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Key events
27 minutes: Saka tries to hold back Dalot, who grabs him by the waist and pulls him down. Free kick.
Manchester United have set themselves up to defend Casemiro as if he were the real target. Perhaps Onana should also stand before him
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) May 12, 2024
24 minutes: Arsenal cuts through the United defense again but White’s cross from the byline, with three yellow shirts to target, is poor and goes out.
22 minutes: Casemiro has taken a lot of criticism this week and I don’t want to join the pile-on, but for about 60 seconds there he couldn’t have played any differently if he actively wanted to assist Arsenal. “For a quick summary of how far Manchester United have fallen, you only have to look at the two benches,” writes Richard Hirst. “Much of Arsenal’s bench will feature in United’s first XI; on the contrary … maybe not. Certainly United’s bench makes terrifying reading.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal (Trossard, 20 mins)
Arsenal took the lead! Havertz is released into all sorts of space on the right – played in by the lazy Casemiro – then gets to the byline and fires a low ball across goal where Trossard finds himself in front of Wan-Bissaka!
17 minutes: United give the ball away twice in their own half, worryingly.
14 minutes: Dalot now makes a long diagonal run and wins a corner at the end of it. It is directed clearly.
13 minutes: United started the game weakly but the last 10 minutes or so were really encouraging. They may not humiliate themselves here.
10 minutes: Rice’s back pass is weak and the crowd roars as Raya instantly decides not to come for him. But then the keeper has second thoughts, scrambles and fires it down.
9 minutes: So far Arsenal they completely dominated for four minutes and United another four. Perhaps another change now as Saka is brought on from the right and wins a corner.
7 minutes: United remain on the front foot. Garnacho has a couple of shots and both are deflected, the first back to a team-mate to continue the move, the second wide of the goal.
5 minutes: And suddenly United got a chance! Csaemiro’s cross doesn’t quite reach Hojland, but ace Arsenal try to pass it outside the defence. McTominay pops up to steal it and it goes back to Hoyland who has a free-kick from the edge of the area. He totally stirs it up.
4 minutes: The first shot of the day comes from Saka, but it’s straight at Onana. The ball barely left the quarter of the pitch closest to United’s goal.
2 minutes: Great first minute of Arsenalwhich ended up winning a corner, but only because Trossard didn’t anticipate Saka’s cross and didn’t get to it first.
1 minute: Peeeeeep! Arsenal, in a bright yellow kit, kick off.
They are outside, hands clasped and the preambles complete. Quick stacking – Arsenal hold theirs in an unusual location, just to the left of their penalty area – and the game begins.
Players gather in the tunnel. Football is inevitable!
“Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. Hello! “I’d be a lot more concerned about Arsenal’s poor form at Old Trafford if I hadn’t spent all of April watching Manchester United driving their fans crazy at home. Trying and failing to feed Liverpool a win, falling behind (twice!) against Sheffield United, playing so poorly against Burnley that a 1-1 result could fairly be called an insult to Burnley rather than Man U. I expect the Gunners to take decisive steps to address the narrowing goal gap between them and Manchester City.” This is the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the teams’ recent performances. Football, thankfully, is still callous at times.
A quarter of an hour before kick-off. The field empties of players as players from both sides come in to receive their final instructions.
Speaking of Manchester United and FA Cup finals: “45 years ago today (the day I was born), these two teams met in a ‘five-minute final’,” writes Graham Thorne. “Arsenal will definitely need the same kind of result today, but perhaps without all the stress of the last five minutes.”
More information:
Silverware, hello! It is now 2-0 in this game and with that United should be at home and beaten. I watched Tottenham in their semi-final and they were absolute rubbish, if not as rubbish as Leicester, although I’m led to believe that’s an anomaly.
Manchester United are at the moment competing in the Women’s FA Cup Final against Tottenham at Wembley and scored an absolute scrimmage to take the lead:
Mikel Arteta has a chat:
It’s always a big challenge [to win here]. Great place to come. Obviously we are playing for something massive and we have to prove that we can come to this stadium and achieve it. They have many individual qualities and can turn momentum in any action, and that is a great quality. Today we have to earn the right to go into the final day with the option of winning the Premier League. That’s the challenge, but the opportunity is huge. But to be a favorite here, you have to earn that right over many, many years – we haven’t.
The teams!
Team sheets have been sent, and the names in the frame are as follows:
Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Casemiro, Evans, Wan-Bissaka, Mainoo, Amrabat, Diallo, McTominay, Garnacho, Hoylund. subtitles: Bayindir, Eriksen, Antony, Kambwala, Forson, Collier, Amas, Ogunei, Whitley.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Saka, Havertz, Trossard. subtitles: Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Nketia, Kivior, Jorginho, Vieira, Zinchenko.
Referee: Paul Tierney.
🔵
No change for the fourth game in a row.
Let’s give it all we got, gunners 👊 pic.twitter.com/2pw6b4zRCY
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 12, 2024
Preamble
Hello world! It’s a big old game, this one and the visitors must win it if this year’s title battle, which only a few weeks ago was being talked about as perhaps the best yet, is not to prematurely turn into a procession. There will be some nerves among their fans and it is true that Arsenal do have a poor record at Old Trafford (last 16 league games: W1, D5, L10). But this Manchester United side are pretty grim on their own, so this probably shouldn’t be much of a concern. The Gunners have lost just one league game this calendar year, suggesting they are handling the pressure of the title chase quite well, even if those three dropped points currently look likely to cost them the pot at the end of it all. Win this, though, and if Tottenham can just do them a favor on Tuesday, there will be a replay. Meanwhile, if United win this, they go level (on points if they’re well behind on goal difference) with Newcastle and Chelsea in sixth/seventh, so could still salvage a poor season with a non-humiliating league position and, potentially, the FA Cup-shaped bonus. So yeah, it’s a big old game, this one. Welcome!
Kickoff: 16:30 BST
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