ARSENAL CLINCHED VICTORY LATE IN THE DYING MINUTES
- Pramit Bhattacharya
- Sep 8, 2023
- 6 min read
OVERVIEW
Arsenal showed a champions-like performance against the Red Devils as they beat Manchester United 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Late goals from Declan Rice and Gabriel Jesus helped Arteta's team to grab 3 crucial points before going into the international break. Jesus has never lost a football game in his career in which he has scored -- he keeps his record intact.
It is not an ideal start for Ten Hag's side as they gathered 6 points out of 12. It would be an important break for Ten Hag. They need to bounce back into winning ways in order to challenge for the title. I am looking forward to the future tactical changes Ten Hag implements due to the absentees.
KEY MOMENTS
Dalot was given a rather unique role in this match. He was seen to get into the centre as the extra midfielder giving Rashford the width in the left wing.
In the second picture, you can see, that immediately after United recovered the ball, Dalot sprinted forward to provide extra stability in the final third.
In the third picture, Dalot makes a forward run from the inside channel of the midfield drawing Saka with him. This created the space in the left wing where Rashford is free. Casemiro switches the ball to the other side of the pitch to Rashford.
An average player touches the ball nearly 50-60 times in a match or has the ball in total control for only about 2-3 minutes. So 96% of the time, the player has no contact with the ball. It is all about the off-the-ball movements, positioning and the game knowledge of the player. These movements generally get shadowed by the fancy goal and assist statistics these days, but no team in the world can score without these essential aspects of the game.
DEFENSIVE STRUCTURE -- Ten Hag was clear with his defensive instruction. They did not allow Havertz and Odegaard space to run with the ball.
United kept a high line of defence throughout the match.
In this pic, as Odegaard drops really deep in the centre circle to receive the ball, he is tracked down by Lisandro Martinez. Marcus Rashford joins the press and makes the Norwegian go further back towards their defence.
I would say they dealt with the Arsenal forwards pretty well. They did not give them much space to work with. The defence was organised and structured.
The only thing that can be said is that Martinelli was allowed to run with the ball in the flanks. But I think that was approved only because of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He is the best 1v1 tackler of the ball. All the other CBs and holding players were in position, so when Wan-Bissaka recovered the ball, a quick counter could break the Arsenal defence.
Creating space in the right - Arsenal used Zinchenko as the inverted fullback in the midfield with Declan Rice.
Antony came short towards the centre to receive the ball many times. This drew Gabriel and Zinchencko out of position, so Eriksen and Wan-Bissaka were allowed to get into the space behind Antony.
In the second picture, if that would have been Mount instead of Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes could have opted for a lofted pass into the space marked in red.
Due to his age and decreased pace, Eriksen could not have reached it, had he played the ball.
0:27:00 - GOAL! Eriksen intercepted the pass at the edge of United's box and played a beautifully timed through ball between Ben White and Gabriel to find Rashford in the wings.
Rashford's top-notch finish gave the Red Devils a 1-0 lead.
Rashford, when operating from the left can be a beast. It was a very good counter from Ten Hag's men.
They waited and absorbed the pressure and struck at the right moment.
0:28:00 - GOAL! Arsenal struck right back just 35 seconds after the restart.
Zinchenko cut the ball back into Nketiah, who was free at the edge of the box.
Lisandro Martinez charged in to apply pressure. Eriksen filled in for Martinez.
If you see Lindelof carefully when the ball is being passed by Zinchenko, he is totally wrong-footed. Lindelof's body position is incorrect and he should have been facing the ball -- then he would have been aware of the position of both the ball and Martinelli.
Nketiah plays a first-time pass to Martinelli. Lindelof is facing Onana now and he needs to turn, which gave the Brazilian winger a few extra seconds to pick his pass to the arriving Odegaard at the edge of the penalty area.
These small details of the positioning play a crucial role in top-flight football. I believe that positioning is the best factor in judging a player's game knowledge.
The next point is Eriksen. He needs to be more towards his left, closer to Odegaard. There are 4 Man Utd players covering Martinelli and Onana covering the 1st post. There is no chance he can shoot. Martinelli needed to pass the ball. Given his experience, Eriksen should have once looked over his shoulder and seen Odegaard's position. He could have easily intercepted the ball.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka as the inverted RB - In the picture below, both Casemiro and Eriksen are observed (see their hand position) to be instructing Wan-Bissaka to get forward and inwards.
The Man Utd right-back gets into the inner channel of the midfield opening the winger (#21 Antony), the space in the wings.
I want to emphasize this miss-pass - This could have been a goalscoring opportunity.
Bruno recovered the ball in the final third. He had both Martial and Rashford in front of him.
If he made the correct pass to Martial, Rashford had the opportunity to make the run behind Ben White and create a possible 1v1 situation with Ramsdale.
0:90+6:0 - GOAL! United conceded a goal late in the stoppage time.
The corner from Saka flew past everyone in the penalty area and dropped at Rice's feet in the far post.
Evans, realising the ball is going behind him, tries to go back and close in.
How is this not a foul? Gabriel is clearly obstructing Evans from covering Rice. He has both his hands around Evans.
In 2nd picture, you can see the body posture of Gabriel. He is leaning forward, restricting Jonny Evans to get near the ball.
In the last second, Evans finally got rid of Gabriel to try to stop the shot. But that is the defender's instinct -- to stop the ball from going in the goal.
Secondly, I would like to question Onana's positioning. Rice is the last man in the penalty area with no one blocking him. If he would have been a single step to his right, he could have saved it. You wouldn't get a reaction time to cover that much space in the 1st bar when the opponent is shooting from 6 yards. Onana needs to hold his 1st bar and cover it with all his might. Poor positioning from Onana.
I know Onana has been brought in for his immaculate ball distribution capabilities, but he is still a goalkeeper, he needs to get his positioning right!
0:90+11:0 -- GOAL! Gabriel Jesus scored his first goal against Manchester United from a fast counter attack.
United pushed men forward looking for an equalizer in the stoppage time. Saliba's clearance fell at the feet of Fabio Vieira.
Jesus was through and it was a cool and calm finish from the Brazilian.
CONCLUSION
Manchester United played a 4-2-3-1 formation almost throughout the game. Casemiro and Eriksen acted as the double pivot.
In the first half, United tried building from the back using Onana. He became the extra defender as Lindelof sometimes went to the CDM position. I was impressed as United were calm under the Arsenal pressure and could take the ball out of difficult positions.
United attempted the direct diagonal pass from Onana to the wings either to Rashford, Dalot, or Antony. Therefore, they were consistently moving around to make space for that pass. The idea was pretty much out there, but Ten Hag needs to work on the implementation.
The players need to involve Rashford more in the game. The most probable chances have come from the left wing. Ben White seemed to be struggling in the 1v1 situations with Rashford. United needed to find more ways to isolate Rashford on the ball in the left wing.
Man United were extremely organised in the defence. They absorbed the Arsenal pressure and waited for the counter.
The player that outshined was Dalot. He was always well-positioned alongside Saka and did a good job of covering him. During the buildup, Dalot pushed for the long pass.
United played quite a high line, thereby not giving Odegaard and Havertz much space to run with the ball.
The only loophole I found in United's defence in this match was Eriksen. He was up against the young Norwegian. He couldn't keep up with the pace of Odegaard. Eriksen is not what he was 4 years ago, he cannot press.
**NOTE: All the match screenshots are taken from the live stream of the match from Disney+ Hotstar. I have annotated them to provide my analytical perspectives.
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