Arsenal 3 -1 Man Utd: Player ratings as Rice and Jesus strikes at the death

Declan Rice struck at the death as Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-1 at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

It was a contest bereft of quality for the first 25 minutes before goals at both ends burst it into life. Marcus Rashford struck first for the visitors after Arsenal were caught out in transition before the Gunners hit back a mere 100 seconds later through Martin Odegaard, who crashed home from the edge of the box.

The hosts thought they’d earned a chance to take the lead just before the hour mark when Kai Havertz was awarded a penalty after being tripped by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. However, Anthony Taylor overturned his on-field decision following VAR intervention.

The game was on a knife-edge as it entered its final act, with both sides looking capable of landing the decisive blow. Bukayo Saka spurned a glorious chance for the Gunners, while Alejandro Garnacho thought he’d won it for the Red Devils, but his late effort was eventually ruled out for offside.

The tension was palpable throughout the eight minutes of stoppage time, and it was Arsenal who landed the killer punch through Rice. Some time for your first Gunners goal, eh? Oh, and there was time for more, with Gabriel Jesus rounding off the triumph with a cool finish.

Arsenal 3-1 Man Utd player ratings
Here are the Arsenal player ratings from a special afternoon at the Emirates.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 5/10 – Not great. Got a hand on Rashford’s opener, and his parry of Anthony Martial’s shot at the start of the second half could’ve led to a Rashford brace.

Ben White (RB) – 5/10 – Suspect for United’s opener as his vulnerabilities one-on-one manifested. Didn’t contribute much in possession.

William Saliba (CB) – 6.5/10 – Positionally very good and made a big block to deny Rashford from scoring his second. A couple of loose touches in possession, though.

Gabriel (CB) – 6.5/10 – Finally back in the starting XI, Gabriel was stout on his return. Enjoyed the physical duel with Rasmus Hojlund late on in the contest.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) – 6/10 – Zinchenko took up an incredibly fluid position in possession, with the Ukrainian occasionally drifting over to the right side of Arsenal’s midfield pivot. Offered a distinct route of progression with the ball.

Midfielders

Declan Rice (DM) – 9/10 – A majestic display, but was particularly brilliant in the opening period. What a moment at the end. Immense.

Kai Havertz (CM) – 3/10 – Absolutely nothing is falling for poor Kai at the moment. Needs to develop a relationship with Martinelli down the left if he’s to have any chance of finding some form.

Martin Odegaard (CM) – 7/10 – The skipper’s goal was just lovely. Constantly probed and sought to disrupt United’s defensive block.

Forwards

Bukayo Saka (RW) – 4/10 – Just wasn’t at his best and his rather tame effort late on which Andre Onana saved was indicative of his performance. Diogo Dalot was excellent up against him.

Eddie Nketiah (ST) – 5/10 – Started pretty well and looked like he was going to thrive off the back of his England call-up. His performance instead fizzled out pretty quickly, however.

 

Gabriel Martinelli (LW) – 7.5/10 – Undoubtedly Arsenal’s brightest spark. His duel with Wan-Bissaka was a brilliant watch and a key sub-plot in the game. Wish he could take a good corner.

 

Substitutes

Gabriel Jesus – 7/10

 

Fabio Vieira – 7/10

 

Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6/10

 

Reiss Nelson – N/A

 

Jorginho – N/A

from Football Audit https://ift.tt/i3LcoXH
via i9bet