Gaal’s antics on the sidelines deserve a 10 out of 10 (especially that dive, it wouldn’t look out of place in an Olympic diving competition) with the Dutchman celebrating a big win in their race for a top four place.
Here’s marks out of 10 on every player.
Manchester United
David De Gea – 7 – Two vital stops and always a calming influence as Arsenal pushed for an equalizer late on.
Guillermo Varela – 8 – Superb positional play and won everything in the air. Youngster also impressed going forward. Growing with each game.
Michael Carrick – 7 – Solid from the skipper who tried his best to hold a makeshift defense together.
Daley Blind – 7 – Few giveaways but some good interceptions. Really hard to criticize any of United’s defenders.
Marcos Rojo – 6 – Put in a decent shift until he went off. Arsenal did have some joy down his flank in first half.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 7 – Sat deep and provided the defense with a good shield.
Ander Herrera – 7 – Scored a goal and battled away at the heart of United’s midfield. Didn’t give Ramsey or Coquelin time to breath.
Juan Mata – 6 – Kept things ticking over nicely but didn’t really get a chance to express himself in attack.
Memphis – 8 – Much more like it. Ran at Bellerin all day long and combined well with Rashford. Has he turned the corner?
Jesse Lingard – 7 – Good looping cross for Rashford’s second and always available even if all his tricks didn’t come off.
STAR MAN – Marcus Rashford – 9 – So close to a 10 out of 10 as he scored twice in the first half and set up the third. Sensational from the 18-year-old on his Premier League debut. Four goals in his first two games for United. Wow.
Subs: Tim Fosu-Mensah (on for Rojo, 55′) – 6 – Debutant all over the place defensively. Never looked like he’d played left back before and probably hasn’t but still, full of fight. Adnan Januzaj (on for Rashford, 80′) – 6 – Full of running when he came on. James Weir (on for Herrera, 90′) – 5 – Yet another debutant, the fifth for United in the last week, didn’t have any time to make an impact.
Arsenal
Petr Cech – 6 – Couldn’t do much on the goals and other than that, did his job.
Hector Bellerin – 5 – Didn’t offer an offensive threat and Memphis worked him hard all day long.
Gabriel – 4 – Lost Rashford on both goals. Slow to react and lucky not to have given a PK away in first half.
Laurent Koscielny – 5 – Again, lost track of Rashford on second goal and looked shaky under pressure.
Nacho Monreal – 5 – Should have put Arsenal 1-0 up early on after Ozil’s sublime flick. Will rue that missed chance.
Francis Coquelin – 4 – Poor outing from the usually reliable Frenchman. Lost midfield battle and awful positioning to allow Herrera so much time for United’s third goal.
Aaron Ramsey – 5 – Like Coquelin, was outbattled in midfield and reacted poorly as he pushed over Herrera. Frustrating afternoon.
Alexis Sanchez – 5 – Non-existent. Is he really fully fit? On this showing no. Varela didn’t have too many troubles with him.
Mesut Ozil – 7 – Scored and grabbed an assist. He continues to deliver but couldn’t take over the game when it mattered most. Shackled.
Theo Walcott – 5 – Another who just failed to get going. Got in out wide early on but Arsenal couldn’t find him often. Better as an impact player these days.
Danny Welbeck – 7 – Scored a header and was Arsenal’s biggest attacking threat. Still looks a yard of full fitness but getting there.
Subs: Olivier Giroud (on for Walcott, 63′) – 6 – Had one header goalwards but struggled for service. Mohamed Elneny (on for Coquelin, 70′) – 5 – Hacked down Memphis and that was about it. Alex Iwobi (on for Welbeck, 83′) – 5 – Didn’t get going, not enough time to impact game.
