Only one statistic really matters and it went against us as Arsenal suffered a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of 10-man Manchester United.
Over 30 shots on goal and some impressive attacking football could on another day be seen as a big positive, but when you come out of the game with nothing it matters little.
Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea is considered among the world's best for a good reason and he once again proved his top class ability with 14 saves to keep Arsenal out. It is the most saves by a goalkeeper in a single game in Premier League history and was a major factor in the game.
We were also denied a penalty, which was very frustrating, but we can't simply hide behind this. Yes, it had a big impact on the game, but as Arsene Wenger pointed out we weren't efficient enough. Over half of our total shot count were off target and our disastrous start that saw us go 2-0 down in 11 minutes gave us too much of a mountain to climb. Regardless of the goalkeeping masterclass and penalty shouts, this isn't good enough. There's not much you can do to prevent a fantastic performance from a goalkeeper, but some of the elements in our control, such as defensive errors, could have been avoided.
No matter how good elements of the performance are, it is the result that gets remembered the most and this was certainly a bad one for us! It only took Manchester United four minutes to open the scoring when, after we gave the ball away far too easily, Antonio Valenica powered a low angle drive under Petr Cech.
It soon got worse for Arsenal just seven minutes later when Shkodran Mustafi, who was forced off injured soon after, was caught in possession. The German defender really should have done better and it was a soft goal to concede. But Manchester United deserve some credit for a well-worked finish as Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial combined well to set up Jesse Lingard to prod the ball past Cech.
Arsenal tried to find a way back into the match and very nearly got one after a quick break, but somehow the visitors scrambled it behind for a corner. From the resulting set-piece Alexandre Lacazette forced a save out of De Gea before the ball then bobbled wide off the French striker's knee. De Gea was again called into action soon after as he saved Aaron Ramsey's long-range effort.
The Gunners continued to create chances as Lacazette hit the crossbar from close range before Alex Iwobi saw his follow-up blocked and Granit Xhaka shot just wide.
Mesut Ozil's first-time strike was well saved by De Gea before Nemanja Matic made a crucial block to deny Ramsey.
Arsenal were definitely creating enough chances, but they just simply could not find a way to get past De Gea, who produced fine saves in the closing stages of the first half to parry efforts from Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac.
In added time of the first half De Gea kept out a close-range effort from Xhaka, which took a touch off Lukaku, as the visitors continued to frustrate Arsenal.
Arsenal reduced the deficit and got the goal their positive play deserved within four minutes of the restart. Alexis Sanchez dinked the ball over the top for Ramsey, who hit it first time for Lacazette to take a touch and fire the ball beyond De Gea.
But Manchester United very nearly restored their two-goal advantage soon after. Lingard got in behind the defence before his effort was blocked by Cech and it then hit a post.
There was no wonder that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho labelled De Gea's performance as the "best from a goalkeeper in the world" as the Spanish shot-stopper was simply outstanding. De Gea produced a great save to parry an effort from Arsenal substitute Alex Iwobi, before the same player headed straight at the goalkeeper.
De Gea produced an even better moment of goalkeeping soon after, with a one-handed save to deny Lacazette before somehow keeping out Alexis Sanchez's rebound. It was a truly remarkable double save from a world class goalkeeper!
Those saves proved crucial as, instead of what should have been Arsenal level and back in the game, the Gunners was punished with a third goal from the visitors shortly after the hour mark. Paul Pogba and Lingard combined well before the latter tapped in from close range.
It is not that often a Premier League goalkeeper has to make quite so many saves, but De Gea was determined not to be beaten again as he parried Sanchez's powerful strike from outside of the box.
Arsenal were given hope of a possible comeback when Pogba was shown a red card for a stamp on the back of Bellerin's knee with 15 minutes remaining. It was a nasty challenge and a careless one!
Substitute Danny Welbeck tried his luck eight minutes from time, but his deflected effort was tipped over the crossbar by De Gea. Arsenal were denied what looked like a clear penalty when Welbeck was fouled in the box late on to show that it really wasn't going to be our day.
Ramsey blazed over the bar in stoppage time as Arsenal's day ended in disappointment.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Manchester United fan Aran Scarrott believes the "thrilling" contest at the Emirates showed the difference between the two sides.
"Two different teams with different styles both contributed to a thrilling game to watch," said Scarrott. "I think United were pretty lucky to get the win and I'm sure most Arsenal fans can't believe that they lost.
"In a way I think the game epitomised the Mourinho/Wenger stereotypes. One team were largely uninspiring, but ruthless, the other were attractive but ultimately ineffective."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Although this was a very frustrating defeat, I've got to simply hold my hands up and say what a great goalkeeper De Gea is.
Don't get me wrong I rate our goalkeeper Petr Cech and he can be excellent, but De Gea is like a whole different level compared to all the others in the Premier League. But this wasn't only down to the goalkeeper as we were also wasteful in front of goal at times.
We are way off the pace in terms of the title race as we have fallen even further behind leaders Manchester City - sitting fifth and 12 points away from them isn't really good enough. We are only one point behind Liverpool though and third-placed Chelsea are four above us, so we need to work hard on catching the teams around us.
Frustratingly this seems to be another failed title challenge, but if we cut out the silly mistakes and are more clinical there is no reason why we can't finish second or third. But if we are not careful we could slip further behind so we need to make sure we get back to winning ways in the league when we travel to Southampton.
Before we can think about that though, we must switch our attention to the Europa League and our final Group H game at home against BATE Borisov.
We have already qualified for the knock-out stages and secured top spot in the group, so rotation is inevitable, but we can have a big say in who finishes runner-up as only one point separates BATE, Cologne and Red Star Belgrade.
We need to do a professional job and go up another level as this next game isn't just about the result, it is about putting in the right level of performance. Without being disrespectful to the opposition this isn't a match we should be scraping 1-0 and we need to make sure we are more clinical if we are to get a big win.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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