Winners and Losers: Manchester United (a)

On Thursday, Arsenal traveled to Old Trafford to take on a United side that frankly were in turmoil. With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked and new interim manager Ralf Rangnick unable to take charge until after the match due to work permit delays, Michael Carrick remained in charge as a rather inexperienced caretaker. The United squad, unbalanced to begin with, missed several starters through injury. And yet, Mikel Arteta’s men managed to snatch a 3-2 defeat from the jaws of victory after going ahead within the opening 20 minutes. Below are the Winners and Losers from a deeply infuriating loss.

Winners

Gabriel Martinelli

When he came on against Newcastle ahead of Nicolas Pepe and scored within two minutes of stepping on the field, Martinelli reminded us he was still around and still promising. At Old Trafford, the young Brazilian was Arsenal’s best performer. He was constantly a threat, troubling the United defense with effective pressing and runs on and off the ball. He had a chance he probably should have finished, but he ended the match with an assist and was one of the few Arsenal players who could leave Manchester with his head held high. Martinelli seems to be on the cusp of making the step up to being a weekly starter. His breakout could well and truly be on. At the very least, he deserves to keep his place moving forward.

Martin Odegaard

You might be surprised to see Odegaard’s name here. Yes, he made an utterly ridiculous challenge to essentially hand United the match (more on that later). However, according to Adam Rae Voge, the Norwegian former prodigy led Arsenal on Thursday night in xA, key passes, and shot-creating actions. He created some good chances, including some menacing opportunities from corners and a clever pass to put Martinelli into a decent goalscoring opportunity. And, of course, he notched a goal as well. Before his heartbreaking error in judgment late in the match, Odegaard was actually quite good, and he deserves credit for that.

Granit Xhaka

Arsenal’s midfield in recent matches has been downright woeful. The passing is more inaccurate than one can be comfortable with. Especially for Liverpool and United, opposition players have been able to storm through it with ease. At times, it’s felt like Arsenal don’t even have a midfield. A lot of these struggles fall at the feet of Thomas Partey, who on his day is the best midfielder at the club. But in the absence of Xhaka, the center of the pitch does not radiate the same stability it did last season when Xhaka and Partey played in tandem in almost every match. With every passing week, Xhaka’s influence is missed by more and more Gooners. Luckily, each passing week also brings us closer to his return from injury.

Losers

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Aubameyang once again was not good against United. He has not been effective for quite some time. He pressed decently and provided an admirable amount of off-the-ball work, but there is no denying that he effectively forces Arsenal to play with ten men in buildup most of the time. And when he did find himself in goalscoring opportunities, the captain failed to convince. Harry Maguire’s multiple forays forward were a rather convincing statement on just how worried United’s relegation-level defense were about Aubameyang.

Thomas Partey

Alongside Aubameyang as the other experienced player to disappoint at Old Trafford was Partey. Arsenal’s marquee signing from two summers ago had his moments. But he also misplaced an infuriating number of passes, lost out in a lot of his duels, and did not provide much of a shield ahead of the back four. Last year in this fixture, the Ghanaian was the star of the show. This time, however, he dropped one of the biggest clangers of the night. Unfortunately, it is not his first in recent weeks. In the long run, the veteran will probably sort himself out. But it isn’t out of the question to wonder if he has been a successful signing.

Martin Odegaard

That’s right, Odegaard makes both the Winners and Losers list. The reason for his inclusion on the latter is obvious: his harebrained debacle in the penalty box. Letting Fred get past him was annoying; amateurishly lunging at him from behind is still absolutely staggering. In no time flat, Odegaard went from hero to zero. In the long run, it doesn’t change the fact that going forward he was pretty helpful. But the moment people will remember is the utterly ill-advised tackle on Fred from behind to gift United — and even worse, Cristiano Ronaldo — the winner. And that, unfortunately, matters more than it should.

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