Manchester United beat Arsenal 3-1 on Sunday to stay within a point
of leader Chelsea after its first ever Premier League win at
Emirates Stadium.
Nani set up two goals in five first-half minutes, one an
own-goal by goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and the other by Wayne
Rooney, before Park Ji-sung carried the ball half the length of the
field to make it 3-0 in the 52nd minute.
United's second win of the season over Arsenal took its
unbeaten record against the Gunners to five matches and pushed the
defending champion to 53 points.
United looked confident throughout after reaching the League
Cup final this week with a 3-1 win over Manchester City.
"It was a great performance by us," United manager Alex
Ferguson said. "It's that time of year when we need to kick on. I
think Wednesday's result and performance galvanized us."
Arsenal, which only scored with 10 minutes left when Thomas
Vermaelen's shot deflected off defender Jonny Evans, is in third
place on 49 points after its first Premier League defeat since
November.
Manchester City is eight points back from Arsenal in sixth
place after beating last-place Portsmouth 2-0, although City could
easily climb higher since it has played two fewer matches than the
four sides immediately above it.
Arsenal was expected to give United a tough match in north
London and Andrei Arshavin's attempts to isolate Wes Brown, who was
playing alongside Evans in central defense because of the absence
of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, gave the Gunners early hope.
But United took control with its 33rd-minute opener and could
have won by a bigger margin, with Nani and Rooney both going close
to scoring more.
Arsenal only managed to exert sustained pressure on United in
the last 10 minutes.
Nani created United's first goal when he danced between two
defenders on the right touchline, dodged a third on the edge of the
area and floated a cross from a narrow angle toward the far post.
With Park rushing in behind for what would have been an easy
finish, Almunia tried to flick the ball over the bar but pushed it
into the net.
"I don't know how to explain that," Nani said of his skill.
"I'm working every day hard to be fit to play in the team."
Nani then played an integral role in the length-of-the-field
counterattack that ended with Rooney calmly shooting past Almunia
for his 100th Premier League goal.
"Counterattack has always been a part of our game,
particularly away from home," Ferguson said. "Arsenal play a lot of
good football and get to the edge of the box regularly, so if you
can get the ball, you've got a chance against them."
Arsenal's defense disintegrated as Park charged from inside
his own half to score before Vermaelen finally roused a dispirited
home crowd with his late goal.
United has now won three straight Premier League matches and
is in strong contention for a record fourth straight title, despite
rarely hitting top form this season after the sale of Cristiano
Ronaldo to Real Madrid.
Arsenal needs to rally quickly, but has matches against
Chelsea and Liverpool up next.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Vincent Kompany scored first-half goals
to put Manchester City level on points with Liverpool and just one
point behind fourth-place Tottenham.
"Physically, we were probably a bit tired after the
Manchester United game last Wednesday," Manchester City manager
Roberto Mancini said. "There are three or four teams who are
pushing for fourth spot and we will keep fighting until the end of
the season to get it."
Portsmouth, which sold another key player Saturday to further
alleviate the financial problems threatening its future, remained
last in the standings with 15 points - five fewer than the next
worst side and without a league win in six weeks.
Adebayor put City ahead in the 40th minute, taking one touch
on Stephen Ireland's perfectly placed pass from halfway and
smashing a half volley past England goalkeeper David James for his
first goal since returning from the African Cup of Nations.
Kompany made it 2-0 five minutes later with a firm header
from Martin Petrov's corner.
Chelsea beat Burnley 2-1 on Saturday to keep the lead on 54
points, while Tottenham drew 1-1 at Birmingham and Everton's
resurgence continued with a 1-0 win at Wigan.
