THE OBSERVER
The real Manchester United are back and Arsenal had better find a more convincing response than this if they expect their leadership of the Premiership to last long into the New Year.
Sir Alex Ferguson was presumably joking when he said that Roy Keane would find it hard to get back into the team if United continued to perform so well. The Irishman will be straight back the instant he is fit, yet United did prove they could do without him in this third successive Premiership win. For the first time since Keane dropped out at the end of August, United succeeded by sheer strength of character, displaying the aggression and determination they normally look to their captain to supply.
United have not just beaten three ordinary Premiership teams, either. Taking nine points from Newcastle United, Liverpool and Arsenal has put them back in the title frame, within a win of the leaders. 'We have given ourselves a chance,' Ferguson said modestly. 'I felt we were the better team today.'
Even Arsenal supporters would not give him much of an argument there. By the second half, the leaders had gone into hiding. So listless was their performance, they could soon be receiving a phone call from Gérard Houllier warning of the dangers of believing too much of their own publicity. Either that or Tony Adams has a point when he suggests their priorities lie in Europe this season.
This was the ground where Arsenal cemented their double last year and they are still favourites to take another title, although there was little evidence of the attacking style that has lifted them above the rest this season. Patrick Vieira was comprehensively outplayed by Juan Sebastian Veron. Robert Pires looked lively for about 10 minutes and was hauled off before the end. Thierry Henry? The incredible disappearing man.
In contrast, United performed like giants. Ferguson paid tribute to his defence and Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre did particularly well in shackling Henry and Sylvain Wiltord. Surprisingly, though, it was the midfield where the real heroes could be found. Any one of Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Veron would have been a reasonable choice as man of the match. Only Ryan Giggs had a relative off day. Scholes laid on one goal and scored the other, Phil Neville tackled everything and anything in sight, Solskjaer could get a permanent job as a midfielder if he wished and Veron can clearly throw himself into challenges when he wants to.
THE TIMES
United their way back into the Premiership title race yesterday with an emphatic 2-0 win against defending champions Arsenal achieved through goals from Juan Sebastian Veron and Paul Scholes. Sir Alex Ferguson’s depleted but resolute troops now lie just three points behind the league leaders.
United have taken six points from two major rivals in seven days, having beaten Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield last weekend. Veron gave them the lead on 22 minutes, but it appeared that Ruud van Nistelrooy had handled the ball during the build-up.
As United celebrated, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger fumed. “There is no debate,” he said after the game. “It was a definite handball by Van Nistelrooy. That was the turning point as it had a huge influence on the game. Manchester United were hungry, and, in their heads, they were the outsiders. It was like a cup tie for them. United were more aggressive and committed.
Scholes scored United’s second on 73 minutes when his right-foot shot was deflected home by Martin Keown, who was enacting a desperate defensive lunge.
The England defender had been involved in a first-half incident with Van Nistelrooy, appearing to push the United striker roughly in the face. The referee, Dermot Gallagher, took no action, but Keown could face the wrath of the Football Association which has already used television evidence to summon teammate Dennis Bergkamp after a stamping incident earlier this season.
THE INDEPENDENT
There are occasions when Arsenal are simply too sexy for their shirts. This was one of them on an afternoon when Manchester United left theirs soaked with sweat. The blood lust in the nostrils of Sir Alex Ferguson's men had never been more evident all season as they chased and harried their great rivals in the manner that lesser teams tend to approach them. By the end a side weakened by the absence of a quartet of key personnel had made Arsène Wenger's champions and current League leaders appear, in contrast, unusually listless and, most pertinently, reduced their advantage to a mere three points on a day when it might have been extended to nine.
The scale of United's achievement was illustrated by denying the visitors a goal. It had been 55 games since that last happened. Whatever epithets the United manager used after the ignominious defeat by their city rivals four weeks ago, it had the desired effect: five victories and a draw have ensued in all competitions and the championship is now seriously back on the Old Trafford schedule.
"That was the defining moment," Ferguson said of the 3-1 loss to Manchester City. "Last week's win against Liverpool was also significant. This has given us a chance. But it's early doors. There's a long way to go. Hopefully, if we can get a few players back by Christmas we will be in good fettle. We have to go to Highbury in January and that will be a massive game."
A theory had been propounded that United, deprived of so much quality – it's easily forgotten that they once boasted a team including David Beckham, Roy Keane, Rio Ferdinand and Nicky Butt; remember them? – would engage in a damage-limitation exercise against a virtually full-strength Arsenal. The absence of the suspended Sol Campbell was negated to a large extent by the availability again of Martin Keown, who performed with his typical ferocity. Indeed he was fortunate that the referee, Dermot Gallagher, did not witness what looked suspiciously like an off-the-ball blow in the face of Ruud van Nistelrooy.
THE TELEGRAPH
A match billed as Ruud van Nistelrooy v Thierry Henry turned out to be a stirring reiteration that football is a team game. Victory went to the better-prepared unit, with Sir Alex Ferguson and his staff emerging as an effective 12th man for Manchester United.
Arsene Wenger, whom Ferguson sportingly offered some of his finest red wine after last season’s victory on this ground seven months ago, was out-thought for once. His players were outfought, Phil Neville's startling ascendancy over Patrick Vieira being symbolic. And suddenly the championship was open again. Since Wenger ventured the opinion that his side were capable of going through the entire season unbeaten, fate has taken a Wildean attitude to temptation: Arsenal have lost four matches out of eight in the Premiership.
As many of us had suspected, midfield was the key. What made a mockery of expectations was that it was Arsenal's central pair who were shackled. Out wide, meanwhile, Robert Pires prospered to a degree but Freddie Ljungberg obtained so little change from John O'Shea that the young Irishman might have been accused of petty theft. O'Shea has such a versatile talent; Ferguson, try as he might, cannot seem to play him out of position. At 21, big but soft-shoed and manifestly sound of temperament, O'Shea is heading for the top. The sooner he settles down positionally, the quicker it will be. But that is Ferguson's problem.
If the United manager approaches it as astutely as yesterday's tactical challenge, all should be fine. United's 4-2-3-1 formation was perfect. The two-tier midfield prevented them from becoming stretched by Henry - defensive lines tend to hold back in deference to his pace - and ensured enough possession to give Ferguson's side a majority of such chances as were fashioned. In this light it was surprising to hear Wenger portray United almost as heroic underdogs who had clung on for the result of a lifetime in classic cup-tie manner; the first, controversial goal had been crucial, he explained, because it enabled them to concentrate on defending and hitting on the break.