Arsenal performance vs. Man Utd a tale of two 'ifs'

Declan Rice's goal salvaged a point for Arsenal, but the midfielder knows the result could have gone either way.

Arsenal will be left lamenting the missed opportunity yet again against Manchester United in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford with Mikel Arteta's side in dominant form, yet they came close to winning and losing the contest.

After a first half of what can only be described as total domination, the Gunners were hit by a Bruno Fernandes sucker punch with United's captain scoring a free kick right on the stroke of half time.

The Gunners then clicked into gear in the second half, and Declan Rice's well-taken effort saw the visitors take a point.

Arsenal close to so many different outcomes vs. United

But in typical Arsenal fashion, it nearly managed to win all three points at the death, but it also nearly managed to lose all three and had it not been for David Raya's exploits, the Gunners would have been returning to north London with their tails between their legs.

Thankfully, the Gunners managed to secure a point and yes, the title is now way out of reach, but any point that goes towards solidifying top four is like gold.

For Rice, the trouble with the performance against United was that there were two very different Arsenal efforts in the game.

“We passed the ball really well, moved really well but just didn't create enough, like we did in PSV on Tuesday night," Rice said via arsenal.com. "It was nice having a lot of the ball and passing and moving and having that fluidity, but we didn't have enough threat in the first half.

“In the second half we opened up a little bit more, had some more chances, but also on the other end of that, we were a bit naive in that last 10 minutes, doing stuff we've not done all season and could have easily thrown the game away. So there are two different spins on it for me, and probably a fair point in the end."

So you have the two "spins" as Rice said.

In the first half, Arsenal dominated but couldn't find a way through. Then we had the equalizer, and the team could have easily slammed home another goal or two to take all three points. However, in chasing the game, they left themselves open going the other way and could have lost it.

That is the odd thing about the Arsenal performance. It's that it could have gone any way, and luckily, at least a point was taken from Old Trafford.

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