Revenge against Pride, Arsenal against Robin Van Persie, whatever you name, it was one hell of a match last night. Van Persie returned to the Emirates in the worst possible manner Arsenal fans would have imagined as he stepped on the turf as a Premier league Champion with the Arsenal XI giving the United players a guard of honour admist of the boos from the home fans. The match was played in a frantic pace throughout the 90 minutes. An offside goal by Walcott and a penalty from RVP himself resulted in a 1-1 draw.
Player Ratings:
Manchester United:
David de Gea: 6/10
The only real threat he faced was a couple of long range efforts from Cazorla which he managed to stop. Could have done a bit better with Walcott’s goal and was a little wasteful in his distribution and hurried clearances.
Rafael: 6.5/10
Although he din’t posses any attacking threats, did his job at the back quiet effectively.
Ferdinand: 7.5/10
Hardly put a foot wrong. Made Podolski’s life hard as he won almost all the long balls that came in his way. As always Ferdinand’s positioning was top-class.
Evra: 6/10
His mistake led to an early goal. But it was not entirely his mistake as the linesman made an error in judgement playing Walcott onside while the winger was clearly offside. Although he could have influenced the decision by stepping back. Otherwise had a decent game.
Phil Jones: 6.5/10
Made some good ground to present himself with a couple of chances to score but squandered his chance on both the occasions. Had a decent game in the midfield role he was presented with, however he could have avoided a few silly fouls.
Carrick: 7/10
As always a calm and solid performance by the Englishman. Didn’t seem to be budged by Arsenal’s pressing game and helped out his defenders to the maximum when Arsenal had the ball.
Valencia: 5.5/10
Wayward crossing from the wide man. Another disappointing performance.
Rooney: 6/10
Was not in the game for the first half hour. Looked sloppy in midfield, lacked that killer instinct when it came to passing in the final third apart from a neat flick on to the path of Carrick and a long ball towards Giggs late in the game. Looks like he needs some motivation to get his game going and maybe the Summer break could help him.
Nani: 6.5/10
A much better performance than Valencia in the right wing. Nani was deployed in the left wing by Ferguson and the player din’t disappoint Took defenders on and seemed to show a glimpse of his old self with tricks and his trademark cut-ins and shoot from the right.
Robin van Persie: 7/10
Although his misplaced pass led to Arsenal’s early opener, it was a perfect return to the Emirates for Van Persie. Scored a trade mark penalty late in the first half to equalise things and kept to himself admits of all the boos around the stadium.
SUBS
Anderson, Giggs and Chicharito: Apart from Giggs, who had a shot deflected by Chamberlain there is nothing much to rate the subs.
Arsenal
Szczesny: 6/10
Arsenal fans would have remembered the scene where Szczesny would kiss Van Persie’s boots last season, however this time around he faced the Dutch man on his opposite side as he took the penalty but unfortunately for the Arsenal keeper, it was too good a shot to stop. Apart from that had a decent game stopping a couple of crucial headers and shots that came his way.
Sagna: 4.5/10
Is the time for the French man in Arsenal colors over? Yet another poor show from the full back. Culprit of giving away a silly penalty and din’t quite recover from the incident as he was sloppy throughout the game.
Mertesacker: 6/10
Didn’t have much defending to do. Stuck to the Dutchman quite well to intercept the occasional forward passes.
Koscielny: 7/10
A great game for the Frenchman, was given the job of closing down on van Persie which he did with great panache.
Gibbs: 6.5/10
Kept Valencia at bay for the most part of the game except for United’s counter-attacks which saw the English man at no man’s land. Defensively was solid and pressed United’s men early in the first half to win the ball back.
Rosicky: 7.5/10
The little Mozrat was easily Arsenal’s best player on the night, released Walcott en route for their first goal, and had a pop at goal himself. If he keeps playing like, the midfielder can possibly have an extended stay at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta: 6.5/10
Was an okay game for the Arsenal captain. Had the task of keeping Rooney within his limits which he did quite comfortably. Helped in winning the balls back when they lost possession
Ramsey: 7.5/10
Along with Rosicky, the Welsh man Performed excellently in the midfield. Ramsey is truly underrated, he showed amazing physical presence throughout the time he was on the pitch. The one main thing lacking in his game is his patience which makes him to commit a huge number of miss placed passes. Excellent work rate once again.
Cazorla: 6/10
Had two decent attempts on goal, never really troubled the defense with his vision and wasted a free-kick late on in the game. Could have contributed more to the creative part of the game which was clearly missing.
Podolski: 5.5/10
A rare start for the German, which he couldn’t capitalise on. Was hardly involved in the game.
Walcott: 6/10
A much better performance compared to his recent games as he scored an early goal. Although he was on an offside position, it was a clean finish from the Winger.
SUBS:
Jack Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gervinho:
None of them could help the Gunners cause.
watch the hihglights here:
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