Premier League - Arsenal beat United to reignite title battle

Sun, 01 May 16:02:00 2011

Arsenal put a serious dent in Manchester United's Premier League title ambitions with a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

Match Highlights: Arsenal

Aaron Ramsey scored a deserved winner on 56 minutes as the Gunners emerged from a torrid run of form with a vibrant display.

Although Arsenal kept their slim title hopes alive, the main beneficiaries were Chelsea, who are three points behind leaders United with three matches left - the top two meet at Old Trafford next Sunday.

Having seen their trophy hopes disintegrate over two miserable months, Arsenal entered May freed from the pressure of expectation and produced one of their best displays of the season despite missing their captain.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was an unexpected absentee after picking up an injury in training - Ramsey replaced the World Cup-winner to great effect.

Despite Arsene Wenger's side's spring meltdown, their commitment to attacking football remains undimmed.

They immediately went on to the front foot, and a poor Nemanja Vidic clearance allowed Jack Wilshere a shot from the edge of the box that he dragged wide.

The lively Theo Walcott provided plenty of service from the right flank, and got on the end of a cross from the opposite flank when he slid in and put Gael Clichy's delivery over the bar.

And the winger was denied a certain goal when Patrice Evra make a crucial sliding interception on 15 minutes.

Just after the half-hour came a moment of supreme cynicism from Vidic, as Walcott bent a cross towards the head of Robin van Persie.

Knowing he could not reach the ball by fair means, the United captain flicked out a hand and batted it to safety.

The offence was missed not only by referee Chris Foy and his assistant, but also by most of the Arsenal team, of whom only Van Persie protested with any vigour.

United may point out the questionable decisions that gave Chelsea victory against Tottenham on Saturday, but two (or even three) wrongs seldom make a right, and a damaging weekend for the refereeing profession got worse.

The visitors' best chance came from Fabio, who latched on to a superb Nani pass but dithered when faced with the option whether to pass or shoot.

Wayne Rooney was a peripheral figure and picked up a silly booking when he kicked the ball at a prone Wilshere (not very hard, admittedly) after pushing the Arsenal midfielder.

A half-time blast from Sir Alex Ferguson inspired a much brighter United performance after the break, and Rooney brought a decent save from Wojciech Szczesny with a free-kick on 49 minutes.

But their resurgence was cut short by a man who rejected a move to Old Trafford before moving to Arsenal from Cardiff.

Ramsey produced a cool finish from 15 yards to place his shot low into the left corner following good work by Van Persie, giving Arsenal a deserved lead.

United surged back, and Vidic might have done better with his header after meeting Nani's cross.

Then Evra had a penalty appeal turned down after a coming-together with Clichy.

Szczesny excelled himself on 77 minutes when Rooney slipped Nani in down the left channel, but the goalkeeper stood tall to repel the shot.

Arsenal have made a habit of conceding heartbreaking late goals, but this time they would not be denied. United remain favourites to win a record 19th league title, but their job has just got much harder.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

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  1. its good to see the man utd trib e on this list bcrying­ there veyes out over a penalty that never was when­ there man should have got sent of for that jhand ball­ in the area maybe we can now forget the trajic munich­ incident and go and watch the team you support dont­ support a team you have no idea ofwhatthey play like on­ accont you have never visited the ground on a match day­ i have won more money on arsenal to pay for my season­ ticket again next term providingwenger is vstill in­ charge at the emirateswhat a silly idea it was to get­ him out who could you get to go to the emirates that­ could be half as good there is no better manager in the­ universe

    From RANGE ROVER, on Wed 4 May 19:39

  2. Bit of a twist on a old-old story--Sir Alick not only­ brought his own ref to the Emirates again (off the Old­ Mother Riley List of Red-Refs) but he had his own­ Linesman this time AND the REF did a fair old job­ of Mid-Field Blocker particularly in the first half. My­ mate said it was by accident or coincidence .....he­ believes in fairies too, specially the ones with red­ tutus...and he said Vidic was waving to his mate in the­ stand. That proves it, I think, he believes Vidic­ has got mates---not even the fairies would swallow­ that!

    From ERIC, on Wed 4 May 2:34

  3. Ferguson - you are a horrible, deranged, deluded old­ fool. Everyone knows the FA are in your pocket, yet you­ claim to be "victimised' by the ref when­ Arsenal deservedly beat your poor team. I guess­ you're just putting pressure on to ensure more­ one-sided decisions next time. Noticed you still got 5­ mins of stoppage time for no reason, other than because­ you were losing. It's been well documented that Man­ Utd get twice as much injury time when they're­ losing. The FA have been bought and paid for by Utd for­ decades. Plus, Vidic should've been sent­ off/penalty to Arsenal/banned for the Chelsea game,­ etc. Hypocrite.

    NB: Michael Owen just stood inside the­ box, didn't even try to run, obstructed­ Clichy's run and started collapsing to the floor­ even before he was ran into! Just ask any Newcastle­ fan, Owen will cheat you out of whatever he can -­ he's a conman....Anyway, Berbatov was offside and­ directly in line with the pass that went to Owen,­ before he DIVED.

    From Goatlips, on Tue 3 May 19:26

  4. Is Rooney suspended for the Chelsea match? When he got­ his booking it showed 5 bookings, although that was his­ 4th in the premier league but just that he got 1 in the­ FA cup. People say about the yellow card rule is­ finished in the close of the season.

    From Thomas, on Tue 3 May 4:26

  5. This loss is not as bad as people make out. Yes Utd are­ only 3 points ahead but they ignore the stats at Old­ Trafford. Utd have won every league match there except­ for one draw against West Brom who got extremely lucky­ and caught Van der Sar on an off day when he made 2­ mistakes. No team has scored in the 1st half at OT in­ the league for over a year and no team has won at OT in­ any competition for over 13 months, there is no­ indication that Chelsea will break this form in­ Manchester. The league is Utds. Deal with it.

    From Alex T, on Tue 3 May 1:30

  6. osama has been killed for a long time now you fairy­ tail believers, open your eyes people.
    but Chelsea isnt­ dead yet, they are still badly wounded after the­ Champions league exit, United will kill them off this­ Sunday and make sure they are completely destroyed!

    From Kevin Kk, on Mon 2 May 22:26

  7. ooooooooooooooooooh i never felt more like singin the­ blues
    when city win and yoonited lose
    ooooooocityyy ­ you got me singing the blues
    tic toc TIC TOC--- BONG

    From uncle malcolm the champ, on Mon 2 May 21:42

  8. Chelsea will kill Man-ure over the weekend like Osama

    From Neutral, on Mon 2 May 20:42

  9. osama is DEAD .

    From Mr United fan, on Mon 2 May 20:04

  10. Terry, I am a United supporter, judging by your Log-in­ name, if it's a made-up one, you are a Chelsea fan,­ right? Supporting a team does not make objectivity­ impossible. I, for example, would prefer Rooney no­ leave United, his behaviour doesn't warrant his­ priviledged position, but that's not the point. ­ Ferguson doesn't self-govern his own score,­ otherwise, as I'm sure you'll appreciate,­ United would've won yesterday... what you meant to­ say is that he reduces himself to the lowest common­ denominator to achieve victory - which is what I'm­ saying, and I thank him for it, it has given me as Utd­ supporter endlees moments of joy. Everyone in­ football has been waxing lyrical about Barca's play­ in the last few years - rightly so, yet no one seems­ to realise how much they sway yhe refs - cheating­ (diving, provoking cards, advertising UNICEF on the­ shirt to get UEFA amnesty - Mourinho said last week,­ I've been saying it for years - with the ultimate­ aim of winning footbal matches thanks to the refs who­ protect their delicate players, a tactic without­ which they would not have won as many titles. Point­ aside, well done Arsenal, deserved a higher score line.­ P.S. I'm unreal at golf.

    From Owen H, on Mon 2 May 18:35

  11. It's nice to restore a bit of pride and prove that­ we can get one over the Mancs. Now if only we could­ defend corners properly (Bolton) and the Ref's­ watch didn't mysteriously start running in slow­ motion (Liverpool) and the (not) "offside"­ goal was allowed to stand (Spurs) the premiership race­ may be looking a bit different right now.

    Just­ typical really.
    Too little too late.

    From Swallow M, on Mon 2 May 17:35

  12. Roughie Toughie Northerner,
    You are a smelly northerner­ c.u.n.t

    From Victoria-Concordia-Crescit, on Mon 2 May 16:43

  13. Kokain Fusion...if we're going to be pedantic­ innuendo has a total of three 'n's.

    From Mareseatoats, on Mon 2 May 16:37

  14. Next week,on Sunday,we are going to have a "Spank­ a Mank" day,when the boys in blue go to very Old­ Trafford and prove to vey old Alex that we are not­ Premier League Champions for nothing.

    From philmullins56, on Mon 2 May 16:24

  15. Manu are very weak in away games, SAF and his staff are­ responsible for this failure,
    its very difficult to­ think Manu could beat Chelsea on next game because­ Terry,Lampard and Drogba are untouchable and Chelsea­ squad protected by refs.

    From Augustine, on Mon 2 May 16:18

  16. Thank you Arse-nal. No 19th title for Fergie.
    From a­ Liverpool Fan

    From ToxicScott, on Mon 2 May 15:15

  17. fantastic....outstanding....mind blowing­ victory.....but one teeny weeny problem....its TOOOO­ LATE!!!

    From Augustine, on Mon 2 May 14:45

  18. After the way Arsenal started the match against M U, we­ the Malaysian Fans was delighted. What a show this is­ football of real class! Dont forget they were at an­ average age of 24+? From the hand of­ ...........(unsporting ,unsporting!!!!) and the extra 3­ minutes which this so call English referees gave­ Liverpool, Arsenal is indeed a Luckless team. They not­ only to battle with hell bent team to maim these young­ professional up and coming footballers it appeared that­ there is a conspirancy. Probably the word is jealousy.­ Yes Jealousy against the financially well rin club,a­ professor manager and his past successes and his­ intelligence to recruit youngsters who are destiny for­ Greatness. The UK referee Assoc. should also come up­ with some sort of punishment against members such as­ these two referees.They caused Arsenal to lose unfairly­ the Premier Cup!!!

    From Tony, on Mon 2 May 14:18

  19. actually the score was supposed to be arsenal 2 man­ united 1 ...
    both arsenal n man united penalties were­ not given ...anywy gunners deserved to win

    From wolfhunter, on Mon 2 May 14:02

  20. man u is so lousy.

    From Timothy, on Mon 2 May 13:17
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