Arsenal 0-0 Man United: Lackluster Reds held at Emirates

Arsenal and Manchester United played out a bore draw in the English Premier League on Saturday evening.  Man United Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made five changes to the side that lost 2-1 at home to Sheffield United, with Anthony Martial notably dropped. Mikel Arteta on the other hand missed the services of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with Gabriel Martinelli partnering Alexandre Lacazette up front. The match got off to a slow start, with both sides seizing each other up. United got the first clear chance of the match after 20 minutes when Fred tried to place a shot into the far post, but Bernd Leno made a world-class save to tip the ball behind. United though were forced into an early change as Scott McTominay was withdrawn with an injury in the 37th minute and replaced by Martial. Despite creating a number of chances, the match remained balanced going into the break, even though Man United enjoyed the majority of the possession. The Gunners came back a changed side in the second period, dominating from start to finish. Their first chance arrived four minutes into the second period when Willian, who had just come on for Gabriel Martinelli, wasted a chance after Hector Bellerin's cross reached him at the far post. The Brazilian looked so void of confidence and his shot lacked conviction as Wan-Bissaka got across to make a crucial block. A minute later Harry Maguire made a crucial block to deny Pepe, who made clean contact to strike Willian's cut-back towards the bottom corner. United however caught the Gunners on the break, and Cavani almost got the ball in the back of the net, but Cedric Soares got around to divert the ball away from goal. Alexandre Lacazette then crashed a freekick from the edge of the box against the crossbar with De Gea well beaten in goal. It looks like Xhaka and Pepe are best placed to take the free-kick as left footers, but Lacazette clips it over the wall, and De Gea's stranded. However, the ball clips the crossbar and bounces out. Both sides kept knocking but none could find the elusive goal and they settled for a point each. Arsenal, just like Man United, suffered an injury blow as Lacazette was withdrawn deep in injury time with an injury.