The Best Team Won

It’s Old Traffordish!!! August 30, 2009

In the final minute of added time, Arsene Wenger tried awkwardly to situate himself in what little piece of real estate he could find in between the stands and the “dugout”, amid sarcastic cheering from the home fans. It was a bizarre ending to a bizarre game. Nevermind the “witch hunting” furore surrounding Eduardo’s midweek gamesmanship, Wenger must have been convinced that witchcraft was responsible for the Gunners’ ill-deserved defeat at Old Trafford.

Even the most hardcore of Manchester United fans would have to be embarrassed by this result, largely engineered by bad referring and bad luck for the gunners. When Rooney made contact with the ball and was subsequently brought down by Almunia, the ball was well on its way into the Stretford End. It was definitely not an impediment to a goal scoring chance as Rooney would not have gotten to the ball anyway.

After Diaby’s horror clearance, the Red Devils’ were sparked to life and started to keep possession better. But in truth, Arsenal created the better chances in the the game and deserved to win at least by a single goal. The gunners were composed and efficient in the attacking third while United seem to run out of ideas when they approach Arsenal’s goal. United did have two clear-cut chances in the dying minutes when Arsenal were chasing game, both of which were missed badly by Berbatov and Nani.

There had been a suggestion that recent clashes between Wenger and Fergie had lacked the usual animosity because Arsenal had ceased to become a credible threat to United’s title credentials. Well, this game clearly shows that the gunners are a force to be reckoned with. Add that to the perceived and perhaps justified sense of injustice that would have plagued Wenger after this game, we have a concoction that could spark this old rivalry back to life.