Sloppy Arsenal Recover to Pick Up Precious Point at Old Trafford

Arsenal recovered from a terrible start to pick up 1-1 draw against Manchester United that all but guarantees them automatic Champions League qualification.

Arsenal’s first-half performance was nothing short of dire. Their passing was slack, with even the normally reliable Santi Cazorla frequently conceding possession. According to Opta, it was the first time the club failed to muster a single shot in the first half of a Premier League game in 11 years.

When they did offer an occasional threat on the break, Olivier Giroud’s lack of pace meant he was unable to escape the attention of United centre-backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. After such an impressive run from the Gunners in recent weeks, this felt like regression to a depressing mean.

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There was naivety about Arsenal's defending, too. From the opening minutes of the game, it was obvious that United’s main threat would come from Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini. Hector Bellerin struggled to get tight to Young on United’s left flank, while Fellaini’s runs to join Falcao left Arsenal short of both men and height in the box.

Eventually, United’s strategy paid dividends with a goal. Young got to the byline before lifting a cross in to the area, and while the ball evaded Fellaini, Nacho Monreal was sufficiently distracted by the Belgian's run to get drawn infield. That left Ander Herrera free to dispatch a neat volley into David Ospina’s net.

Arsenal do not have a good record when trailing. Prior to this match, they had won just three of the 13 games in which they’d fallen behind. 

The start of the second half saw Arsenal play a little better—no great feat, given how much room there was for improvement. Alexis Sanchez had the first shot at goal, volleying wildly over the bar when found by a Giroud flick-on. The Frenchman then created a far better opportunity, turning brilliantly inside the box before David de Gea dashed out to block his toe-poked shot.

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In the 69th minute, it seemed certain that Aaron Ramsey would level the scores after he raced on to an Alexis through ball to lob De Gea. However, Marcos Rojo was able to get back and prevent the Welshman tapping into an empty net.

Ramsey was Arsenal’s best player on the day, and it was no surprise that Arsenal’s eventual equaliser arrived once he was restored to his preferred central role. Wenger withdrew the ineffective Cazorla and brought on Theo Walcott, enabling Ramsey to shift inside and play in the middle.

From that moment, Ramsey became the game’s dominant player. It was his pass that released Walcott, whose cross deflected off Tyler Blackett and beyond substitute keeper Victor Valdes to level the score at 1-1.

Wenger could sense that his team was on the front foot, with United becoming more fatigued as the game wore on:

Having equalised, Arsenal looked the more likely to go on and win the game. However, Wenger clearly recognised that the priority was to ensure the Gunners left Manchester with a precious point. He showed his priorities when he replaced Alexis Sanchez with defensive midfielder Mathieu Flamini.

Arsenal avoided defeat in a big game once again. They have now faced both Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea in 2015 without suffering a defeat. They now look forward to a game in hand against Sunderland in midweek. Their superior goal difference means that a point is all they need to guarantee they finish above United and avoid a potentially tricky Champions League qualification round.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout the 2014-15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.