London, Wednesday: Mikel Arteta got everything he asked for in his first win as Arsenal manager with a rampant first 45 minutes from the Gunners earning a 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates.
Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored the goals to secure just a second win in 16 games.
Arsenal started the game three times as many points off the top four as the relegation zone, but a first home win in 87 days hauls Arteta’s men up to 10th and within four points of United in fifth.
“I am very pleased with the performance, I’m even more pleased with the result,” said Arteta after his third game in charge. “Everything I wanted to see on the pitch, I saw tonight.”
There were signs of encouragement for Arsenal in Arteta’s home debut against Chelsea on Sunday when only a late collapse saw a 1-0 lead turn into a 2-1 defeat.
However, this time the hosts saw the game through as a dismal United performance raised fresh questions over their chances of finishing in the top four.
“At the moment we are suffering to maintain that level of intensity of the first halves,” added Arteta.
“That will come, but as well I really liked the resilience they showed. I liked to see them suffer together.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were again shorn of Paul Pogba, who faces another month out after an operation on a troublesome ankle injury that has kept him out for the majority of the season.
Pogba’s absence is still evident in United’s inability to create when denied the chance to counter-attack and they failed to recover after falling behind early on.
“After they scored the first goal, it seemed like they got loads of energy,” said Solskjaer.
“They were the better team. They were aggressive, they regained the ball and it was hard to get the ball off them.” AFP
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