United Strike Down Gunners

Arsenal 1-3 Man Utd

Manchester United slaughtered Arsenal this afternoon, defeating the Gunners 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Nani forced Manuel Almunia to concede an own goal before setting up Wayne Rooney for a second. Park Ji-Sung scored early in the second half to end the game as a contest. Thomas Vermaelen volleyed home a consolation for Arsenal in the 80th minute.

Arsenal had started brightly, and Andrey Arshavin had an early opportunity. He broke down the left flank and burst into the left hand side of the penalty area. Cutting inside of Wes Brown, he aimed a shot for the far corner of the goal with his right foot, but it was loose and went wide.

United continued the high tempo start to the game with two dangerous crosses into the box. They broke down the right with Nani attacking Gael Clichy before feeding Darren Fletcher on the overlap. The Scot crossed low into the six yard box towards Rooney, but pressure from William Gallas resulted in the ball being cleared.

The second chance came as Nani skipped past Clichy on the right flank and attacked the byline. He cut the ball back to the far post where Michael Carrick stood unmarked. Just as the Englishman was shaping to shoot, Song came out of nowhere to knock the ball out for a corner. From the set piece Denilson headed back towards his own goal, where Samir Nasri made a goal line clearance from his position on the right-hand post.

Arshavin nearly opened the scoring in the 13th minute. The Russian dribbled at Brown who retreated into the penalty area, Arshavin then jinked to shift the ball onto his right foot and rifled towards the right-hand corner of the goal. Edwin van der Sar was scrambling, but Arshavin's effort flew inches past the right-hand post.

Arsenal continued to press forward, interchanging passes sleekly in midfield. Arshavin broke again and took an air shot just inside the penalty area, before the Gunners attacked down the right with Tomas Rosicky slipping Bacary Sagna in on the overlap. The Frenchman cut the ball back towards Nasri, whose flick took the ball off the toe of an aghast Cesc Fabregas.

Manchester United responded with a series of half-chances of their own. Their direct passing movements troubled Arsenal's defence, with Paul Scholes peeling off the shoulder of Thomas Vermaelen and finding space in the box. Scholes received the ball and controlled, but Gallas pounced with a sliding challenge before the Englishman could shoot.

Nani engineered two chances in the Arsenal penalty area, turning in the six yard box and firing into the side netting from the right. Minutes later and Nani was bursting into the right-hand side of the box, Carrick slipped the ball through to the 23-year-old and only a last ditch block by Clichy could deny Nani.

Devastating | Arsenal can't cope with Nani's trickery

United opened the scoring thanks to a superb run by Nani. Starting on the right flank in double coverage, he flicked the ball in between Clichy and Nasri and entered the box from the right, he then dummied past Denilson and attacked the byline. He got his head up to spot Park at the back post, and chipped the ball towards him. Almunia had to deal with it, and stretched above his head to flick the ball with his fingertips. Unfortunately for the Gunners his touch could only tip the ball into his own goal: 1-0 to the visitors.

The Red Devils scored a second in the 37th minute with a glorious goal on the counter attack. Nani burst down the right and advanced towards the penalty area, slowing to a trot, he saw Rooney powering into the penalty area. The Portuguese fed his team-mate with a perfectly weighted pass and Rooney hammered the ball into the bottom right-hand corner with a first time strike: 2-0 to United.

Arsenal could have had a goal back before half-time, Arshavin wasted another opportunity, with Rosicky turning provider this time. The Czech Republic midfielder latched onto a stray pass on the right and immediately played Arshavin through. The Russian had time to compose himself, but lashed wide of the right-hand post.

Song had a chance in first half injury time, he bundled his way through a crowded penalty area before stabbing the ball wide of the left-hand post.

The second half started with a stinging drive from Rooney. He picked the ball up on the left flank and cut back onto his right foot, aiming for the far corner of the goal from 20 yards. His shot was powerful and caught Almunia off guard, as the Spaniard fumbled the ball away from danger. It wasn't convincing goal keeping.

Manchester United tore through the Arsenal defence to extend their lead in the 52nd minute. Fletcher lobbed the ball over the top for Park to run onto, the South Korean advanced on goal with only Clichy on the cover. The French defender let Park continue his run, as United had runners attacking the space behind him. It was a mistake, as the midfielder entered the penalty area and slotted coolly into the bottom left-hand corner past Almunia: 3-0 to United.

Arsenal refused to lie down and accept defeat and continued to search for a goal. Fabregas smashed goalwards from 20 yards, Van der Sar dived to his left but the shot cleared the crossbar.

Song had a half-chance for a consolation, an overhead kick in the right-hand side of the box set up the Cameroon international. He controlled on his chest and went for the bottom left corner, Van der Sar didn't move as the ball zipped just wide of the post.

Arsene Wenger threw on Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, and Emmanuel Eboue in an attempt to breathe some life into the hosts, but time leaked away with little in the way of opportunities.

Arsenal had a consolation in the 80th minute, Nasri crossed into the penalty area from the right flank and United cleared to the edge of the box. Vermaelen hit an acrobatic volley that looked to be heading straight for Van der Sar, but it deflected off Jonny Evans and into the United goal: 3-1.

The goal invigorated the Gunners, and they piled forward in search of a second. Arshavin drove into the penalty area from the right, dancing past United defenders before Evans slid in to concede a corner. Walcott had a free header from the set piece but it lacked conviction and United cleared.

Arshavin won Arsenal a corner from the opposite flank and Vermaelen lost his marker as the ball was crossed into the middle. The Belgian defender's head was strong, but was going straight at Van der Sar until Patrice Evra flicked the ball clear.

The comeback didn't materialise, however, and despite five minutes of stoppage time, Arsenal couldn't break through again. Manchester United close the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table to one point.