Arsenal has maintained their hopes of winning the Premier League title by breaking a long-standing curse at Old Trafford, securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Manchester United on Sunday to reclaim the top spot in the standings.
In the 20th minute, Arsenal defeated United away for just the second time in their previous 17 games, thanks to a goal from Leandro Trossard, which gave them a point advantage at the top.
Manchester City still holds the power to decide who wins the championship because they have two games remaining to Arsenal’s one.
But, the Gunners continued to put pressure on Pep Guardiola’s team in advance of their challenging Tuesday trip to Tottenham.
United’s chances of competing in Europe the next season were further damaged by the defeat.
Although they were more resilient than in their crushing 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Monday, Erik ten Hag’s team has now only triumphed once in their previous eight Premier League games.
United is still in eighth place in the standings, three points behind Chelsea and Newcastle, whom they play on Wednesday.
Arsenal has been playing brilliantly in 2024 to keep themselves in the running for their first league championship in 20 years.
Since the start of the season, Mikel Arteta’s team has won 15 and drawn 1 of their 17 league games.
However, Arsenal was far from playing at its peak as the predicted attack by an injured United never materialized in the unusually oppressive heat in the northwest of England.
Ten Hag, the manager of United, was under more scrutiny following the way United lost at Palace.
He introduced three new players to the squad that defeated Selhurst Park: Scott McTominay, Sofyan Amrabat, and Amad Diallo.
The Dutchman’s options were again hamstrung by a lengthy list of absentees with captain Bruno Fernandes among those sidelined and a bench littered with youngsters.
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Due to his poor form, the captain of Brazil was left out of their squad for the Copa America midweek.
Casemiro was responsible for the first goal after United had held the free-scoring visitors at bay for the first twenty minutes.
After laboring to play Kai Havertz onside following a United goal-kick, the 32-year-old stole in on Casemiro’s blind side to tap in the German’s cross.
Jim Ratcliffe, United’s newest co-owner, watched the team’s women win their first major trophy in FA Cup history at Old Trafford instead of Wembley.
The work that lies ahead of Ratcliffe has been laid bare in recent weeks, but the home side did manage to keep the majority of the 74,000 crowd onside by taking the game to Arsenal after the break.
Arsenal, though, were rarely seriously troubled as they held out for a sixth clean sheet in their last seven away league games.
Alejandro Garnacho was United’s one live wire but smashed into the side-netting with his best chance to equalise.
Andre Onana’s outstanding saves denied Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice, denying Arsenal the second goal they desperately needed to avert a tense conclusion.
With ten minutes remaining out of ninety, Martinelli took the ball to the corner, demonstrating the visitors’ desperation to finish the game.
However, Arsenal only raised a small enough question to be asked of City, who host West Ham on the last day of the season following their midweek trip to north London.