Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United: Granit Xhaka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang give Gunners huge boost in race for the top four

Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United: Granit Xhaka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang give Gunners huge boost in race for the top four
Arsenal took a huge step towards Champions League qualification with a 2-0 win over Manchester United at the Emirates.On a weekend when Tottenham lost and Chelsea drew, Granit Xhaka and and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the Gunners firmly in control of fourth place.3

Aubameyang doubled Arsenal’s lead

Xhaka’s swerving effort wrong-footed David de Gea in the first-half, and Aubameyang also sent the United goalkeeper the wrong way – this time with a penalty in the second-half.Referee Jonathan Moss pointed to the spot after Fred’s challenge on Alexandre Lacazette – although it appeared soft.It brings Ole Gunnar Solskjaer firmly back down to earth following his team’s remarkable comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Norwegian now faces an uphill battle to qualify for next season’s edition of the competition following his first Premier League defeat as interim manager.United sit fifth, two points behind fourth-place Arsenal and one ahead of Chelsea, who have a game in hand on both teams.On a day where Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish was attacked by a Birmingham fan running onto the field of play, an Arsenal supporter appeared to run into Chris Smalling as he invaded the pitch after Aubameyang’s goal.While it seemingly lacked the malice of the St Andrew’s incident, questions will be asked of how the invader was able to cover so much ground before being halted.The hosts started the game on the front foot but almost found themselves behind as United broke forward and Romelu Lukaku – with six goals in his last three games – hit the crossbar from five yards after a good, low cross from Luke Shaw.3

A supporter appeared to shove Smalling

Moments later and Arsenal were celebrating the goal their early dominance deserved as Xhaka hit a speculative effort with De Gea badly caught out by the swerve on the ball.United, despite being second-best, hit the woodwork for the second time in the opening 20 minutes as Fred’s low drive struck the base of the post.Solskjaer reacted to his side being overrun in midfield by moving to a three-man defence to mirror Arsenal’s set-up as captain Ashley Young was drafted in as a central defender.Lukaku found Bernd Leno in the way as he was slipped in by Marcus Rashford, the Belgium striker looking to round the German goalkeeper and finish in a similar to fashion to his opener in Paris.The change in shape certainly helped the visitors stem the flow of Arsenal attacks and they enjoyed more forays forward themselves towards the end of the first-half without really testing Leno.3

Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette celebrate the second goal of the game

In sharp contrast to the first half, it was United who were fast out of the blocks at the restart, Lukaku rolled in by Rashford only to see his shot turned behind by the outstretched leg of Leno.Rashford arrowed a free-kick wide before referee Jon Moss awarded a soft penalty to the home side, Lacazette going down under minimal pressure from Fred.Aubameyang, who had missed a last-gasp spot-kick at Spurs last week, confidently tucked away the chance from 12 yards to double Arsenal’s advantage.An Arsenal supporter ran onto the pitch to celebrate and seemed to brush past Chris Smalling on his way to mob the celebrating Arsenal players before the stewards took care of the situation.Lacazette then missed a marvellous chance to seal the three points as he fired wide as Solskjaer threw on fit-again Anthony Martial and teenager Mason Greenwood in an attempt to salvage something from the game.An onslaught of the Arsenal goal never materialised, Rashford heading straight at the impressive Leno in stoppage time as Solskjaer’s side tasted a rare defeat.

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