Saturday gave us the first Big 4 encounter as Manchester United welcomed an Arsenal side that is in marauding form. Two of the best sides in England since the Premier League began have always been the recipe of a mouthwatering contest for fans and neutrals alike.
Yet, for the first 40 minutes of the game, it was one midfield playing the other. This apart from Fletcher's effort just under 10 minutes which he blasted wide after being set up by Wayne Rooney, and Arshavin's brilliantly guided ball (on a corner) which missed the post by mere inches.
It was near the 40th minute that the match really took off. Arshavin had the ball in the penalty area and tried to dribble across a diving Darren Fletcher. He got the ball away before Fletcher came crashing into his legs. A blind man would have given this a penalty.
But such is the way football treats you. Luck has rarely shown it's pretty face to Darren Fletcher and he welcomed it with open arms. It was on a similar night last year at the Emirates, that Fletcher had got the ball away from Cesc Fabregas inside the penalty box, but the referee saw otherwise. Cue the yellow card, and Fletcher was out of the CL Final. Clearly a player United sorely missed on that night and the evidence of this argument was provided by Fletcher against Arsenal. He tread on every blade of grass on the Old Trafford pitch, blocked every pass in a radius of 10 meters, strung together great offensive runs and hassled the Arsenal midfield for its possession.
Coming back to the 40th minute of the match. Arsenal were soon in possession and it was the Russian maestro who collected a pass 30 yards out and sent a screamer past Ben Foster to hand Arsenal the lead. Foster should have done better with his save. Stronger hands would have seen the ball sail over the top post, but that strike deserved to rest at the back of the net. The goal sprang United into life and they bombarded the Arsenal goal till Half-Time, but 'that' pass into the final third was missing.
After the restart it was Arsenal who threatened first and Foster made amends of his earlier mistake, saving brilliantly from Van Persie who should have been on the score sheet just on the basis of his display. The two teams exchanged some good moves, but it was at the hour mark that things turned drastically bad for Arsenal. Ryan Giggs put a beautifully weighted through ball in the path of Wayne Rooney who burst through the Arsenal defense and tried to beat the keeper on the dribble but was brought down by Manuel Almunia. The Arsenal stopper could have few complaints about the penalty, clearly tagging Rooney, but maybe should have questioned his decision making. The referee took his own time to allow Rooney to shoot and when he blew his whistle, Rooney sent Almunia the wrong way and leveled the score.
United brought on Ji-Sung Park for the unimpressive Valencia (at 63 minutes) and a minute after the introduction of the Korean, the Red Devils won a free-kick in the middle of the Park. Ryan Giggs stepped up and floated in a beautiful cross in no-man's land only to find an unopposed Abou Diaby in the box who showed some sublime finishing skills to find the back of the net with his header. Too bad it was in his own net. Stretford End had erupted. And with United in the lead, it was going to be very tough for the Gunners to come back on level terms after this fiasco.
The heads had dropped, shoulders clammed up as Arsenal showed the body language of a team that had just conceded their 3rd goal without reply (cue the same CL semi-final from last year). A far cry from their display on the night. Diaby tried to make amends immediately after the restart but his shot just didn't match his run. At the other end United were threatening on the counter attack but showed exactly why they need a better performance from their midfield men. While Fletcher and Carrick control the ball well, they can't even match Giggs for passing. The veteran showing exactly why Sir Alex saves him for the big games.
In the closing stages of the game, both teams spurned brilliant chances - Berbatov, who came on at the 85th minute to replace Giggs, was teed up beautifully by Nani but sent his shot crashing wide, and then Van Persie put the ball in the back of the net only to see the offside flag raised for Gallas.
A very bemused Arsene Wenger was sent off with 30 seconds to go, for kicking a bottle in frustration. And he should have been frustrated. Arsenal got a result they didn't deserve and they only have themselves to blame.
I was talking to my friend, an ardent Gunner, and told him I predicted his team winning 2-1 at Old Trafford. But I also said that if United take the lead, they will not get beaten at home. They rarely do. United showed again that they can do the job on the night without coming within a country mile of their best.
And Arsenal are susceptible to giving it away and their history shows it. They will be brilliant for 85 minutes and then will have a period of 5 crazy minutes where they gift the game to their opponents and teams like United will punish you at such times.
When Arshavin scored, Martin Tyler very eloquently described the goal as "From Russia, with Love". I say the United's victory was "From Arsenal, with Love"
The season is still in its infancy and who knows who will have the last laugh. The Gunners have 30th January marked on the calendar as "Revenge Date".
Until Then, Bring in the Beers.
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