Patrick Vieira names two Arsenal stars who ‘didn’t produce enough’ against Manchester United
Patrick Vieira criticised Arsenal for failing to play with ‘freedom’ after they suffered a damaging 3-2 defeat against Manchester United.
On a dramatic afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, Matheus Cunha’s explosive late strike won the day for Michael Carrick’s side who backed up last weekend’s derby victory with another morale-boosting display.
Mikel Arteta’s side thought they had at least maintained their unbeaten home record this season when substitute Mikel Merino poached an 84th minute equaliser, but the Gunners are now looking nervously over their shoulders in the Premier League title race.
The gap to Manchester City and Aston Villa now stands at just four points and although they still maintain an advantage, the jittery nature of recent games against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and now United is giving serious cause for concern.
Vieira in particular urged the need for wide players Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard to produce more after both wingers struggled to create goalscoring opportunities against United.
‘They are still four points clear but there is still some questions about the mental strength of the team and I think that performance will be very disappointing,’ he said.
Metro at the Match: Arsenal 2-3 Manchester United
Metro’s Tom Olver breaks down the winners and losers from Arsenal's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates.
Gabriel Jesus stutters in centre-forward audition
Given the nod over Viktor Gyokeres after an impressive brace against Inter Milan in midweek, Gabriel Jesus will no doubt have been itching to nail down his spot as Mikel Arteta's first-choice centre-forward.
But with the Gunners utterly dominant in the early exchanges, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard combined to provide the main threat from out wide - with the Brazilian a largely peripheral figure through the middle, in stark contrast with Bryan Mbeumo at the other end of the pitch.
It was more of the same from Jesus as the second half wore on and Mikel Arteta had seen enough by the 58th minute, with his side stumbling in search of an equaliser after a spirited fightback from the visitors.
A huge opportunity missed for the former Manchester City attacker as United threw a cat amongst the pigeons in this year's title race. It leaves Arteta with a tough call to make up front ahead of Arsenal's return to top-flightaction at Leeds next weekend.
A rare moment to forget for Martin Zubimendi
Martin Zubimendi helped gift United a route back into the game with a horrible lapse in concentration at a crucial stage in the contest before half-time.
Arsenal's usually metronomic summer signing has hardly put a foot wrong since joining from Real Sociedad and the Spaniard could scarcely believe what he had done as Mbeumo latched onto his misplaced pass before calmly rounding David Raya and stroking the ball home.
An unwanted collector's item for Zubimendi and a moment he will not want to repeat any time soon.
Even ignoring his blunder, there was a distinct lack of creativity and urgency from Zubimendi when the hosts badly needed someone to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Arsenal match ratings: Raya 7, Timber 7, Saliba 5, Gabriel 5, Hincapie 6, Zubimendi 4, Rice 7, Odegaard 6, Saka 6, Trossard 6, Jesus 4. Subs: White 4, Merino 7, Eze 5, Madueke 5, Gyokeres 4.
A mixed day for Martinez
Martinez has endured surely his toughest period yet as a United player and things went bad to worse for the diminutive centre-back on the half-hour mark at the Emirates.
After being on the end of some scathing criticism from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, the Argentine will have been desperate to build on his encouraging display against Manchester City.
But another of United's Class of '92 was left less than impressed as Martinez - put under pressure from Jurrien Timber - directed the ball into his own net to open the scoring for Arsenal. 'He should deal with it,' said Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Martinez did, though, show great resilience to keep his chin up to help keep the likes of Saka, Trossard and Jesus quiet alongside a near-faultless Harry Maguire at the heart of Michael Carrick's defence.
Bryan Mbeumo the big-game competitor
Bryan Mbeumo further showed himself to be perhaps United's most shrewd piece of summer transfer business with just the latest in a long line of eye-catching performances for the club.
He more than deserved his first-half goal, helping force a rare misplaced pass from Zubimendi with some relentless pressing through the middle. The subsequent finish had all the coolness and confidence of a player well and truly at the peak of his powers.
It's no coincidence that United's resurgence under Michael Carrick has coincided with Mbeumo's welcome return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The £71million spent on Mbeumo will prove to be a steal if the Cameroon international continues in the same vein over the coming weeks and months, adding to his already impressive scoring tally.
Carrick won't mind Mbeumo's animated reaction to being substituted for Matheus Cunha in the 68th minute. It's exactly that kind of character and personality that the club have badly lacked for so long in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Patrick Dorgu comes of age
Michael Carrick was full of praise for Patrick Dorgu's 'immense' performance after a dream derby day for United - and the Dane picked up where he left off this weekend.
It's fair to say the youngster has had an up-down start to his United career since becoming the first signing of Ruben Amorim's turbulent reign. But his talent has always been undoubted - it's just that he is now beginning to showcase that ability on a far more consistent basis.
His 50th-minute wonder strike - which Neville branded 'the goal of a lifetime' - was the standout moment of quality... that's until Cunha provided some serious competition with his stunning effort to win it in the closing stages.
Such a shame that a suspected hamstring injury cut short Dorgu's showing with ten minutes remaining in the capital. Carrick will be praying it's not as bad as it appeared and he is able to make a speedy return to the fold.
Man Utd player ratings: Lammens 7, Dalot 6, Maguire 8, Martinez 6, Shaw 6, Casemiro 6, Mainoo 6, Amad 5, Fernandes 7, Dorgu 8, Mbeumo 8. Subs: Cunha 8, Sesko 5, Mazraoui 5.
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‘It’s not the fact that they lost. It’s the way they lost the game.
‘There was a lack of creativity, they didn’t do enough I think Saka on the right or Trossard on the left didn’t produce enough to create danger for United.
‘This situation you need a leader to lift the spirit of the team. There will be this moment where you need somebody to make them understand that when they are the field they have to play.
‘This is a team full of quality and to play with more energy and take more risk because they have got the quality. They didn’t’ play with freedom to express themselves.’
Vieira added: ‘Some of the players need to perform at their best, there was too many players who didn’t perform today.
‘It was a must win game because it was important to send a message to show we wanted to win and our performance could send a message to the rest of the teams in the league.
‘I think Saka was too quiet, he’s one of if not the best offensive players and big games like that you expect him to take the team and perform.
‘Trossard is an important player as well but didn’t perform. Up front I though Jesus ran a lot and spent a lot of energy but you want him to focus to be more inside the box.
‘In the midfield the only one was Declan Rice he’s winning balls and bringing energy but there were too many players who were below their level.’
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