English FA Premiership/Manchester Utd - 2 Arsenal - 0: Arsenal must be developing a tax exile's taste for foreign parts. They could never make themselves as comfortable at Old Trafford as they had in the Bernabeu or the Stadio delle Alpi. Manchester United fully deserved this win that gives them a run of nine Premiership victories in a row. The visitors, following the midweek Champions League match, did wane in the second half here but United had made absolutely sure that they would tire.
It could all have gone wrong for Arsenal even sooner than it did. The fixture did not bedevil the referee as it has done in its unruly past but Graham Poll should still have left the ground with his mind churning. By then he would have heard all about his 43rd-minute error, when he failed to see that the defender Kolo Toure had palmed Wayne Rooney's shot on to the post with a dive that would have done credit to a goalkeeper. At least we now know why the Ivorian wears gloves.
United were not diverted from their task by suave, if unproductive, opening manoeuvres by Arsenal. Alex Ferguson's team, seven points adrift, continue to chase Chelsea in the Premiership and, if that pursuit should turn out to be futile, they are at least hurrying themselves towards a better future.
Quiet satisfactions abounded and one of several assertive tackles by the new centre-half Nemanja Vidic paved the way for the opener. It was also, of course, a game for uproarious joys before a crowd of 70,908 that is the largest league attendance to convene at Old Trafford.
There is no longer a Roy Keane or even a Phil Neville in the United midfield and Alan Smith is injured but this was still a gruelling occasion for Arsenal. Rooney, in his own way, made Arsenal flinch once again at this venue. The United forward has such an appetite for involvement that he even had a cameo role in the most threatening moment for Wenger's side.
With the score at 1-0 in the 60th minute, Robin van Persie, at the far post, failed to convert a low cross from Emmanuel Eboue. The right-back had broken clear only after escaping a challenge by Rooney. United's forward will berate himself but it was extraordinary that he had the desire to get himself back into so deep a defensive position. Nearly any other attacker in the Premiership would treat that as someone else's duty.
Two minutes before the interval Rooney looked as if he would get the better of Jens Lehmann.
An artful pass from Van Nistelrooy had put him clear and, even though Lehmann got a touch on the ball to direct him wide, he still had time to gather his thoughts and take aim. Toure's fingers then directed the shot on to the woodwork but Arsenal escaped what should have been an inevitable red card and penalty kick.
The Highbury side might conceivably have avoided being pressed back so far if Thierry Henry had been in the starting line-up, rather than sitting on the bench. It was Wenger's assessment, though, that the need to rest the captain was so great that the respite could not be put off for even three more days when Arsenal will be at Portsmouth. Even so, Henry could have been isolated at Old Trafford if he had been fielded from the outset.
The visitors felt their weariness most severely in the centre of the field, despite Gilberto's attempts to resist United, and the forward might not have received adequate support. Prior to the interval an effort from Van Persie that Edwin van der Sar saved smartly was the most incisive contribution from Arsenal. When Henry was brought on, there was no prospect of him benefiting from crisp service.
Last week Wenger was satisfied with the calculation that Arsenal were taking command of their own fate in the quest for fourth place in the Premiership. Now, situated behind Spurs, the strain of making up lost ground bears down on them once more.
Perhaps an experience such as yesterday's was the sort of setback that had to be anticipated after so much emotion and ambition had been poured into the Champions League.
Arsenal glimpsed their own downfall after 54 minutes. Vidic's remorseless challenge on Van Persie sent the ball to Mikael Silvestre on the left. The Frenchman took one touch to control and then flighted a splendid cross that Rooney tamed before firing precisely beyond Lehmann. With 78 minutes gone, Gary Neville put a splendid ball down the right and a collected Rooney first beat Philippe Senderos and then picked out Park Ji-Sung in front of an open goal. The South Korean, scoring for the first time in the Premiership, got his reward for a busy display.
Guardian Service
