1) Arsenal bounce back like no other team
Arsenal had melted down on their previous appearance at the Emirates Stadium, against Olympiakos in the Champions League, Arsène Wenger had been extremely prickly, home form had been poor and their recent record against Manchester United had been awful; two wins in 17 games. So, all the ingredients were in place for an Arsenal win. No team bounce back from the brink of crisis quite like this one and it was a result and performance to energise the club, and remind everyone that, yes, Arsenal have their deep-rooted flaws but they are also a very good side when everything clicks for them. Curtis Mayfield blared over the Tannoy at full-time. Arsenal move on up.
2) United fly out of the blocks to fire the contest. Err …
“Right lads. Let’s make sure we start quick, get in their faces and don’t give them any space to pass.” Louis van Gaal’s actual pre-match team-talk was presumably a little different because United did pretty much everything that a visiting team at the Emirates ought not to do at the outset. How Arsenal took advantage – and it truly seemed as though the game was over when Santi Cazorla had all the time he wanted to drive the move that led to Arsenal’s second goal, scored by Mesut Özil. It really was all over when Alexis Sánchez bludgeoned in the third inside 20 minutes. United’s torpor in the early running was astonishing. Were they really playing in a big game?
3) United are leaden in central midfield
Arsenal were fired up, with Francis Coquelin pressing hard and Cazorla influential but United’s midfield, which included Wayne Rooney in a central, attacking role in the first half, appeared to be wading through treacle. Pace without the ball is hardly a strong point of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Michael Carrick – or, increasingly, Rooney – but it was the speed with which they moved the ball, especially in the first half, that was ponderous. Van Gaal’s plan B was to thicken up the midfield with the half-time introduction of Marouane Fellaini and to move Rooney out left but there was never any caution cast to the wind. United merely chiselled out a bit of a foothold in a game that had already passed them by.
4) Alexis Sánchez lights up the Emirates
When Sánchez plays like this, he is a joy to watch. Arsenal’s player of the season last time out started the campaign a little slowly, in the wake of his Copa América-winning exploits with Chile over the summer, but the rhythm is now back. Emphatically so. After his hat-trick at Leicester City the previous weekend, he was perhaps the only Arsenal player to emerge with any credit from the defeat by Olympiakos and he had the bit between his teeth from the first whistle here. His goals were both beautiful – the first a celebration of technique; the second a vicious thump – and he bristled with menace and intensity throughout the game. Arsenal need their talisman to be at the top of his game. The only worry was that he appeared to be holding his groin when he was substituted.
5) Anthony Martial the only positive for United
Perhaps it was the sense of sloth from his team-mates that magnified his contribution but even in a dismal defeat there were flashes from Anthony Martial that gave Manchester United at least one straw to clutch. The 19-year-old striker’s first touch and acceleration serve to quicken the pulse and instil worry in his would-be defensive shacklers, while there was also evidence of his strength and awareness. He rolled Per Mertesacker, took a wonderful touch and was only denied by Petr Cech at the end of the first half. Martial has pace to burn, as evidenced when he got to the by-line before the jet-heeled Héctor Bellerín to cross on 27 minutes. He looked like United’s only attacking hope.