Gripped by a suffocating stupor in the sultry heat of a Sunday afternoon, Arsenal played like a team waiting for a storm to break at Old Trafford and wash away their dreams of winning a first Premier League title in 20 years.
Stripped of energy and innovation, they aimed for disaster again and again against one of the weakest Manchester United lineups the club has fielded in recent years.
The air grew heavier and the foreboding, the feeling that their challenge would actually end here, grew with it.
And when in the final minutes the heavens finally opened and the thunder rent the sky and the lightning crackled through the sky and the rain fell in steps, testing that notoriously leaky stadium roof and slamming down on it like thousands of angry fists, foretold that this would not be the case. the end of Arsenal’s challenge, but their liberation from danger.
The fight is still going on. The battle is still going on. Arsenal are taking this title fight to the limit. Their victory here means their battle with Manchester City will be decided on the final day of the Premier League season next Sunday.
Leandro Trossard (right) put Arsenal ahead with his twelfth Premier League goal of the season
The Belgian put away Kai Havertz’s low cross after the visitors regained possession
Casemiro was to blame for the concession, as Havertz’s deep position allowed him to receive the ball in an offside position
City are still the big favourites, but this win at Arsenal means Pep Guardiola’s side will likely have to win at Spurs on Tuesday night and at home to West Ham on Sunday to deny them. Arsenal, who are a point ahead of City and have played a game more, will play their final match against Everton at the Emirates with one eye on the Etihad.
The final whistle was met by a huge roar of relief and triumph from the away side at Old Trafford, as the rain turned the touchlines into rivers and the smart linen suit of United’s manager, Erik ten Hag, clung to him in the downpour.
This was not a triumph for Arsenal like the famous victory here in 2002, when Sylvain Wiltord took the title and a sign appeared anointing the away leg as the ‘Champions’ Section’.
That was a win without qualifying. This was a stepping stone towards a goal that they fear will ultimately elude them.
United managed to salvage some pride after their ill-fated performance against Crystal Palace last week, but that could not disguise the fact that they are on course for their worst performance in the competition since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
It’s still hard to shake the feeling that this is a club in decline. It is equally difficult to see a future for Ten Hag at the club once the curtain falls on the FA Cup final.
The unlikely prospect of United causing some kind of disruption was dealt a huge blow an hour before kick-off, when the team sheets were released. United’s line-up looked so threadbare that it evoked a kind of sadness when it was handed out in the press room. Had it really come to this? Is this really all United has to offer?
Injuries played a role, of course, but that team sheet read like the wages of sin. It looked like the price that a club – and yes, also Ten Hag – pays for ten years of mismanagement and shocking recruitments under the Glazers.
Labor leader and Arsenal fan Sir Keir Starmer attended the heavyweight match at Old Trafford
United had positive periods in the first half and could have taken the lead when Rasmus Hojlund was through on goal, but he slipped on the shot
Mikel Arteta cut a tense figure as his side had to work for the important victory
Amad Diallo (right) impressed for the visitors after starting for the clash
It looked like a mid-table side at best. It looked like a team that had absolutely no chance of upsetting a side that has grown as much as Arsenal, while United were allowed to stagnate and decline.
United did create the first chance of the match. But they wasted it. Scott McTominay, their skipper, dispossessed Thomas Partey on the edge of the Arsenal box and the ball fell to Rasmus Hojlund. Hojlund had time and space to shoot, but he slipped at the crucial moment and his shot dribbled wide.
United were actually the better team in the first twenty minutes. Then Arsenal scored. Ten Hag couldn’t claim he wasn’t warned about Casemiro’s shortcomings at centre-half after his disastrous performance against Crystal Palace there last week, but now it has cost his side yet again.
Arsenal collected an aimless ball from Andre Onana and with Casemiro trailing the rest of the United defense by several yards, Ben White played a clever pass to Kai Havertz in space on the right.
Havertz advanced and as Casemiro watched with the ball, Trossard stole between him and Aaron Wan-Bissaka and whipped Havertz’s cross into the net.
Arsenal’s strike means United have conceded 82 goals in all competitions this season, the most in a single season since 1970-71, more even than 1973-74, when they were relegated from the old First Division.
And yet there were moments throughout the rest of the half when United seemed to drag Arsenal down to their level. The game returned to a pattern where the home team played the better football. Amad Diallo in particular stood out. He hasn’t played much for United so far. In this harsh climate that can be a bonus.
Arsenal’s lethargy continued in the second half. They couldn’t shake it. They seemed a far cry from the fluid unit that swept aside so many teams this season. They sat back and absorbed United’s pressure, confident that their opponents didn’t have the wit to make their possession pay off.
Occasionally they gave United openings. Alejandro Garnacho cut inside Ben White on the hour mark and was faced with Old Trafford freedom as he advanced to the edge of the area. He could have taken the ball further, but he tried to curl a shot into the top corner and went horribly wrong. It sailed high and wide.
Yet Arsenal struggled to bring any urgency to their game. Twenty minutes from time, United substitute Antony stole the ball away from Takehiro Tomiyasu in the Arsenal half and ran towards the retreating defense. He also missed his shot. However, Arsenal were courting disaster.
Alejandro Garnacho (centre) had the brunt of Ben White (left) for most of the second half, but the United winger’s end product often left much to be desired
Andre Onana made some telling contributions after the break to keep United in the game
Arsenal have now kept seven clean sheets in their last eight Premier League games, taking their total to 11 this season
Erik ten Hag’s team is three points behind Newcastle and Chelsea
Then Bukayo Saka, who had had a bad game, gave the ball away cheaply to Garnacho, who again headed for goal. Garnacho twisted and turned, but then shot into the side netting from twelve yards out.
Arsenal created a rare chance when substitute Gabriel Martinelli burst down the left, cut inside Wan-Bissaka and weaved through the area. He lifted his shot high towards the roof of the net, but Onana produced a fine save and tipped it over the crossbar.
Then the rains came. The result was all that mattered. Everything else was washed away by the storm.