Player Analysis and Rating V Manchester United

Arsenal fans will be breathing a sigh of relief, as a superb (to say the least) display by Almunia ensured the loss was manageable and only 1-0.
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Match Summary:
From the start the game was high tempo by the home side, not allowing the visitors to settle. Within the opening 10 minutes or so, United bossed Arsenal around the pitch, holding down possession and playing a penetrative game down our left hand side. Ronaldo drew in both Gibbs and Song, allowing space on the right for O'shea to burst forward. Our defense struggled to contain the dynamic runs of Rooney combine with the work rate of Tevez and the blistering pace of Ronaldo.

From the beginning a looping header from Rooney nearly finds the net, as Almunia leaps back to dip the ball that looked destined for the net.

Arsenal simply failed to hold down possession and gave the ball away. With Adebayor as the only outlet, the pressure was constant from Man Utd as they bombarded down the right hand side. Almunia made a fantastic save to deny Tevez's close range effort.
Arsenal conceded a goal in the 17th minute from the resulting corner. Carrick dribbled into the box and a low cross deflected off of Silvestre and found O'shea waiting at the far post (Completely Unmarked I might add), who blasted the ball through the roof of the net.

Another cross from Tevez found Ronaldo and needed another world class save from Almunia.

Walcott had a tough evening against Evra, who managed to keep him quiet most of the time. Fabregas scoffed a shot or two and had one saved by Van der Sar (who had little to do all match).

Tevez again burst through the center and Almunia had to put his body on the line to smother the ball. Tevez collides into the keeper, kicking him in the chest and chin, and is booked. Simply brave from the Arsenal keeper.

Arsenal started to settle into a bit of possession after the initial 30 minutes of anarchy. It has to be said that their attacks lacked any form of penetration, with Adebayor often dropping too deep to be a threat, and Fabregas left with little options as the midfield was pinned back. Walcott was kept quiet and offered one or two flashes of brilliance but was mostly disappointing.

Second half saw a much more calm Arsenal side poke the ball around the United box with little intention of scoring. A sideways pass to the wings, a pass back, a one-two with the keeper, you get the idea. United looked a lot more passive and has withdrew a bit, allowing Arsenal a bit of possession.

Giggs is thrown on along with Berbatov. Ronaldo almost scores a scorcher from distance that clatters off the crossbar. Bendtner is also thrown into the mix for good measure. A goal from Giggs was "declared" onside by the commentator and rounds about Almunia for what looked to be the second goal, but was actually offside. Bendtner had a chance as Fabregas lofts a teasing freekick into a sea of 10-12 bodies. Van der Sar comes flying and takes out about half of them, but Bendtner gets his head to the ball somehow, and heads it towards the stands, away from the net.

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Player Ratings:

Almunia: 8.5
The one player on the pitch that looked like he wanted the team to win the match. Very solid goalkeeping, glad to have you back Almunia.

Gibbs: 6
Started the tie nervously, but played better towards the end. Offered some penetration going forward, but struggled initially keeping control of the left flank. I will be very glad to have Clichy back because he is still very shaky, the experience will do him good.

Toure: 6
Covered well in defense on several occasions. His pace offered some protection against the runs of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez.

Silvestre: 6
Much more solid in the back than the Liverpool game. His lack of pace however saw him struggle to keep the United front line quiet.

Sagna: 6
Average performance from Sagna. His scintillating bursts forward last season has been toned down due to his inability to cross the ball. Did well against Rooney on the flanks covering.

Song: 5.5
Song had a hard time with the United and gave away possession on occasion was the general opinion of the other writers (hence the adjusted rating). I felt that he played well today, yes there were some mistakes but I felt he was one of the hard working players today and deserved better from his teammates.

Nasri: 6
I know he is a good player, good dribbling, vision, passing, just needs to get in the game more. Didn't see him at all first half. Hopefully he will be allowed to play in the center, as he looks much more comfortable there.

Diaby: 3
Gave the ball away in dangerous areas, dribbles into several players, passes go astray, offer nothing in offense..

Fabregas: 5.5
Not his usual creative self. Struggled to dictate play, and had several opportunities to test the keeper but failed to do so. Suffering from having to constantly track back and ease the tempo of the game, and had little options up front.

Walcott: 6
Had one or two runs against the United defense, other than that pretty quiet. Expect more from him next game.

Adebayor: 5
Worked hard but was starved up front. Drifted too deep and wide to be of any contribution to the attack. Lacked the aerial domination offered last season, and generally looked sloppy. Review the offside rules thoroughly before playing again.

Bendtner: 5.5
Had a half chance but opted to pass to Fletcher instead. Also had a header way off target when anything towards the direction of the net would have meant an equalizer. Sigh same old Bendtner.

Eduardo: n/a
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Generally Arsenal fans will hope the team can perform much better at home next week. It is hard to see where the goals will come from if the team continues to play like today. Man Utd will be in the driver's seat with this goal, and they will be looking to score away from such a weak defense. Very lucky to escape with 1-0, could have easily been 2 or 3.

Vote for your player of the game on the poll on the side (Almunia cough cough).

Until next week,
Travis

pictures taken from telegraph.co.uk