Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal put an end to their horrible record on the road against the Premier League‘s ‘big six’ with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.
The Gunners hadn’t tasted victory away against of the division’s top sides since a 2-0 win at Manchester City in 2015, but a Pierre–Emerick Aubameyang penalty ended that unwanted record.
Arsenal were far more intense in their attacking approach in the first period, and were unfortunate not to go into the break ahead. Bukayo Saka blazed a header over the bar from relatively close range, Willian found the woodwork with a left-footed strike from distance while Alexandre Lacazette had the ball pipped from his toes by Harry Maguire as he was about to strike on goal.
The deadlock was finally broken on 69 minutes after Paul Pogba clipped the ankle of Hector Bellerin on the back of a long passing move from the visitors. Captain Aubameyang stepped up to face David de Gea and made no mistake with a composed spot kick which sent the Spanish international goalkeeper the wrong way.
United threw everything at the Gunners in the closing stages, with the likes of Edinson Cavani and Donny van de Beek coming off the bench to attempt to spark a comeback. Arteta, in response, took off his striking duo and bulked up his defence to deal with the late onslaught.
The equaliser almost arrived when Bellerin’s block deflected towards goal, only for Bernd Leno to divert the ball onto the post with his face, which he knew very little about.
Arsenal managed to hold on in the end, for a vital three points and a morale boosting win which ended their run of 29 matches (19 defeats and 10 draws) without success away to the ‘big six’.
