A season which had promised so much for Arsenal lost its last remaining shred of hope at Old Trafford. The Gunners have been cruelly treated by fate over the last few matches, but their demise finally came from their own hands (no pun intended), as shoddy finishing and sloppy defence combined to gift three points to champions-elect Manchester United.
The match was arguably a microcosm of the season. Arsenal began in spectacular style, completely outclassing their opponents in most areas of the pitch. They wasted opportunities to get ahead but eventually took the lead, only to lose it with a silly error. And before the end they were left with nothing to take home after more mistakes allowed their opponents to win the contest.
Flamini’s injury was expected to severely weaken our mobility in midfield, but Eboue put in a stellar defensive shift, often running in to make crucial tackles in the middle of the park. However, he offered little going forward, and more than one move broke down because of his lack of end product. Gilberto put in a solid shift shielding the back four, which featured Song at centre-back. Toure had been shifted to right back, and rounding off the changes in defence, Lehmann had replaced the injured Almunia.
Cesc and Hleb kept Arsenal flowing forward in a series of neat moves, often breaking down in the penalty area. Clichy was at his turbocharged best as well. If he figures out how to score, he’ll be battling with Ronaldo for the Golden Boot next season. There were not too many clear cut opportunities, but the best chance of the half fell to Adebayor, who could not guide his shot past van der Saar.
When the first half ended, every Gooner would have been fearing the worst: Man U taking the lead against the run of play and deflating Arsenal’s spirits. A stroke of luck allowed us to take the lead when Adebayor handled home an excellent cross from Robin van Persie. Why his hands were raised only he will know, he could have easily headed it home.
However, the stroke of luck was hardly a divine gift – it was more like mockery from the Gods. Minutes later, Gallas bizarrely put his hand to an unimpressive shot, and sure enough, the referee spotted it. Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot and Arsenal had lost the lead again. Adebayor must be a very frustrated chap. Twice against Liverpool, and now against Manchester United, he has put Arsenal in a winning position, only to see it vaporise within minutes.
After the goal, Arsenal were not able to dominate play as they had done previously, and Manchester United quelled their threat while looking dangerous themselves. A ridiculous session of penalty box ping-pong culminated in Gilberto producing a foul right on the edge of the box. Hargreaves produced a deceptively simple looking shot that ripped Arsenal’s last resistance.
Walcott caused some problems down the flanks, and Bendtner worked the keeper with headers from acute angles, but all came to naught at the end of the day. With four games to go, our title challenge is over, and the season analysis will begin in sorrowful earnest. What can be said? We’ll be back next year, that’s for sure! For now, we still have an automatic Champions League spot to fight for, so while our dreams may have been dashed, the season is not quite over. But what it could have been…