United is now only one point behind league leader Chelsea, who has a game in hand.
Sir Alex Ferguson opted for the counterattacking game plan with Wayne Rooney and an inspired Nani chasing down the Gunners defense.
Nani, who has never really demonstrated his full potential at United, was in great form and partnered up excellently with Rooney. In the first half, he gave Arsenal defender Gael Glichy a torrid time.
The young Portuguese winger skipped past two defenders with a stunning piece of trickery then chipped the ball to the far post only for Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to parry it into his own net just after half an hour of play.
Less than five minutes later, Arsenal got caught out of sorts as United quickly changed the direction in a classic counterattack. Rooney sprinted from his own area to latch onto Ji-Sung Park’s pass and dispatch in style.
The Gunners failed to impose themselves on the game. This was illustrated when Park took the ball forward finding an open hole, letting him go straight through to beat Almunia in the 52nd minute.
Nani’s quick footwork was the dish of the day and was instrumental in the first goal of the match. And he could have got United’s third only for his goal bound shot to be deflected wide with a crucial touch from the arm of Thomas Vermaelen that went undetected by referee Chris Foy.
With 10 minutes to go, Vermaelen pulled one back with a shot deflecting off Jonny Evans giving van der Sar no chance. This made the score line more respectable, but in truth United was greater than the score line suggests.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will now be undoubtedly winded in his challenge for the Premier League title, knowing that winning this game would have demonstrated their title credentials. Instead United’s performance outclassed Arsenal by a country mile.
Arsenal sits in third place five points back of Chelsea.
Burnley 1, Chelsea 2
Chelsea captain John Terry scored the late winner for the Blues as they held their place at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Terry, who was booed by the home fans after revelations about his private life, headed the winner from a Frank Lampard corner.
Chelsea opened the scoring with a move that started with goalkeeper Petr Cech throwing out to Joe Cole who crossed for Florent Malouda. The French winger pulled it back for his countryman Nicolas Anelka to slot home in the 27th minute.
Chelsea failed to impose themselves on the game and Burnley were given a road back into the match when Robbie Blake’s ball over the top found Steve Fletcher after bouncing off Chelsea defender Alex. Fletcher finished it off with a low drive.
“I can take a lot of heart from this game. We were only minutes away from getting a point,” said Burnley manager Brian Laws.
“It was a difficult game, especially in the second half,” said Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.
“We were not able to play the way we liked and they equalized. We then put more pressure on Burnley and deserved the win.”
Liverpool 2, Bolton 0
Liverpool moved a point behind fourth place Tottenham in the English Premier League with a win over Bolton at Anfield on Saturday.
The Reds took the lead when Alberto Aquilani headed the ball back into the path of Emiliano Insua who crossed it into the path of Dirk Kuyt. The Dutch striker managed to bounce the ball into the net.
Insua’s shot defected off Bolton’s Kevin Davies to find the back of the net in the 70th minute, which sealed the three points for Liverpool.
Liverpool’s form has improved and they are now unbeaten in six games.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told the BBC, “I am pleased with the result and the second half but not too happy with the first half. But at the end of the day we needed to win and we won.”
“I think we are improving. Clearly you can see the team is working hard.”
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