Arsene Wenger has finally beaten Jose Mourinho in the Premier League and at the same time kept Arsenal's slim hopes of a top-four finish alive!
After a rather uneventful first half the Gunners hit two goals in three minutes through Granit Xhaka and former United player Danny Welbeck to seal all three points.
I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the game live and, although there were still some frustrations, I was largely impressed with what I saw as we looked comfortable on the ball for large spells.
Laurent Koscielny was excellent and, apart from a poor back pass that almost cost a goal, Rob Holding put in an assured performance. Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain was again one of our stand-out players and Aaron Ramsey put in a decent shift, but I couldn't help but find Mesut Ozil frustrating at times. There is no doubting his ability when he hits top form, but at times he seemed to leisurely chase the ball and in my opinion he hasn't been at his best for a while. He can be a great player and he did actually play fairly well against United, but I really hope we can see him back to his best soon!
We haven't got the best record against the other so-called 'big' sides in recent seasons so it was great to see us get one over on United. Yes, some might argue they fielded a slightly weaker team with the likes of Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford on bench, as Mourinho rested players ahead of their upcoming Europa League match. But I feel the side they put out was still strong enough to compete and we deserve credit for claiming a well-deserved win against them. It doesn't paper of the cracks of what hasn't been a great league campaign for us, but this was certainly a good performance and result.
We restricted them to less chances than I expected so credit must go to the defence and midfield for shutting them down and limiting their opportunities. Ending Manchester United's 25-match unbeaten run in the process made it all the sweeter, but we must push on and be more consistent.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech kept the score goalless with a decent save to push Anthony Martial's shot away for a corner. At the other end Cech's opposite number David de Gea produced a fine save to parry Ramsey's effort wide for a corner.
Danny Welbeck saw a scrambled effort blocked by Phil Jones before Oxlade-Chamberlain saw his strike saved by de Gea. We were playing in a positive way and, although it was a good save by the goalkeeper, we weren't testing de Gea enough.
Manchester United nearly scored against the run of play following a poor loose back pass from Holding. Wayne Rooney latched onto the stray pass, but Cech stood his ground to block the England striker's effort.
A quick-fire doubled ultimately sealed the victory in the second half, starting with Xhaka's opener within nine minutes of the restart. The Swiss midfielder picked up the ball outside the box and hit a shot from long-range. It was a great strike and was aided into the net by a deflection off Ander Herrera's back, which sent the ball looping over de Gea.
Regardless of how the two sides were playing I knew Manchester United could easily suddenly get a goal, so I was both delighted and relieved as we doubled our lead just three minutes later. Oxlade-Chamberlain delivered an excellent cross for Welbeck to power home a header in off the crossbar. Oxlade-Chamberlain is in good form at the moment and I hope Wenger does everything in his power to tie him down to a new contract as soon as possible.
Cech had to be alert to save Rooney's free-kick and the striker also saw another shot sail off target as Arsenal held on for the win.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Manchester United fan Aran Scarrott
"Well, it's disappointing to lose, clearly," said Scarrott. "Having said that, Jose told us in the week that priority was going to the Europa League game on Thursday and given that he made eight changes. That was clearly the case.
"I'd say we went there thinking a draw would be a decent result and, from what I saw, the game had 0-0 written all over it until that hideous deflection. That's a sickening way to concede a goal when you've been defending well in the game.
"Sometimes those go for you and sometimes against, that's football, but Ander Herrera needs a good long look in the mirror, what was he doing!?
"I think the deflation from that led to their second goal which was far too easy and it was game over then.
"I'm not too down about it, we can still make top four, although it's looking less and less likely, but we're all dropping silly points so who knows.
"Got to look ahead to Thursday now and if we win that one then we have a European final to look forward to, 90 minutes away from a trophy and Champions League football next season.
"If it pans out then I guess we can say Jose was right to let Arsene finally have his day."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
As good as that victory felt, we really need to make sure it counts for something now. Although the race for fourth depends on other results and is out of our hands, we must focus on making sure we do everything in our power to give ourselves a chance.
Four league games left now, starting with our game in hand at Southampton in midweek, and realistically we need to get the maximum 12 points to have any hope. Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland and Everton are all winnable games if we play to the best of our ability, but we have been too inconsistent this season so it is impossible to predict how it will pan out.
After the victory over Manchester United and Liverpool's draw against Southampton we have clawed back some of the deficit in the race for a top-four finish. We have a game in hand over the two Manchester clubs and two over Liverpool so we still have a slim chance and cannot give up while there is still hope.
We are two points behind United and six points off Manchester City and hopefully we can reduce it further with a win at St Mary's!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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