Olivier Giroud's late equalizer means the Portuguese is still waiting for his Red Devils tenure to kick-start into life after failing to press home the advantage.
Jose Mourinho was barely two minutes away from placing yet another slap in Arsene Wenger’s face, but it took the man who should have started to rescue a point for Arsenal at Old Trafford and extend the Portuguese’s difficult start to life as Manchester United manager.
Mourinho headed into his latest clash with his managerial archrival with the eyes of the world on him due to United’s poor start to the season, yet Wenger failed to capitalize once more as Arsenal turned in a poor display in a 1-1 draw that could have been so much better had game-saver Olivier Giroud been employed from the start.
Despite winning 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium last time out, United had shown just enough defensive weakness to keep Swansea in with a hope of a second-half comeback. Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo is far from the center back pairing Mourinho had in mind when arriving at Old Trafford in the summer, and Wenger should have been licking his lips at the prospect of occupying the makeshift duo Saturday.
But the Frenchman decided not to start with Giroud up against the center backs, instead using Alexis Sanchez as a false nine. What followed was nothing short of an afternoon off for Jones and Rojo as they went for long spells without being asked serious questions until the substitute striker was thrown on 17 minutes from time, with Arsenal 1-0 down and chasing the game.
Looking at the makeup of the two managers’ styles it is clear that a free-flowing game of football will generally favor Wenger, while the Portuguese will almost always come out on top in a tight tactical battle. The latter was always the more likely today, but after Giroud’s 89th-minute header questions must be asked of United’s inability to hold what they had.
Countless Mourinho teams have outdueled Wenger’s Arsenal in the past, but this United side couldn’t see the job through. There are obviously the losses of Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly to injury, which partially explain the late concession today, but it underlines the point that Mourinho will need time to show that he can be a Special One at Old Trafford.
United asked plenty of questions of Arsenal’s defense and exposed Carl Jenkinson and particularly Nacho Monreal as the club spotted a weakness in the Gunners’ ability to counter accurate wing play. It was no accident that Juan Mata’s 69th-minute winner came from an Ander Herrera cutback in the channel, which Monreal was meant to be vacating.
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