2 positives and 3 negatives from Arsenal's dreadful loss vs Manchester United

Arsenal slipped up again in the Premier League as they fell to a 3-2 home defeat against Manchester United on Sunday.

For the first 30 minutes, it seemed a repeat of the Liverpool clash was on the cards with the Gunners unable to make their bright start pay dividends; then, Lisandro Martinez steered a cross into his own net to give the Emirates lift off.

Positives and negatives from Arsenal’s terrible 3-2 Premier League loss to Manchester United

But the joy did not last and two goals either side of the break – a gift for Bryan Mbeumo and a rocket from Patrick Dorgu – put the visitors ahead. Matheus Cunha suppled a final dagger with another top-class strike to win it at the death.

These are nervous times in north London, and here are the positives (hmm) and negatives from this latest, sorry match.

Positive #1: Made the pressure count

That own goal feels oh so long ago now.

Arsenal started well here and had Man United pinned into their box, even if clear-cut chances were still hard to come by.

It is important to score when on top and, finally, the Gunners got a breakthrough just before the half-hour mark; Martin Odegaard played a dangerous ball across the six-yard area where the unfortunate Martinez stood to knock it past his own goalkeeper.

Getting the first goal should have been a real bonus; to make the pressure count and force a United side, one which likes to play on the counter, to instead come out and play, potentially leaving some space in behind.

At that point, Mikel Arteta had his opponents exactly where he wanted them and might have backed his men to get the job done.

Now, the postmortem.

Negative #1: Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy

As they did versus Liverpool, Arsenal forgot how to play football after their initial burst and gave the visitors every chance to level.

First, William Saliba got his jockeying all wrong to let Bruno Fernandes sneak in on goal (to his credit, the Frenchman recovered well) before Martin Zubimendi came up with an even bigger clanger to gift possession to Bryan Mbeumo; it was a second bite of the cherry for United and, this time, they took full advantage.

Throwing the lead away was bad enough but that proved just the start. After the riposte, the Gunners lost all composure: they could not sustain pressure, hardly strung two passes together and, thus, they handed control to the away team.

Carelessness has become a feature of late and it continued for the remainder of this match, with the home team never really looking like getting back level. Then, when by some miracle they did, the joy lasted all of three minutes.

It needs to stop. Fast.  

Positive #2: Corners to the rescue

Where would Arsenal be without them?

For all their set-piece nous, the Gunners seemed to lose even that superpower here: every dead ball was either over hit, too near the goalkeeper or else just arrived at the wrong angle (Declan Rice put too much on one corner to Saka on the edge of the box before half-time).

But it would come up trumps eventually and did so courtesy of a man who so often comes up trumps for Arsenal: Mikel Merino. His poke from point-blank range squirmed inches over the goal-line and it took until the prompt confirmation from the watch of Craig Pawson before the fans could celebrate a ‘late fightback’.

They have proved invaluable throughout the campaign but not even set-pieces could mask the awful performance from this team.

Negative #2: No impact from subs

Arteta is known to react slowly but he threw the kitchen sink at United here; not long after Dorgu put United in front, the boss made four substitutions – bringing on three attackers – to try swing matters in his favour.

A bold move? Yes. Did it work? Not at all.

Eberechi Eze was anonymous, Viktor Gyokeres ruffled a few feathers but, overall, had minimal impact and Noni Madueke did next to nothing on the right flank. Meanwhile, Ben White did his level best to help United waste time by taking an age over every throw-in.

Arsenal stole a march on the rest of the league by spending so much on depth last summer. However, either Arteta does not know how to use it or the players are losing their spark as not one of the men brought on made an ounce of difference.

That is not good enough, especially when you consider the quality and money tied up in some of the names mentioned above.

Negative #3: Title grip slips

Every season has its peaks and troughs; Arsenal need this to be the last dip in their current slump or else the lead they have will soon disappear.

After the Manchester Derby last week, the Gunners had the chance to go nine points clear at the top of the table – eight days later and that lead is down to four, with seven points dropped over their last three leagues games.

Maybe that just happens (God knows Manchester City have been just as poor) and only seems worse because of how desperate fans are to see twenty years of title pain come to an end. But it feels even less acceptable given just how strong the squad is, while the awful performances that accompany the bad results only exacerbate those fears.

Here is hoping for a Spurs win next Sunday and, for heaven’s sake, an Arsenal one at Elland Road next Saturday too.