Manchester United humbled Arsenal yesterday by beating them 3 - 1 at the Emirates Stadium.

Naniforced Manuel Almunia to concede an own goal before setting up Wayne Rooney for a second. Park Ji-Sungscored early in the second half to end the game as a contest. Thomas Vermaelen volleyed home a consolation for Arsenal in the 80th minute.

Arsenal had started brightly, and Andrey Arshavin had an early opportunity. He broke down the left flank and burst into the left hand side of the penalty area. Cutting inside of Wes Brown, he aimed a shot for the far corner of the goal with his right foot, but it was loose and went wide.

United continued the high tempo start to the game with two dangerous crosses into the box. They broke down the right with Nani attacking Gael Clichy before feeding Darren Fletcher on the overlap. The Scot crossed low into the six yard box towards Rooney, but pressure fromWilliam Gallas resulted in the ball being cleared.

The second chance came as Nani skipped past Clichy on the right flank and attacked the byline. He cut the ball back to the far post where Michael Carrick stood unmarked. Just as the Englishman was shaping to shoot, Song came out of nowhere to knock the ball out for a corner. From the set piece Denilson headed back towards his own goal, where Samir Nasri made a goal line clearance from his position on the right-hand post.

Arshavin nearly opened the scoring in the 13th minute. The Russian dribbled at Brown who retreated into the penalty area, Arshavin then jinked to shift the ball onto his right foot and rifled towards the right-hand corner of the goal. Edwin van der Sar was scrambling, but Arshavin’s effort flew inches past the right-hand post.

Arsenal continued to press forward, interchanging passes sleekly in midfield. Arshavin broke again and took an air shot just inside the penalty area, before the Gunners attacked down the right with Tomas Rosicky slipping Bacary Sagna in on the overlap. The Frenchman cut the ball back towards Nasri, whose flick took the ball off the toe of an aghast Cesc Fabregas.

Manchester United responded with a series of half-chances of their own. Their direct passing movements troubled Arsenal’s defence, with Paul Scholes peeling off the shoulder of Thomas Vermaelen and finding space in the box. Scholes received the ball and controlled, but Gallas pounced with a sliding challenge before the Englishman could shoot.

Nani engineered two chances in the Arsenal penalty area, turning in the six yard box and firing into the side netting from the right. Minutes later and Nani was bursting into the right-hand side of the box, Carrick slipped the ball through to the 23-year-old and only a last ditch block by Clichy could deny Nani.

Source: goal.com

Pic: supersport.co.za

Tags: arsenal, manchester united