Arsenal 3 Man Utd 0
Wow!
This match was all over in six minutes.
A whirlwind first half demonstrated Arsenal’s style of play in a way that no other match has ever done.
Ozil turned up, Walcott turned up, and Cazorla bossed it from centrefield.
Bellerin was magnificent. His mobility allows him to attack and create and cover, to be one of the finest multi-purpose footballers in the game today.
Playing pass-and-move football incisively at high speed, and using the whole width of the pitch, the team who crumbled against Olympiakos in midweek now gave Manchester United a really tasty hiding in the first half – and then then defended very professionally in the second.
This despite it being only the third game where Gabriel and Mertesacker have started together at centreback.
A BIG TURNING POINT FOR ARSENAL?
Well, in the last seven Premier League games at the Emirates, they had failed to score in five.
Manchester United, who had won their last four games and were top of the Premier League last week, took 17 minutes to launch their first attack!
Which tells you how bewildered they were.
Using his right boot, Ozil clipped a sweet ball across the goal for the agile Sanchez to flick home in 5 minutes 12 seconds !
Wow! When Walcott set him up 33 seconds after the restart, Ozil slotted sweetly past De Gea, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
2-0 to the Arsenal.
On 19.05 Walcott found Sanchez and his thunderous shot for 3-0 put millions of Gooners in dreamland.
3-0 in 20 minutes.
Martin Tyler’s co-commentator Gary Neville highlighted the advanced positions Schweinsteiger took up, which left acres of space in which slick-moving Arsenal did what they liked.
Carrick, Rooney and Schweinsteiger, three guys in their thirties, is not a midfield.
I actually thought LVG might bring Schneiderlin on at 2-0 but he did not use him at all.
Van Gaal replaced Depay at half-time, bringing on Fellaini, and swapped Valencia for Darmain, and after that they drew the second half 0-0 as Arsenal sat back and gave them very few chances to get back in the game.
Didn’t have a bet on the game because I decided to have a bet-in-play after 15 minutes, after I’d figured out how the game was going to go.
But it was all over in 6 minutes.
United were being outclassed, so I thought the result had been decided. Perhaps rashly, since I know anything can happen in football, a game of two halves and many opinions.
But somehow I knew it was over. And it was.
Premier League table
1. Man City 18 pts
2. Arsenal 16 pts
3. Man Utd 16
4. Palace 15
5. Leicester 15
6. West Ham 14
Next 4 are Everton, Spurs, Southampton and Liverpool.
So the competition is quite tight and interesting.
And so ends an enjoyable week that’s really flashed past.
And next week looks busier.
We’ve had a blinding Sunday today, when the screenwriting went well.
We tried to write a movie in 2 days but couldn’t, so we’ll have to finish it on Monday
PS. I’ve heard some HUGE news that I may be able to share soon.