Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta Earns 1st Win with Victory over Manchester United

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Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 in the Premier League on Wednesday at the Emirates Stadium to secure their first win under new manager Mikel Arteta.  

The Gunners enjoyed a dominant first half and took the lead after just eight minutes when Nicolas Pepe side-footed Sead Kolasinac’s cross past goalkeeper David De Gea.  

Arsenal added a deserved second three minutes before half-time. De Gea could only parry a flick on by Alexandre Lacazette at the near post, allowing Sokratis to smash the ball home from close range.

Manchester United improved after the break but could not find a way back into the match, slipping to their sixth Premier League defeat of the season.

Arteta named an attacking lineup containing Mesut Ozil, Pepe, Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while the visitors brought Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Luke Shaw and Jesse Lingard back into their starting XI:

Goal shared the two teams:

Arsenal’s attacking approach paid off with a pair of scores in the first half in which they spurned several other good opportunities.

Pepe broke the deadlock after good work from Kolasinac down the flank. The left-back raced to the byline and cut the ball back to the Ivorian to fire home his third Premier League goal of the season:

The summer arrival from Lille gave Manchester United’s Luke Shaw a torrid time in the opening 45 minutes. He raced past the left-back minutes later and crossed for Aubameyang to blaze a volley over the bar.

Harry Maguire was also enduring a difficult evening for the visitors. Lacazette beat the central defender on the half-hour mark and had a great chance to double Arsenal’s lead, but his shot skewed horribly wide.

The hosts went close again through Lucas Torreira. The Uruguayan turned on the edge of the box and rifled a shot that whistled just past De Gea’s left-hand post.

Another chance came on 35 minutes when Pepe unleashed a shot from range that beat De Gea but smacked the bottom of his post.

Arsenal’s second goal finally arrived just before half-time. Lacazette met Pepe’s corner from the right at the near post, and while De Gea was able to keep it out he could not deny Sokratis on the follow-up:

Manchester United will have been relieved to hear the half-time whistle and made changes early in the second half, sending on Andreas Pereira and Mason Greenwood for Daniel James and Lingard.

Pereira smashed an effort into the side netting within seconds of his arrival, while Marcus Rashford fired over the bar as United began to belatedly offer an attacking threat.

Yet the Red Devils lacked quality in the final third and struggled to test Bernd Leno in the Arsenal goal despite seeing plenty of the ball in the second half.

The defeat means Manchester United miss the chance to close the gap on Chelsea in fourth, while Arsenal are up to 10th place and just four points behind the Red Devils after securing their first home win in the top flight since October 6.

What’s Next?

Manchester United play Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday in the third round of the FA Cup. Arsenal play in the competition on Monday at home to Championship leaders Leeds United.

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