Arsenal scores 2 goals in the field on average, but will there be enough forces to beat Manchester United, who is sure to arrive not in combat composition, because the next week you have to get out of the skin, but win the result after the first semifinal match LE, turn into the final.
Arsene Wenger finally recorded a Premier League victory against Jose Mourinho as Arsenal kept their slim top-four hopes alive with a well-deserved win over Manchester United. At the end of the day, that's what I make of it. It will hurt United and Mourinho to lose to Arsenal, but it is a pain that is probably sensible to suffer. As Arsenal are lured forward, this could prove costly for a manager whose constant pursuit of expansive attacking football leaves him vulnerable to conservative tacticians.
This was the 16th competitive head to head between Wenger and Mourinho - and the 13th in league play - since 2004.
The Frenchman stuck with Arsenal's new-look 3-4-2-1 system. Substitutes: Jesse Lingard (for Mkhitarayan, 61): 5, Marcus Rashford (for Herrera, 63): 6, Scott McTominay (for Mata, 84): 6. This is a particularly bad time for Arsenal to face Mourinho's team.
By rights it should be a member of Manchester United's much put-upon back line doing all the moaning.
Subs not used: Ospina, Gabriel, Iwobi, Walcott.
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But the best chance of the half fell to Wayne Rooney, who pounced on a defensive error before being denied by Petr Cech.
The Ivory Coast striker tried to control a cross but saw the ball hit his knee and fly past Jens Lehmann to ruin Wenger's 500th game at the Arsenal helm. Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez operate as inside forwards in this system, floating across the number ten space in the hope of creating multiple short-passing options through the centre. In the 14 times that the two have clashed (in Premier League and EFL Cup), Mourinho has won seven times and there have been seven draws. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was excellent again.
Even as Mourinho prepared for another battle with his oldest rival in England, complaining as he does so that accumulative tiredness might force him to make a few changes at the Emirates, the difference in attitude between the two managers was noticeable.
Granit Xhaka was initially ruled out of this match due to an ankle injury but he took part in training yesterday and faces a late fitness test to be fit for today. Four of those are center backs, leaving Mourinho without a fit, recognized senior central defender. There is a reason why no Arsenal midfielder has excelled over the past ten years; it is the system at fault, not the individuals. Even the timing of the goals, separated by three minutes roughly 10 minutes after the restart, was nearly exactly the same as at White Hart Lane last week.
"You can tell me we didn't play with the best players, or the first choice at the moment, but you can't say we didn't try to win the game".
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