Manchester United vs Arsenal used to mean Cristiano Ronaldo against Robin van Persie or Ruud van Nistelrooy taking on Thierry Henry. But in Sunday’s showdown between two of the Premier League’s great rivals over the years, top strikers were conspicuous by their absence in a 1-1 draw that was high on excitement but low on quality.
The Gunners were severely lacking firepower as Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard provided no support to makeshift centre-forward Mikel Merino, while United’s main striker Joshua Zirkzee was rarely seen in the opposition’s penalty box. But the striker who left the game feeling lowest of all was Rasmus Hojlund, who missed two big chances and stretched his goal drought to an unbelievable 20 matches.
The Danish striker just cannot catch a break and has faced criticism all season for his meagre goal threat. He is no longer experiencing a blip, however. This is a full-blown crisis of confidence and it is difficult to see how he can pick himself back again and begin to look like the exciting striker who terrorised European defences last season.
With neither team able to rely on their strikers, the midfielders took centre stage. Bruno Fernandes underlined his importance to United with a splendid free-kick to give his side an unexpected lead, while Declan Rice responded with a scorching strike of his own. Rice also made the difference in his own area with a decisive slide tackle on Hojlund, and Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya helped preserve the point for Mikel Arteta’s side with three big saves in the second half.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Old Trafford…