Like a good student who has embodied the teacher, the three and half years Mikel Arteta spent under Pep Guardiola is clearly evident in the playing style, the philosophy, direction, management and dare I say “casting” on show since the Spaniard took charge at the Emirates and tonight must be an A+ in red marker wherever Guardiola was watching and grading from as his former student totally schooled Ole Gonner Solskjaer in tonight’s encounter.
Arsenal were completely dominant in the first half with “The General”, Mesut Ozil choreographing the troop in the mid section in regimented formation and in an attack-defend fashion, and David Luis was in sync at the back coordinating the rear, Alexandre Lacazatte led the charge and whether going forward or defending the team moved as a unit something that haven’t been seen in a red and white shirt for a long long time.
Record signing Nicholas Pepe scores the opener and was unlucky not to have added a second but was denied only by a lick of paint as his effort though left De Gea for dead crashed off the upright, it wouldn’t take long for Arsenal to get the well deserved cushion of a second goal though, Center Back Sokratis Papadopoulos crashed a shot into the roof of the net from close range after Lacazatte back header from Nicholas Pepe’s corner threw the United defence into confusion. 2-0 it ended at half time.
The second half was as expected with United pressing harder and getting a spell of their own but the organization and solidity of a massively defending Arsenal team was able to handle everything the Red Devils threw at it. The Gunners had three more chances to put the game beyond doubt but fluffed their final balls.
The Emirate is relieved after a streak of four defeats in a row and a win-less streak in almost 15 games the worst in 60 years.
Arteta has his first win of his managerial career, Arsenal are back to winning ways and up to 10th on the log. Mathematically they could be back to as high as fifth with just a win, but football fails the test of Math all too often.
As a new decade heralds and the two greatest coaches of the last decade Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho begin to show signs of rust and frailness, will their apprentices, Mikel Arteta and Frank Lampard lead us into another era of managerial dominance?