Arsenal put themselves back in the race for a Champions League spot after defeating Manchester United 2-0 on Sunday. Arsene Wenger finally got the better of Jose Mourinho as Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by Southampton.
Wenger had failed to win any of his previous 14 competitive clashes against Mourinho dating back to 2004. The Portuguese was undone this time though thanks to goals from Granit Xhaka and Danny Welbeck.
Here, we focus on the tale of two strikers. Welbeck got the goal he wanted while Martial threatened but didn’t deliver.
Goals – 1
Shots – 3
Dribbles – 0
Pass success – 59%
Chances created – 0
Dispossessed – 3
Danny welbeck loves a goal vs United pic.twitter.com/1tzaJSXgH0
— M1Ö (@MesutOzilClass) May 7, 2017
Goals – 0
Shots – 2
Dribbles – 2
Pass success – 82%
Chances created – 0
Dispossessed – 5
In truth, Welbeck didn’t exactly hassle United. He did his job relatively well but there weren’t moments of pure genius. He drifted into space and took his goal well and ran the channels but his link-up play left much to be desired.
Danny Welbeck's game by numbers vs. Man Utd:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) May 7, 2017
100% aerial duels won
9 passes
3 shots
2 clearances
1 goal
Simple but effective. pic.twitter.com/X3zNS1evGs
Isolated for the most part. He did cause a few problems early on and forced Cech into a good save. His pace was a threat but he couldn’t make the most of it. Was dispossessed too easily at times though. Should’ve held the ball up better.
This illustrates the game very well. Carrick to Rooney yielded no product. Martial isolated.
— Full Time DEVILS (@FullTimeDEVILS) May 7, 2017
No Pogba
No party pic.twitter.com/I72yYJ2I2H
5th min: Welbeck gets on the end of Gibbs’ cross from the left and holds it up well before playing in Sanchez whose effort from a tight angled is stopped by De Gea.
30th min: Sanchez plays in Ramsey and who shows good strength and passes to Welbeck. The striker’s first-time shot is blocked by Smalling but he should’ve played in Sanchez again who had continued his run.
57th min: The former United man strikes with a header from close range. He gets in between Smalling and Jones to nod home Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross.
6th min: Mkhitaryan plays a first-time pass to Rooney who drives forward and slides a ball through for Martial. The Frenchman tries to beat Cech at his near post with a prod at goal but the keeper is able to turn it behind for a corner.
24th min: Carrick wins the ball and plays it into the right channel. Martial shows great pace to make up a yard on Koscielny who was then forced to play the ball out for a corner from which Rooney headed wide.
67th min: Martial troubles Koscielny with his pace yet again (that doesn’t happen too often to Koscielny). He gets his compatriot booked for a poor challenge.
Not breath-taking but put in a good display and was effective. Got the second goal that really killed off the game.
He has the pace, he has the ability but he doesn’t quite have the killer instinct or industry that Marcus Rashford has. To be fair to the Frenchman, he was starved of support for long periods but should’ve done better with the opportunities that came his way.
3 things we learned today about #mufc 1. Tunzabe can play 2. Rooney's magic has finally gone 3. Martial lacks intensity for 90 mins
— Tony Sweeney (@Sweeney66) May 7, 2017
Welbeck... pic.twitter.com/ygvYfMsiSk
— Full Time DEVILS (@FullTimeDEVILS) May 7, 2017
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
