Manchester United moved into the Premier League's top four with an impressive win at Arsenal. The Gunners were well on top in the early stages - they had 8 shots to United's 1 in the first half hour - but the hosts rarely really tested David De Gea in the visiting goal.
Ironically, United then scored before they'd even had a shot on target - Antonio Valencia's wild strike accidentally prodded in by Kieran Gibbs.
Arsenal threw men forward in search of an equaliser, and were caught on the break, when Marouane Fellaini's fine pass found Angel Di Maria, who played in Wayne Rooney to dink in a second.
Olivier Giroud pulled one back in injury time, but it wasn't enough to earn anything from a game in which many of the big names on both teams failed to take by the scruff of the neck.
Robin van Persie was particularly quiet. He completed just two passes during his 75 minutes on the pitch - no player made fewer, and none of the others to make 2 played more than 16 minutes.
Focus was also on Danny Welbeck, who faced his former club for the first time. The England striker may have fared slightly better than the Dutchman, but he still struggled to stamp his authority on the match. He hit the target with just 2 of his 5 shots at goal, and failed with his only attempted take-on.
- Manchester United have lost just one of their last 15 matches against Arsenal in all competitions (W11 D3 L1).
- Wayne Rooney has scored more goals against Arsenal than any other player in Premier League history (11).
- Angel Di Maria has now recorded 20 league assists in 2014, more than any other player in the top five European leagues.
- Olivier Giroud has scored four in his last five Premier League games at the Emirates.
- This is Arsenal’s worst start to a Premier League campaign after 12 games (17 points), beating their previous worst in 1994/95 (18 points)
- Arsenal have lost their first home games in 24 Premier League matches, the longest run since 2008 when they went 25 without defeat.
