Manchester United vs. Arsenal

1-0, Premier League, Old Trafford, 10 November 2013

Prior to this game Chelsea had dropped points in a draw while both Tottenham and Manchester City had lost their games. I guess we can take some comfort in the fact that we have not lost too much ground, but now Liverpool are back to being merely two points behind.

Ten minutes into the first half Rooney had a shot deflected, but it was a comfortable save for Szczesny. Five minutes later Giroud used a wonderful touch to bring down a cross, but Özil was not prepared for the cut-back and United could clear it.
   The goal came after approximately half an hour of the game, van Persie headed a corner into the back of the net. We began building some pressure towards the end of the half, Cazorla had a shot blocked and Giroud headed Ramsey's cross over the bar before half-time.

We enjoyed the majority of the possession during the entire second half, all in all it became somewhere around 63 % of the possession in the second half, but we were unable to find an equalizer. Ramsey had a shot blocked at the beginning of the half and the following minute Vermaelen fired a free-kick well over the bar. Özil hit the side netting from inside the box and Ramsey had a shot on target saved by De Gea before Rooney fired wide as our defence opened up completely.
   As the game drew closer and closer to the end Ramsey almost found Özil with a great ball across the pitch and Sagna's cross was inches away from being met by one of our players right in front of the goal, but took a deflection into a corner instead. Then Gibbs had a shot on target following a corner saved by De Gea while Giroud had a shot deflected wide minutes later. The final chance was another Sagna cross, almost met by Bendtner in the final minute.

It is immensely disappointing to lose, having completely dominated the second half. But we never reached our full potential, there was always something missing in the final third. Nevertheless we keep the top spot over the international break and let's just hope that we are  back to our winning ways after the break.

Injury Update:
- Both Mertesacker and Rosicky picked up some kind of illness prior to the game and were unable to play. This meant that Vermaelen got to start this game, while Flamini also returned to the starting XI.