Player Ratings: Arsenal 1-3 Man Utd

Manchester United came away with a 3-1 win in a battle against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this evening, despite the dismissal of Paul Pogba.

Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard both capitalised on defensive errors to give us a 2-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes.

Arsenal ended the game with 75% possession and 33 attempts on goal but the only time David de Gea was breached came three minutes in the second half when Aaron Ramsey teed up Alexandre Lacazette to score from close range.

Jesse Lingard made it three just after the hour following a superb assist from Paul Pogba.  The French star was sent off in the final 15 minutes for a stamp on Hector Bellerin but we held on.

Here are how our players fared:

David de Gea 10

You will not see a better performance in 90 minutes than what David de Gea produced this evening.  The Spaniard made 14 saves, some of them I simply don’t know how he kept out, including Alexis Sanchez with his boot after being on the ground from denying Lacazette.  Phenomenal reactions to deny Lukaku from scoring an own goal from close range too.

Victor Lindelof 7

Another solid performance from the Swedish international who showed his fighting spirit in the back three.

Chris Smalling 6

Showed good strength and made a few headed clearances but Alexandre Lacazette did fire in another of efforts on de Gea’s goal.

Marcos Rojo 6

Worked his socks off and was noticeably shattered towards the end.  Arsenal did get behind Marcos Rojo once or twice though and the Argentine picked up a yellow card for a foul on Alexis Sanchez around the box.

Antonio Valencia 8

Nice finish for the opening goal after intercepting a loose pass inside the Arsenal half.  Never stopped running and worked very hard to prevent Arsene Wenger’s side from having much success down their left.

Paul Pogba 8

Had been excellent until a moment of madness towards the end.  Paul Pogba produced two excellent assists and some sublime touches before stamping on Hector Bellerin that results in him missing next weekend’s derby.

Nemanja Matic 9

Threw himself in front of several shots, made some key tackles and relieved pressure on occasions with some nice passing.  What a relief that Nemanja Matic’s injury picked up at Watford midweek didn’t keep him out of this game.

Ashley Young 9

Excellent defending despite Arsenal finding some space down their right at times.  Ashley Young was a good leader at the back, making some excellent challenges and clearing the danger numerous times.

Jesse Lingard 9

The best number 10 on the pitch – Jesse Lingard was good at pinching the ball off of Arsenal and provided two nice finishes that were crucial to our win at the Emirates today.

Romelu Lukaku 8

Held the ball up well and was a physical threat to the Arsenal defence.  Though Romelu Lukaku didn’t fire in a single shot throughout the 90 minutes he was excellent up front today in bringing teammates into play.  Played a part in the second goal.

Anthony Martial 7

Played an important part in the two opening goals and his pace helped stretch the Arsenal defence.  Unlucky not to have got on the scoresheet when Nacho Monreal blocked his effort from inside the six yard box with Petr Cech stranded.

Ander Herrera (24 mins) – Replaced Anthony Martial just after Jesse Lingard made it 3-1 in a defensive change as Arsenal continues to dominate possession and territory.

Matteo Darmian (15 mins) – Mourinho was forced into a defensive substitution following the dismissal of Pogba so Matteo Darmian came on for Jesse Lingard.

Marcus Rashford (0 mins) – Came on in stoppage time so that Ashley Young could get a round of applause and help run the clock out in the process.