Premier League: Manchester United - Arsenal

Recap. Arsenal leave Old Trafford with nothing, and Ferguson’s men will surely get a load of confidence from this victory. This game exemplifies why the Premier League is often considered the best in the world. Arsenal may have played better than Manchester United on the day, but United are Premier League Champions because they always seem to find a way to win.

Full Time.

95’ - Desperately unlucky by Arsenal! Van Persie rockets it into the net, but the replay shows that Sagna was offside when he flicked it on. Wenger is then harshly sent off for kicking a water bottle.

94’ - A great counter by Berbatov, and this time it is Nani who fails to capitalize! Nani’s first shot was well-parried by Almunia, but Nani’s second attempt goes well over.

92’ - Berbatov with a comedic miss! Rooney to Nani, then Nani played a beautiful through ball to Berbatov, who shanks it well wide of the Arsenal goal.

90’ - Arsenal need to produce something special, and five minutes have been added for extra time. It will be a long five minutes.

87’ - Bendtner serves up a great cross, which is just a few inches too high for Eduardo.

84’ - It’s all Arsenal at the moment as Bendtner wins another corner. Vermaelen wastes the chance. Ryan Giggs to come off for Dimitar Berbatov. A standing ovation is given to Giggs by the Manchester faithful.

83’ - United just need to last the next few minutes, and they look up for it.

81’ - Arsenal win a corner. And Aaron Ramsey comes on for Andrei Arshavin.

79’ - Eduardo is set to come on for Denilson. Eduardo is getting booed for the dive he took midweek in the Champions League against Celtic.

77’ - Frustration for Robin van Persie and Arsenal, as he is caught offside.

75’ - Sagna is shown a yellow for dissent. Arsene Wenger is urging his team to keep its composure.

73’ - Rooney is caught well offside, by about 10 yards.

71’ - And Eboue is shown a yellow for an atrocious dive. Then, less than a minute later, Wenger subs him off and Bendtner comes on.

70’ - And Evra almost doubles United’s lead! A great shot, but a great save by Almunia as Evra struck with his left foot from 12 yards out.

67’ - United have a way of finding a way, don’t they? The possession in the second half is 63% United, 37% Arsenal.

64’ - GOAL!!! Manchester United 2 - 1 Arsenal! United take the lead! Ryan Giggs delivers the free kick, and Abou Diaby flicks it into his own net! Terribly unfortunate for Diaby!

63’ - Park comes on for Valencia.

62’ - Wayne Rooney is shown a yellow card for an awful tackle on Abou Diaby. Free kick to Arsenal. Van Persie hits the crossbar on the free kick!

61’ - Well Arsene Wenger is livid, and Sir Alex Ferguson is ecstatic. United now with a the upper hand.

58’ - GOAL!! Manchester United 1 - 1 Arsenal!!! Giggs finds Rooney with a wonderful through pass. And Rooney wins a penalty! He gets to the ball before Almunia, and the Arsenal keeper takes him out. Rooney slots the penalty to the right side of the net, with Almunia diving the other way.

56’ - United with a spell of possession at the moment, but they are failing to capitalize on their chances. Certainly Fergie will make a change soon.

53’ - Valencia collects Carrick’s cross, but skies it over the Arsenal net. Ji-Sung Park and Berbatov are warming up on the side.

50’ - Arsenal are heaping the pressure on Manchester United at the moment. Emmanuel Eboue should have had an effort on goal, but his touch was poor.

48’ - Ben Foster with a world-class save! Andrei Arshavin crossed it in to Van Persie, who struck it low with his left foot. It could have so easily been 2-0, but Foster gives his team hope.

46’ - No substitutions, and United fans must be wondering when Berbatov or Owen will come on.

Second half kickoff! Get ready for the next 45 minutes!

The players are now walking out of the tunnel for the second half. Ferguson looks disappointed, and the look on his face tells the story so far.

Halftime. Arsenal have surprisingly struck first! Can they pull off the unbelievable and win at Old Trafford? Andrei Arshavin’s stunner from 30 yards is the difference. A footballing feast is ahead of us. We’ll be back in 15 minutes.

45’ - Van Persie is shown a yellow for a tackle of Giggs. Free kick from 25 yards for Manchester United. Two Minutes of Added Time.

44’ - Nani is tripped by Song just outside of the Arsenal box. The free kick is cleared by Gallas, and the corner should have been finished by Fletcher.

40’ - GOAL!!! Manchester United 0 - 1 Arsenal! Andrei Arshavin silences the Old Trafford crowd with a wonderfully powered strike from 30 yards! Ben Foster can only get fingertips to it, as the ball rises to the top-corner of the net. Arshavin takes justice into his own hands as he should have been given a penalty only a minute before as Darren Fletcher came in rashly.

39’ - Valencia ends a good spell by United, as his cross falls short and is well held by Almunia.

36’ - Sagna gives away possession with an illegal throw-in. First time I’ve seen that called in the Premier League in a long time.

34’ - As classy as Ryan Giggs is, he has not done well against the Arsenal defence today. He has given away the ball twice in two minutes. Patrice Evra tackles Sagna from behind and is shown a yellow card.

32’ - Wayne Rooney has a good effort on goal as he bends the free kick over the Arsenal wall, but his effort goes wide of Almunia’s goal.

31’ - Gallas trips Evra just 20 yards away from the Arsenal net. Gallas is shown a yellow.

30’ - Giggs finds himself in space, and slips a ball to Nani. However, Nani cannot connect as he is off-balance. Almunia collects.

28’ - Arshavin wastes a good free kick opportunity, as his short pass is intercepted by Wes Brown.

24’ - Van Persie’s shot is deflected by Evra, and the subsequent corner should have been put away by Arshavin. Manchester United were lucky on that occasion, Arshavin was less than a yard away from the top corner of Ben Foster’s net!

23’ - Song rightfully is shown a yellow card for a rash tackle on Valencia.

21’ - The game has yet to settle, but the pace of the match is alive and well. It is just lacking that bit of class you would expect from the big four.

16’ - Valencia hacks Arshavin with a rough challenge, the referee gives a free kick to Arsenal.

15’ - Fantastic tackle from Sagna who recovers to put in a firm sliding tackle on Nani. Corner to United.

14’ - Van Persie swings in the corner, but Foster does well to catch it.

13’ - Eboue, apparently fine, runs past three United players and wins a corner.

12’ - Michael Carrick catches Emmanuel Eboue’s knee. Eboue is down for a bit, and Arsenal have a free kick.

8’ - Song loses possession, but United string a few passes together. Darren Fletcher scorns a wonderful opportunity as he blasts it over the net.

7’ - Arsenal are now taking the upper hand, as they are keeping possession.

6’ - Arshavin takes the free kick, but Foster rises, knocks it down, then collects.

5’ - Diaby goes on a 30 yard run, is taken down by Vidic, and earns another Arsenal free kick.

4’ - United have given away an early free kick, but Arsenal cannot capitalize.

1’ - United have set the pace to this game early as Wayne Rooney has come out flying with pressure.

And we’re off! It’s the big one, it’s United and Arsenal!

Kickoff is only moments away, and both clubs will try to keep pace with Chelsea, who dominated Burnley 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United Lineup (4-5-1) - Ben Foster; Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Nani; Wayne Rooney

Arsenal Lineup (4-5-1) - Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Gael Clichy; Emannuel Eboue, Alexandre Song, Denilson, Abou Diaby, Andrei Arshavin; Robin Van Persie

Pregame Preview:

The Gunners have scored 10 goals in their first two matches, including six at Everton on the opening day, and also reached the group stages of the Champions League by putting five past Celtic.

And Sir Alex Ferguson is adamant Wenger knows exactly what he is doing.

“I couldn’t understand why they were written off,” said the United boss.

“A young team like Arsenal, that is maturing, has to be respected and regarded. Six-one at Everton was an amazing result. In all my time at Manchester United, I can’t remember anyone doing that at Goodison Park before.

"But one thing Arsene Wenger has done fantastically well is sell at the right time.

"He has always known the right time for a player to leave and he has done it again with Adebayor and Toure.

"It is not easy to manage that kind of change but I don’t think the level of ability has changed one bit and he seems to have a good harmony in the squad.”

Manchester United host Arsenal in a mouthwatering match at Old Trafford.

These sides met in May when a 0-0 draw was enough for United to claim their third straight title.

Rio Ferdinand and Edwin van der Sar remain United’s major absentees for the big showdown.

Sir Alex Ferguson feels Ferdinand may not quite be ready for the trip to Tottenham Hotspur on 12th September but his recovery from a thigh injury will not keep him out for much longer.

Ben Foster will continue in goal, while Michael Carrick and Anderson are hoping for recalls after missing the five-goal rout of Wigan Athletic.

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out of Saturday’s Barclays Premier League match with Manchester United.

Fabregas has failed to recover from his hamstring injury in time for Old Trafford but the Gunners have no fresh injury concerns following Wednesday night’s 3-1 victory over Celtic.

Theo Walcott (back), Lukasz Fabianski (knee), Samir Nasri (broken leg) and Johan Djourou (knee) all continue their rehabilitation.

Manchester United’s Squad: Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, O'Shea, De Laet, Brown, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Nani, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs, Park, Tosic, Valencia, Owen, Rooney, Berbatov, Macheda.

Arsenal’s Squad: Almunia, Sagna, Vermaelen, Gallas, Clichy, Song, Ramsey, Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner, Eduardo, Mannone, Van Persie, Eboue, Arshavin, Wilshere, Gibbs, Silvestre, Merida.