“If is the biggest word in football, son”.
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But visiting manager Arsene Wenger drew heart from their refusal to accept defeat.
Manchester United are investigating how two supporters managed to stay overnight at Old Trafford before Saturday’s match with Arsenal. [Phil] Jones and [Marcos] Rojo did not go to the national team, they stayed and we worked in the past two weeks. Their return had been three points.
Yaya Toure was back in Pep Guardiola’s good books with a brace that helped Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday while Premier League table-toppers Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Southampton.
Police decided not to arrest the duo, who spent the night in the bog for absolutely no reward, and United announced that there was no risk to supporters in attendance for the 1-1 draw with the Gunners. If Wenger does not solve our problem very soon it is going to be another disappointing year for us.
His team had looked the real deal, doing what had been asked of them in what could be termed a “proper” United performance.
Frustration is eating away at the manager and his team.
“We have to face the critics and accept it”, he said at a pre-match news conference. The visitors were unusually quiet for most part of the match, but scored the leveller with a single shot on the goal through Olivier Giroud’s header.
Mourinho was heading for his most important victory since arriving at United, only for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to sprint past Marcus Rashford, reach the byline and cross for his fellow substitute Giroud to head home at the far post. “If it was a mistake, I don’t want to say yes or no – I know because I’ve watched it on video a few times – but I don’t want to say because he’s a referee and he’s trying to do his best”.
Mourinho is rarely short of an opinion when it comes to Wenger, having previously called the Frenchman a “voyeur” because of his regular comments about Mourinho’s former club, Chelsea, and a “specialist in failure” during Arsenal’s nine years without winning trophy (2005-14). “I felt that Man United defended very well as well”. The team is playing well. We were phenomenal from a defensive point of view, the way we controlled their counter attack, and with the ball we played quality football, scored a fantastic goal and we had chances to kill the game.
United were producing the better chances; Cech saving from Mata and Anthony Martial, Shkodran Mustafi blocking Rashford. “I thought it was the best option”.
While Coquelin was shadowing Mata diligently, Pogba often tucked in to use Herrera and Carrick’s creative strength in the middle to create some risky chances for United. Unused subs: Romero, Lingard, Young, Memphis.
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Are Ramsey’s Arsenal days ending? .
