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[Ratings & goals] Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd: Lacazette & Leno superb as Gunners go 4th
Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 in a vital game at the Emirates this afternoon to climb back in to the top four.
We started well and opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Granit Xhaka’s long-range strike caught out David De Gea and flew into the net for 1-0.
United grew into the game and we rode our luck at times with Bernd Leno to thank for keeping it at 1-0 but we were given the perfect opportunity to make it 2-0 after Alexandre Lacazette was fouled by Fred in the box. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made no mistake from the spot this time to make it 2-0 in the 70th minute.
Here are my ratings:
Leno 8.5/10 | Excellent performance again. Great save low to Lukaku in the first half and off his line superbly to deny the United hitman twice again after the break. Vital contributions. In great form right now.
Maitland-Niles 7/10 | Struggled in the first half but improved after the break when he was excellent.
Sokratis 7.5/10 | Did well up against Lukaku and Rashford. Put in a few strong tackles and bounced back from his sending off against Rennes.
Koscielny 7.5/10 | Made two vital challenges to deny United and put-in a composed display at the back.
Monreal 7/10 | Had trouble up against Lukaku. Completely lost the United striker in the second half and was saved by a superb Leno stop. Was otherwise solid enough.
Kolasinac 7.5/10 | Put in a few dangerous crosses early on and was always a threat down the left. Solid defensively too.
Xhaka 8.5/10 | Lovely goal to open the scoring and made a great tackle to deny Rashford just before half time. Kept his discipline in front of the defence. One of his best performances of the season.
Ramsey 7.5/10 | Worked his socks off and curbed his attacking instincts to sit alongside Xhaka. Professional display.
Ozil 7/10 | Saw plenty of the ball in the first half and linked up with the front two superbly to create four chances. Faded after the break but worked hard and that’s what Emery demands.
Lacazette 9/10 | Superb all-round performance. Held the ball up, was a real danger and linked-up well with his team mates. Deserved a goal.
Aubameyang 7.5/10 | Made no mistake from the spot this time to make it 2-0 and was always keen to link-up with Lacazette. Still short of his best but great character to take the penalty.
Subs:
Iwobi 6/10 | A few nice touches.
Suarez 6/10 | Rare outing but did well to help create one chance on the break.
Nketiah N/A | On too late.
This was a huge win that sees us leapfrog Man Utd into fourth place and puts us just one point behind Tottenham. With our run-in, we’ve got a huge opportunity to get at least fourth. Here are the goals: