Football news - Alexis Sanchez haunts Arsenal as Manchester United extend winning run
ByTNT Sports
Updated 25/01/2019 at 22:37 GMT
FA Cup Fourth Round, The Emirates Stadium - Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 43') Manchester United 3 (Sanchez 31', Lingard 33', Martial 82')
Manchester United's Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal of the English FA Cup fourth round football match between Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium in London on January 25, 2019
Image credit: Getty Images
Alexis Sanchez returned to haunt former side Arsenal as he scored the opening goal in Manchester United's 3-1 win at the Emirates on Friday night.
Sanchez partnered Romelu Lukaku in attack as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rotated his side slightly and the Chilean - appearing at the Emirates for the first time since his move in January 2018 - opened the scoring when he curled home from an excellent pass from the Belgian with just his fifth goal in 33 matches.
Two minutes later Lukaku was the provider again as he teed up Jesse Lingard, who calmly slotted past Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal.
The Gunners got one back before the break when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tapped in at the back post, but they couldn't find an equaliser and were punished late on as substitute Anthony Martial fired home on the counter after Cech parried a Paul Pogba shot.
The game had ten minutes added time due to a face injury suffered by Laurent Koscielny, while there were more defensive woes for Arsenal with Sokratis Papastathopoulos also going off injured in the first half.
TALKING POINT The Solskjaer revolution continues
Eight wins from eight for United now, as the Norwegian continues to underline his credentials for the full-time position.
What a difference the 45-year-old has made to this club and these players in such a short space of time. They are playing with belief and confidence, as demonstrated by Sanchez's performance who now has a goal and two assists under Solskjaer after a torrid time with Jose Mourinho.
It's not just man management where Solskjaer is excelling, tactically he got it spot on once more - United soaked up pressure and with a driving performance, they punished their hosts on the counter-attack time and time again, before killing the game off by bringing on Marcus Rashford and Martial who scored the crucial fifth goal of the contest.
For Unai Emery, there are more questions asked. His decision to bring on Mesut Ozil midway through the second half back-fired, and with the FA Cup his most realistic chance of silverware this season, there will be considerable disappointment amongst supporters at another setback. It's now five defeats in 10 for the Gunners.
MAN OF THE MATCH Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
Eye-brows were raised that the Belgian was recalled to the starting XI at the expense of Rashford - critics suggesting Solskjaer was simply disrespecting the FA Cup with such a 'weakened' selection. How wrong they were. The 25-year-old, making just his second start since Solskjaer was appointed, is playing with renewed venom and happy to do his bit for the team.
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Interim Manager of Manchester United celebrates as Jesse Lingard of Manchester United scores his team's second goal during the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Arsenal and Manchester United.
Image credit: Eurosport
Deployed out on the right of the front-three for the majority of the match, he gave Sead Kolasinac a torrid time. In a performance that showed he is more than just a goalscorer, Lukaku was the standout player.
PLAYER RATINGS
- Arsenal: Cech 5, Maitland-Niles 5, Sokratis N/A, Koscielny 6, Kolasinac 5, Torreira 6, Xhaka 5, Aubameyang 4, Ramsey 7, Iwobi 6, Lacazette 6. subs: Mustafi 5, Guendouzi 5, Ozil 4
- Manchester United: Romero 8, Young 6, Lindelof 6, Bailly 6, Shaw 6, Herrera 6, Matic 6, Pogba 7, Lingard 7, Lukaku 9, Sanchez 7. subs: Jones N/A, Martial 7, Rashford 5
KEY MOMENTS
- 31' - GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Manchester United: SANCHEZ! It had to be him, didn't it? The script was written. The Chilean races onto a lovely reverse pass from Lukaku, he rounds Cech and lobs it into the goal from an impossible angle.
- 33' - GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Manchester United: A textbook goal on the counter-attack! Arsenal have too many players forward and one pass to Lukaku on the right proves deadly. The Belgian registers his second assist, supplying the killer pass to Lingard who coolly curls the ball past Cech at his far post. The Emirates is stunned!
- 43' - GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Manchester United: That's more like, Arsenal! Iwobi twists and turns, threads it through to Ramsey on the overlap. He does a couple of step-overs, holds off Matic and pulls it back across the face of goal. It takes a couple of touches before landing in the path of Aubameyang and he slots it into an empty net at the far post.
- 82' - GOAL! Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United: United punish the hosts on the counter-attack - again! Fingers will be pointed at Cech, however. Pogba wins the ball in midfield and eats up a lot of ground before shooting at the Arsenal goalkeeper. He can only push it into the path of Martial who finishes with aplomb.
KEY STATS
- In all competitions, Arsenal have lost six matches at the Emirates against Manchester United - more than they have against any other side.
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored on his Arsenal debut in the Premier League (vs Everton), Europa League (vs Vorskla Poltava) and FA Cup (vs Man Utd).
- Manchester United scored with their first two shots on target against Arsenal, with just 149 seconds separating the goals.
- United have won all eight matches under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, scoring 22 and conceding just five.
- The Red Devils have only lost one of their last 15 FA Cup fourth-round ties.
- With 10 goals and nine assists, Alexis Sanchez has been directly involved in 19 goals in 20 FA Cup appearances during his time at Arsenal and Manchester United.
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