It was far removed from the stereotypical stalemate and, at the end of it all, Manchester United had a new club record for away league games without defeat but not the victory they wanted to stay within touching distance of the leaders, Manchester City.
The sequence now stands at 18 matches, one better than the treble-winning class of 1999, and 14 of them have been wins. This felt like the one that got away.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær had wanted a reaction to Wednesday’s shambolic home loss against Sheffield United and he got it in the shape of a much improved performance. But United could not locate the cutting edge. They had the chances to score during a dominant first half but it was during a much more even second period that their greatest regrets could be found.
When Luke Shaw cut the ball back for Edinson Cavani after a quick and incisive move on 58 minutes, all eyes inside the Emirates Stadium turned towards the bottom corner of the net and expected it to bulge. The ball kept on rolling and banged into the advertising boards.
The TV replays showed that Cavani’s shot had brushed off the Arsenal goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, but to put it bluntly, he had to score. It was not Cavani’s day. In the 89th minute, after an Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross, he adjusted his body to set up a scissor-kick only to direct the ball narrowly past the near post.
It was an all-action game, feisty at times and featuring chances for Arsenal as well. Alexandre Lacazette hit a free-kick over the wall from the edge of the area and watched it strike the crossbar, Nicolas Pépé and Emile Smith Rowe flickered and United were also indebted to a couple of last-ditch blocks.
Arsenal had entered the game without three of their best players in the injured Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka – who withdrew with a hip problem – plus Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has needed to quarantine after attending to a family crisis back in France. Mikel Arteta was a little evasive on the details and did not say when his captain would be able to play again.
With that in mind, the Arsenal manager could be happy at how his team fought back in the second half and with a result that extends their unbeaten league sequence to seven matches. After the bleak weeks leading up to Christmas, there is once again a sense of direction.
The frustrating thing for United is that in six league matches this season against the so-called “big six”, they now have four 0-0 draws to go with two defeats, one of which was the 0-1 against Arsenal at Old Trafford on 1 November. They have only scored one goal in the process, which was a Bruno Fernandes penalty in the 6-1 home loss to Tottenham.
Solskjær did not hide his disappointment at the lack of clinical finishing here, particularly from Cavani. “We created enough big chances to have won,” the United manager said. “We feel like we should have won. It’s definitely something I want my forwards to sort out.”
Fernandes was the central figure in the first half. He reacted furiously after being caught by an arm from Cédric Soares in an aerial challenge – the Arsenal full-back was booked – and moments later left his boot in on a challenge with Granit Xhaka, raking the Arsenal midfielder down the achilles. This time there was no card.
In front of goal, Fernandes jinked inside David Luiz only to curl past the far post and saw a 45th-minute free-kick hit the jumping Arsenal centre-half in the wall and loop just over. David Luiz celebrated as if he had scored.
United’s passing and movement was slicker in the first half, their comfort on the ball more pronounced. The final action, though, eluded them. There were numerous examples, Marcus Rashford playing one heavy pass to the overlapping Fernandes and failing to unload a close-range shot after Shaw’s cross had come through to him. Fred also forced an excellent save from Leno after a corner had been half-cleared and Wan-Bissaka headed wide when loosely marked.
Before the interval, Arsenal could point to Gabriel Martinelli almost playing in Lacazette and Pépé curling a yard wide after a driving run. They were more purposeful after the restart, their intensity higher and they advertised the breakthrough. Willian, on as substitute, met Héctor Bellerín’s cross only to be denied by a saving Wan-Bissaka block while Harry Maguire did likewise to Pépé.
A goal felt close but it was one of those days when the ball would not go in. Cavani was a portrait of anguish and so was Lacazette when the woodwork stood in his way on 65 minutes. De Gea also saved smartly from Smith Rowe before Pépé curled another low shot wide.
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