No Mourinho masterclass but timely adjustments see Man United edge thrilling win over Arsenal

It was an Arsene Wenger vs Jose Mourinho classic and here’s an analysis of the performance of the two managers.
Basic Stats

Arsenal
Shots – 33

Shots on target – 15

Pass success – 86%

Aerial duel Success – 32%

Dribbles won – 8

Tackles – 16

Possession – 75%
Manchester United
Shots – 8

Shots on target – 4

Pass success – 66%

Aerial Duel Success – 68%

Dribbles won – 9

Tackles – 15

Possession – 25%
STARTING FORMATIONS
WENGER [3-4-3]
Arsenal remained unchanged from the team that beat Huddersfield 5-0 in midweek. Alexandre Lacazette started up front despite reports that he was set to be sidelined through injury. The Frenchman was joined by Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in a front three.

Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey were the two in central midfield, flanked by wing-backs Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin. Meanwhile, Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal made up the back three. Petr Cech started between the sticks.

MOURINHO [3-4-3]
Like his counterpart, Mourinho opted to stick to the line-up that earned him a 4-1 win away to Watford in midfield. Romelu Lukaku led the line and was supported by Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial. Nemanja Matic shook off an injury to take his place alongside Paul Pogba in central midfield.

Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia started as wing-backs while Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo were the three centre-backs. David De Gea started in goal.

TACTICAL TURNING POINTS
WENGER
Mustafi Substitution

The German made an error for the second goal, playing a loose ball that was intercepted by Lukaku. Lingard finished off the move and Mustafi seemed to have hurt himself in the process and had to come off.

With just 15 minutes on the clock, Wenger had to make a change to the system as he brought on Alex Iwobi and switched to a back four. The Nigerian took his place on the left of the three behind Lacazette.

First Half Bombardment

Having gone 2-0 down, the hosts had to attack, and attack they did. They employed a very high-line and almost camped inside United’s half.

However, poor finishing, desperate defending and a few miraculous saves from De Gea saw United go into the break with their clean sheet intact.

Second Half Substitutions

Arsenal did well to pull one goal back early in the second half and it was then much of the same. But United retained a threat on the counter and scored through Lingard again. That’s when Wenger had to take desperate measures, replacing Xhaka with Welbeck.

Pogba’s sending off a few minutes later played into his hands as well and the Frenchman threw on Giroud with Kolasinac making way. Iwobi dropped into midfield with Ramsey while Koscielny, Bellerin and Monreal made up the back three. The set-up could loosely be described as a 3-2-1-4.

MOURINHO
Reaction To Arsenal’s Switch

Once Wenger brought on Iwobi and went to four at the back, Mourinho tweaked his system as well. While retaining the same personnel, Lingard and Pogba pushed on ahead of Matic while Martial and Valencia provided the width on either side. Lindelof almost played as a right-back when United had the ball, covering for the Ecuadorian.

Without possession though, Valencia dropped back and joined a back five with Pogba or Lingard sometimes the furthest right in midfield. As a result, either one of them were the outlets when United tried to break forward down the right.

The problem however was that Matic was usually on his own trying to shield the defence and that invited Arsenal into United’s final third.

What We Have We Hold

After going 3-1 up, Mourinho predictably took off Martial for Herrera to bolster the midfield alongside Matic. Pogba sat in front of them as well with just Lingard playing off Lukaku.

Pogba Red Card

The new set-up didn’t last long though as Mourinho had to react to going down a man while Wenger threw on attackers. Kudos to Young who raced over to the Portuguese and informed him of Pogba’s dismissal before the referee could actually get the card out.

The United boss acted quickly, immediately ordering Matteo Darmian to ready himself. Lingard played in a flat midfield three with Herrera and Matic for the next few minutes with Lukaku up front on his own.

Darmian then came on for the Englishman as soon as possible, but went to the left side of a back five while Young stepped up into midfield where Lingard operated. United managed to stubbornly see out the game despite Arsenal’s constant waves of attacks.

Our verdict
WENGER
There’s no reason why Arsenal needed to be as far forward as they were from the start. Their inclination to begin on the front foot is commendable but they were susceptible at the back, often matched man-for-man in a transition.

Wenger did do all he could to get back into the game and would’ve probably thrown even more attackers on if he had more substitutions to play but that was never his downfall. Defensive naivety came back to haunt Arsenal after a run of clean sheets and that’s where the game was lost, in the opening 11 minutes.

6/10
MOURINHO
Let’s not brand this a ‘tactical masterclass’ like so many big Mourinho wins away from home are. United held out thanks to some unreal goalkeeping and last-ditch defending. However, the Portuguese did set-up his side perfectly, primed for counter from the start.

It worked like a charm every time they were afforded the opportunity to break away. What was impressive though was how soon Mourinho reacts to changes in the game. His substitutions were quick and spot on.

7/10 
Your verdict
WENGER

MOURINHO

Stats from whoscored.com