Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang converted a penalty for his first league goal since the opening weekend to give Arsenal a 1-0 victory at Manchester United.
The Gunners captain sent David De Gea the wrong way from the spot on 69 minutes after Paul Pogba had fouled Hector Bellerin. He became the first Arsenal player to score at Old Trafford in consecutive Premier League seasons since Emmanuel Adebayor in 2006/07 and 2007/08.
Arsenal’s first Premier League win at Old Trafford for 14 years moves them to eighth in the table while poor United stay 15th. Mikel Arteta became just the second manager in Arsenal history to win both of his first two games against Manchester United, after Herbert Chapman in 1925/26.
Arsenal had the better of things in a match of few chances. Bukayo Saka headed over when well placed on the stroke of half-time and Aubameyang curled a shot wide early in the second half.
United had gone close to scoring through chances for Mason Greenwood and Harry Maguire, United’s best effort came with six minutes to go when substitute Donny van de Beek’s cross deflected off Mohamed Elneny and Bernd Leno and on to on to a post, but the Gunners held firm.
Arsenal restricted Manchester United to just one shot in the first half, the fewest they have had at home in the Premier League in the opening 45 minutes since October 2015.And Gunners are unbeaten in our last five league games against Manchester United.
Ole’s 100th Game as United Manager
Solskjaer, taking charge of his 100th United game, made three changes to the side which put on a five-star showing against RB Leipzig in midweek, as hat-trick hero, Marcus Rashford, came in for the suspended Anthony Martial. Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay also started, in place of Nemanja Matic and van de Beek, who were both named on the bench.
Mikel Arteta made three changes from last weekend defeat to Leicester, bringing back Rob Holding from injury to replace David Luiz, with Mohamed Elneny recalled to midfield at Granit Xhaka’s expense. Willian also returned with Dani Ceballos making way. Alexandre Lacazette retained his place as the centre forward with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again starting from wide on the left.
Post-Match Reaction Ole, Arteta and Progba:
Ole, United Manager
“In the first half, we never turned up. The intensity, the tempo wasn’t there, the shape – they were better than us and created a couple of half-decent chances. In the second half, they didn’t look like they were going to score, apart from the penalty. So we played better in the second half but still we have to turn up with more intensity.”
Pogba admits penalty mistake
“My mistake, I shouldn’t do that [concede the penalty]. I have to be better in the box defensively. When you run forward and back, a player runs behind you. When you get in the box, you have to be… not more clever – in French, the word is lucid. I don’t know the word in English but I have to be fresher in the box, on my feet. Details made us lose the game and we have to be better. We have to do better with the ball because we weren’t dangerous with the ball today. We didn’t create chances, as we should, and we didn’t win at home. That’s what we need to do. We need to win at home.”
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal :
“I think we merited the points. I’m really happy that after 14 years without a win, we were able to come and do what we’ve done today. As well I asked the players, ‘Please, let’s be who we are and play with our identity and our style’. I think we did it from the first minute against a really difficult opponent. Obviously they have a lot of quality and we deserved to win the game.”
