Frustrating, But Deserved: Man U 1-0 Arsenal

It was a frustrating match at times, and in the end we never really deserved to get anything out of last night's Champions League encounter at Old Trafford. Shame really, but it happens in football, it did last night, and the important thing will be how we respond to the defeat.

But what a defeat it could have been. In the first 30 minutes, and even a few times in the second half, United could have scored at least five or six goals. The only reason we didn't go down in the same way Roma not long ago here was our fantastic goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia. Whoever doubted this man as the Arsenal goalkeeper ought to shut up right now, because he proved last night that he can be fantastic in goal.

His reflexes have always been good, and even when he was the No. 2 behind Lehmann he could pull off spectacular saves. But last night was something special, perhaps the best game to date in his career. He made saves from shots I thought were doomed to go in, and he is the real reason the score was only 1-0 last night. Thank you Almunia, and may your fine form continue.

Overall, the performance was not good last night. We were pounded in the first half hour, and Man Utd were making us look like a team fighting relegation. But then we slowly started to settle into our passing game, something I always knew would take us a good half hour at Old Trafford, and after that we slowed United right down. We took control of the match and rarely looked threatened after we started the keep-ball, but still we created no clear-cut chances.

I believe we most definitely will create several clear-cut chances at the Emirates in a week, but it's not so much the chances I'm worried about. It's the fact that we always need a good ten to twenty minutes (at home, away it's longer) to get going and get settled into our passing game. We saw tonight that we can be punished for a slow start, so at the Emirates we'll need to get going as fast as possible and not wait around, because if we do we might concede.

And therein lies the problem. Since we didn't score an away goal last night, we cannot afford to concede any goals next Tuesday. If United score just one, then we will have to reply with three of our own unanswered goals to win it. The only way to beat them is to win with a clean sheet. And unfortunately, that's about as likely as Sir Alex Ferguson admitting he agrees with referees and loves the Arsenal supporters.

Over the short history of the Emirates stadium we have won 2-1 twice and drawn 2-2. In short, we have never kept a clean sheet in any of our encounters. And though United haven't beaten us there, the fact that they've scored at least a goal every time means that next Tuesday we will have to set a new record against them. Either it will be the first time we have ever scored three goals against them at the Emirates, or it will be the first time we've ever kept a clean sheet there. Nothing else will get us through to the final.

I'm optimistic, and I believe we can definitely do it, but I would say that the odds are certainly not in our favour, and it's far more likely we will go out in the Champions League to yet another English team. Let's not let this happen, let's get behind the team next week and be the best 12th man we've ever been at the Emirates. The lads need us more than we know. Until next time,

Fab 4