Premier League

ARSENAL 2 (Timber 54, Saliba 73)
MANCHESTER UNITED 0

ARSENAL’S set-piece skills were once again on show tonight (Wednesday) as they struck twice from corners to see off Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.

There were fears before kick-off that the Gunners’ seemingly unstoppable tactic of overwhelming opponents from corners might have lost its edge with the news that powerhouse Gabriel Magalhaes had failed to recover from a niggling injury.

And that certainly seemed to be the case in the opening minutes when Thomas Partey fluffed his lines from close range – missing the type of opportunity that Gabriel would surely have gobbled up.

But Gooners needn’t have worried because the set-pieces that Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were swinging into the box were simply too inviting to be ignored.

The home side had to be patient. The opening goal didn’t arrive until the 53rd minute when Rice’s pin-point corner was headed in at the near post by Jurrien Timber.

William Saliba then made sure of the win with “a bit luck”. Saka directed a delivery deep into the box, which Partey headed back across goal, and the ball bounced in off Saliba’s backside.

“We are happy to score two goals from set-pieces,” said the French defender after netting his first league goal of the season. “I was a bit lucky, but a goal is a goal. We had a lot of set-pieces and in the end we scored the goals.”

Accessing the title race, Saliba added: “Last season it was a bit closer, but now they [Liverpool] are seven points ahead.

“But we know there are a lot of games to play. We have to be first focused on ourselves. Chelsea have had a good start to the season; City are not so good now, but we know they will come back, and Liverpool are flying. We have to keep on winning games, a lot of teams are good so we have to be ready.”

As dominant as the Gunners were, however, they were still indebted to David Raya after the goalkeeper made an outstanding, one-handed save to deny a Matthijs de Ligt header moments before Saliba’s crucial second goal.

The 2-0 victory was made all the sweeter as it saw Arsenal move to within seven points of Liverpool after the league leaders were held to a 3-3 draw at Newcastle.

Facing the TV cameras after what was his 150th win in charge of the club, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “It was a special day, 500 games in this stadium. We scored two set-pieces, but we could’ve scored from open play many more.

“It was one of the best [set-piece performances], and, of course, I’m very pleased with that.

“The team has to have the capacity to score from many different situations. The game opened up a little bit and we looked a real threat. Now we have to do our best to continue to play at this level and continue to win matches.”

Reacting to the news that Liverpool had dropped points, Arteta added: “I didn’t know as I was so happy celebrating in the dressing room. We got that news, but it is very difficult to win this league, and it is still very early.”

Arsenal: Raya, Zinchenko (Merino, 71), Saliba, Kiwior, Timber, Rice, Partey, Odegaard (Jorginho, 90), Martinelli (Trossard, 71), Saka, Havertz
Substitutes not used: Neto, Heaven, Nwaneri, Sterling, Tierney, Jesus

Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, Maguire (Yoro, 59), de Ligt, Malacia (Diallo, 45), Fernandes, Ugarte, Dalot, Garnacho (Zirkzee, 59), Mount (Rashford, 59), Hojlund (Antony 79)
Substitutes not used: Bayındır, Casemiro, Eriksen, Kukonki