Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United: Gunners hit form at the perfect time to inflict Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first Premier League defeat as Red Devils manager
- Romelu Lukaku had the first clear-cut chance of the match when he hit the bar from close range
- Arsenal made them pay when Granit Xhaka's long-range effort bamboozled goalkeeper David de Gea
- Manchester United midfielder Fred was the next to rattle the woodwork with his strike from distance
- Fred was then judged to have brought down Alexandre Lacazette inside the area and a penalty was given
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then stepped up and calmly slotted home Arsenal's second down the middle
- AS IT HAPPENED: Relive all the action with Sportsmail's live coverage of the Premier League clash
Tottenham Hotspur, we're coming for you,' sang the locals. Maybe, maybe not - but they're coming for somebody. First it was Chelsea, beaten 2-0 here in January and subsequently relegated to sixth place, now Manchester United, defeated by domestic opponents for the first time in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure and edged out of the Champions League top four.
Arsenal face Rennes on Thursday in a competition that has come to be known as their Champions League safety blanket. If it stays like this, however, it is Solskjaer who will need to land the big one to be in it next season.
Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up serenaded the fans as they walked into the night and the rain — and Arsenal have. They lead United by two points and trail Tottenham by one.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the finishing touches on Arsenal's 2-0 win over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium
Granit Xhaka attempted a speculative strike from range early on and it wrong-footed United keeper David De Gea
Manchester United players look perplexed that the seemingly benign effort found its way past the Spanish stopper
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then stepped up calmly to slot home a penalty after Fred brought down Alexandre Lacazette
The Gunners striker leaps and punches the air after sealing all three points for Unai Emery's side at the Emirates Stadium
A supporter ran across the pitch and confronted Chris Smalling after the second goal - police later made an arrest
For a manager in his first Premier League season, undertaking a considerable rebuilding exercise on limited resources, Unai Emery is doing a very good job. It was a strange kind of victory — the first goal an unfamiliar sight, the second all too common.
Nobody expects a howler from David de Gea these days, a contentious penalty decision, sadly, seems to happen every game. Arsenal benefitted from both.
That is not to say the win was without merit. Sead Kolasinac was the man of the match, a constant threat from left wing-back, closely followed by goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who was both quick-witted and brave in repelling United's forwards.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is a prospect, while Granit Xhaka is at last looking a central midfielder capable of holding the fort as well as blasting his way out of it.
Paul Pogba has been running games of late but not this one. It wasn't that he didn't play well, more that Arsenal kept him in check. There remains the potential for upset, as happened in Rennes last Thursday, but gradually Emery is getting his team where he wants it.
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS AND LEAGUE TABLE
Arsenal (3-4-1-2): Leno; Sokratis, Koscielny, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ozil (Iwobi 77); Lacazette (Nketiah 86), Aubameyang (Suarez 80)
Subs not used: Cech, Elneny, Mustafi, Guendouzi
Goals: Xhaka 12, Aubameyang 69
Booked: Sokratis, Kolasinac
Manchester United (4-4-2): De Gea; Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw (Martial 70); Fred, Matic (Greenwood 80), Dalot, Pogba; Lukaku, Rashford
Subs not used: Bailly, Andreas Pereira, Rojo, Romero, McTominay
Booked: Matic, Pogba
Referee: Jon Moss
Grant Xhaka's long-range effort gives Arsenal an early lead at the Emirates
Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku had the best early chance of the game when he hit the crossbar from close range
Bernd Leno was rooted to the floor and Ashley Young even started celebrating given how close the effort was
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang attempts an acrobatic effort on goal but the ball sails well over De Gea's crossbar
Gunners midfielder Xhaka strikes the ball from distance in hope that it finds its way past the United goalkeeper - and it did
Alexandre Lacazette congratulates Xhaka after his opening goal put Arsenal ahead during the early exchanges
The Spanish goalkeeper looks dejected after allowing a soft goal in as United go behind early at the Emirates Stadium
Of course, given their exertions in midweek, it is hardly surprising there was a reaction from United at the start — or, more accurately, a lack of one.
They were uncommonly slow out of the blocks, considering the levels of energy displayed under Solskjaer this season and Arsenal came very close to capitalising on that. Just two minutes gone and the template was set, Kolasinac marauding down the left flank, Alexandre Lacazette unable to get a touch on the ball as it flew across United's box.
Then, in the 11th minute, Arsenal took the lead via the unlikeliest of sources — an error of judgement from De Gea. It was a neat move, Sokratis to Maitland-Niles, inside to Lacazette and then back to Xhaka who tried his luck from 25 yards.
What happened next was a complete shock. It wasn't so much that the ball moved in the air —although it did — more that De Gea seemed completely wrong- footed by that swerve. He went to go one way, realised all too late it was the wrong direction and had no time to change. Meaning he stood flat-footed as the ball flew past him.
Kolasinac continued causing problems and in the 29th minute almost created Arsenal's second, lovely control followed by a cross that once again was inches away from reaching its intended target. Xhaka had another shot travel wide in the 66th minute, but it was Arsenal's next attack that sealed the game.
For those fatalists who believe fortune evens out over the season — by the way, it doesn't — a sign. On Wednesday, United won in Paris thanks to a dubious handball penalty call. Here they lost to Arsenal, who were aided by an equally controversial decision.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer watches his players from the touchline after his side fell behind
A left-footed strike from Manchester United midfielder Fred rattles the post as the visitors look to get a foothold in the game
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson watches his side from the stands at the Emirates Stadium
Goalscorer Xhaka is tended to by the Arsenal team doctor after going down following a hefty challenge from a United player
Gunners stopper Bernd Leno makes himself big to deny Lukaku again as the Belgian's effort is saved and tipped over the bar
Marcus Rashford lets out a loud cry after another chance goes begging for the visitors at the Emirates Stadium
Who knows how the match would have panned out had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang not been able to convert Arsenal's second from the spot.
United were pressing for an equaliser, Leno continued to be tested — although it was hardly the Alamo — and United under Solskjaer, do not forget, have developed a healthy habit of winning, or at least saving games, late.
Then Fred went up against Lacazette and referee Jon Moss saw something. Quite what, it is hard to say. Fred looked as if he was trying to keep pace with his man, not foul him. A push? It didn't look much like one.They touched thighs, certainly. Does that constitute a foul?
Lacazette fell like one had been committed. Maybe, as old professionals say, he felt contact. Let us hope he never takes a walk down Oxford Street at Christmas, then. It could take him all week.
Anyway, penalty given, Nemanja Matic booked, no doubt for stating the obvious. Aubameyang stepped up having missed one to win the game at Tottenham nine days ago and stuck it low to De Gea's right. Credit him for having the cojones to take one again in such pressured circumstances, credit Emery, too, for keeping faith with his man.
Lacazette could do with some of Aubameyang's confidence. He was left clear through after a mistake by Victor Lindelof but shot wide. In the 74th minute, Pogba cleared a Sokratis header off the line.
Lacazette hits the deck after feeling contact from Fred and the referee believes the contact is enough to warrant a penalty
United players remonstrate with Jon Moss after he awarded a penalty for a coming together between Fred and Lacazette
Aubameyang calmly puts the ball away to double Arsenal's lead and take full control of the tie against Solskjaer's side
So, overall, Arsenal just about edged it. And while it is only the first league defeat of Solskjaer's time as United manager, it is still a big one.
Could it have been different? Most certainly, had Romelu Lukaku, in particular, taken his chances. For all Arsenal's command of the game across certain periods, United's forward line can make any opponent seem vulnerable. They hit the woodwork twice and forced several excellent saves from Leno.
Before De Gea's mistake Lukaku should have scored. There were eight minutes gone when, meeting a cross from Luke Shaw, he somehow scooped the ball on to the bar from close range.
Ten minutes later, a lovely reverse pass from Pogba picked out Fred, whose low shot was rather tame but still defeated Leno, although not his left post. Finally, another excellent pass by Pogba put Lukaku through only for Leno to save bravely and smartly at his feet. Often the goalkeeper sends the attacking player tumbling in those circumstances but Leno executed his challenge perfectly.
Second half, same again, Leno this time at the feet of Marcus Rashford and also blocking superbly from Lukaku. Emery has persevered with the German in a sweeper-keeper role and he is growing into it.
So Arsenal and United change places. A way to go yet, obviously, but timing is everything. Arsenal have hit good form against their immediate rivals — drawing with Tottenham away, beating Chelsea, now United.
A lot of managers around him have been getting huge plaudits but, under the radar, Emery is doing everything that was required of him at Arsenal — and maybe a little more.
Ainley Maitland-Niles and Leno celebrate after securing a much-deserved victory against United on Sunday
United boss Solskjaer applauds the travelling supporters in London following his side's first league defeat under him
De Gea and goalscorer Aubameyang shake hands after the final whistle as the rain pours in north London
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