Manchester United produced a brilliant second half performance to come back from behind and win against a youthful Arsenal team. This game at the Theater of Dreams, which I suppose was the first test for Sir Alex's team this season. The games so far have been against OKish teams you know, Arsenal is always special.Right from the start, Arsenal looked threatening and controlled the ball very well. United did have 2 very good chances in the first half but as they just blew it away; just like they have been doing it this season so far. And Arsenal punished them for not converting their chances. Andrey Arshavin put the visitors ahead at the end of the first half with a blistering shot that kissed Ben Foster's fingers.
Just seconds before Arshavin scored, he was brought down by Darren Fletcher in the box and the Arsenal players were demanding a penalty. But the referee was spot on - Fletcher had got the ball. Had he been a fraction out, it would have been a penalty.
But a penalty was awarded at the other end of the pitch when Wayne Rooney went down under Manuel Almunia's challenge just before the hour mark. I was surprised to see Rooney take the spot kick, specially with Giggs, Carrick and Nani all available. But the wonder kid duly sent Almunia the wrong way and brought United back into the game.
Arsenal did go into a shell after that and United started to take control of the game. Diaby just lost his concentration due to the pressure when he headed the ball into his own net on a Giggs free-kick. Diaby did get a chance to redeem himself when he smashed a shot past Ben Foster, only to see it go wide.
Finally, the game ended at 2 - 1 and Diaby's own goal wrecked Arsenal's 100% start to the season. As if it was not enough, their manager Arsene Wenger was shown the Red card when he kicked a water bottle on the sidelines. He was frustrated with his boy's performance and just when it looked that Arsenal could grab a point out of the game, Van Persie's goal in the stoppage time was disallowed, courtesy Gallas was offside. Wenger vented out his anger on the poor water bottle and the referee asked him to clear the area.
Wenger did create some scenes before the referee restarted the game and blew his whistle soon after to indicate United's victory. This game saw a great performance from Rooney, Nani and Giggs. With their confidence sky high, Manchester United now need to keep the consistency going since Chelsea and Spurs are looking in great form, winning all their matches so far.
