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Arsenal beat Manchester United to breathe new life into title race




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Premier League

Arsenal 1
  • Ramsey 56
Manchester United 0



  • Kevin McCarra at the Emirates Stadium
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 1 May 2011 16.07 BST <li class="history">Article history
    Aaron-Ramsey-celebrates-w-007.jpg
    Aaron Ramsey celebrates with his Arsenal team-mates after his goal beat Manchester United. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

    Arsenal have overcome Manchester United at last, just when it seemed that the reliability of Sir Alex Ferguson's side was beyond dispute. They had not been beaten by the Gunners in a span of seven games, spread over two-and-a-half years in all competitions. United have now faltered just when a great deal is at stake. The lead over Chelsea in the Premier League is down to three points because of Aaron Ramsey's goal.
    For the first time, the manager and players must sense jeopardy on this front. They will, indeed, be particularly glad now of the 2-0 victory against Schalke in Gelsenkirchen that relieves the return in the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday of nearly all of its strain. Energy and concentration should be conserved for the arrival at Old Trafford next Sunday of Chelsea, who will head the table on goal difference if they can win there.The prizes are still within reach of United, even if the anticipated Champions League final with Barcelona at Wembley will be a severe challenge.
    There has been a temptation all season to regard Ferguson's line&#8209;up as a diminished version of those he has sent out in days gone by. Results in Europe do not endorse that verdict, but on the domestic front the faltering displays in away games are undeniable. On their Premier League travels, they have taken 24 of a possible 54 points.
    Contrary to caricature, Arsenal have been much more robust in the away matches. Indeed, United have been outscored by them 36 to 28 on that front. Observers might be tempted to ask how Arsène Wenger's men have contrived not to be in hot pursuit of the title. That is an academic issue for United, who can be glad at least that their concern, primarily, is with Chelsea alone. If Ferguson is uneasy, it will be because his line-up achieved so little at the Emirates. Arsenal seldom keep a clean sheet against United.
    They could have failed to do so again but the referee, Chris Foy, gave no penalty near the end when Gaël Clichy's studs went into the calf of the substitute Michael Owen near the end. Even so, it is a small indictment of United that openings were scarce. Arsenal, on the face of it, were not formidable in defence. When an injured Johan Djourou went off there was no alternative but to send out Sébastien Squillaci from the bench, but the opposition still failed to whip up panic.
    They had no answer to a goal from a player whose impact would be appreciated by anyone without a vested interest in success for United. Ramsey, in his low moments, may have felt he had been sent into exile during the loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City that came after he was striving to recover fully from a broken leg. There might not have been any part for him at all against United had Cesc Fábregas not been ruled out by a thigh strain.
    Rather than mope, Arsenal reacted with enough boldness to prevail. There was much to exasperate them and United were not alone in having penalty appeals spurned. Wenger's men ought to have been given the opportunity to open the scoring 12 minutes from the interval. Nemanja Vidic had an arm extended and made contact with a cross from Theo Walcott but Foy, averse to pointing to the spot in this match, took no action.
    There was a muddled tone to events in this encounter. It was a windy afternoon and other factors also made it difficult for players to show poise. United were naturally combative, with Anderson initially making his presence felt at the core of midfield.
    Foy gave a minimalist performance and declined to award a free-kick earlier, when Vidic seemed to foul the influential Jack Wilshere near the penalty area. Despite such incidents, the visitors usually looked sound, even if they were eventually to succumb.
    As if it was not hindrance enough for Arsenal to be denied the presence of Fábregas, Samir Nasri could not continue beyond the interval because of a hamstring problem. Nonetheless, it was United who suffered. Ferguson must have anticipated taking command as they have done in the past at the Emirates, and the Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny did make a good save from a Wayne Rooney free-kick soon after the interval. Even so, Arsenal had started to impose a pattern in their build-up and settled the match after 56 minutes.
    Ramsey slipped a low ball from Robin van Persie into the corner of the net. This was only a second start for the scorer in their league campaign. United, however, could be excused for lacking any glow of benevolence towards a player striving to regain his career in the top flight.
    Just before the goal the visitors had brought on Antonio Valencia, as if they expected to be on the attack. Once Arsenal were in front adventure was obligatory but Wenger's men coped well enough with Szczesny, for instance, blocking a shot from an angle by Nani. For the moment at least, there is an obstacle, too, in United's path to the title.

 
Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United

Aaron Ramsey shines for Arsenal against Manchester United

The Welsh midfielder's long road back to the Arsenal team reached a significant staging post in an important victory



  • ramsey-007.jpg
    Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal celebrates with Robin van Persie after scoring the goal that beat Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty

    Would you give a new long-term contract to a player still on crutches after suffering, with a double fracture to the tibia and fibula of his lower right leg, an injury that has ended careers? Arsène Wenger did, on 1 June last year, and on Sunday Aaron Ramsey repaid his faith, scoring the goal that puts life back into the Premier League title race while showing Arsenal that they are still capable of winning a high&#8209;pressure game.
    Ramsey was playing because Cesc Fábregas had suffered a blow on his thigh in training. The 20-year-old Welshman has been working his way steadily back towards the first team since playing his first match for the reserves last November, nine months after his bones snapped under the impact of a reckless challenge by Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City. As part of his rehabilitation he was sent out on loan, first to Nottingham Forest and then to his old club, Cardiff City, before being recalled at the end of January. He made his first appearance from the bench against Manchester United in the FA Cup on 12 March, and a week later he was in the starting line&#8209;up against West Bromwich Albion.
    His second start came here in this game, in one of the most important matches, in psychological terms, of Arsenal's season. Having seen their challenge on three fronts crumble in the space of a fortnight with defeats by Birmingham City in the League Cup, Barcelona in the Champions League and Manchester United in the FA Cup, another reverse against United would have extinguished their slender hopes in the Premier League. The loss of Fábregas on the eve of the match was hardly the most helpful of omens.
    Before his dreadful injury, Ramsey was looking like a replacement for the Spaniard, showing himself to be on the brink of becoming the captain's equal in terms of mobility, tactical awareness and deft passing. His leadership qualities had also been in evidence, notably with Wales's Under-21 squad, while his full international debut at 17 made it seem as though he had the potential to become his country's finest all-round footballer since John Charles. All of this could have been swept away by Shawcross's impetuous lunge.
    Against United here Ramsey lined up alongside Jack Wilshere in central midfield, in front of Alex Song and behind the front three. It was always going to be interesting to see how the Anglo-Welsh partnership functioned as the youthful engine room of a sometimes misfiring team, and their neatness and persistence were at the heart of Arsenal's early dominance.
    But how many times have we witnessed Wenger's current squad begin a match with a flood of precise short-passing approach work, only to see a majority share of possession and pressure avail them nothing? All it takes on such occasions is a couple of offside decisions and a handful of wastefully misplaced passes, and the air starts to leak out of the balloon. That was the feeling among the home fans at half&#8209;time, with the added pain of the refusal of a clear penalty when Nemanja Vidic used his hand to deflect Theo Walcott's cross away from the head of Robin van Persie.
    Ramsey had begun that move, in just one of several constructive interventions during the first 45 minutes. Only the occasional over-elaboration in his exchanges with Wilshere, and a weak shot from a promising position just outside the United area, spoiled the good impression made by a player whose graceful, economical movement and general alertness make him a pleasure to watch.
    At the start of the second half Arsenal's supporters were nursing the fear that they had seen this movie before, and United were doing most of the attacking when Sir Alex Ferguson, having shown signs of displeasure with Anderson, replaced the Brazilian with Antonio Valencia. Thirty seconds after the switch, while Park Ji-sung was adjusting to his new role in the centre of midfield, Ramsey's moment arrived.
    With the ball at his feet just inside the United half, he made a handful of yards before measuring a pass to Van Persie on the right. While the Dutchman was forcing Patrice Evra to back off on the edge of the penalty area and manoeuvring the ball on to his left foot, Ramsey ran on to meet the careful return with an accurate right-footed shot inside the left-hand post.
    His success condemned Arsenal to endure a final half-hour of pressure from the visitors, who were keen not to become the fourth of this year's Champions League semi-finalists to lose over the weekend. Ramsey shouldered his share of the defensive burden, although by bringing down Park, blocking Michael Carrick's cross with his arm and taking Rooney's legs at the same time as the ball in the fourth minute of injury time, each offence committed just outside the Arsenal area, he also succeeded in adding to the suspense. On balance, however, Wenger will feel that the day gave him not just three points and a welcome boost to the squad's morale but the restoration of a player who can play an important part in the club's future.

 
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