Arsenal Loses Mega Lead, Manchester United Ends Unbeaten Run: What It All Means

Saturday was the day of the giant killers.

First place Manchester United fell 2-1 to last place Wolverhampton Wanderers yesterday at Molineux, ending its 29-game unbeaten streak. Just hours earlier, second place Arsenal went four goals ahead of mid-table Newcastle in 26 minutes. A stunning second-half comeback led by the Toon’s Joey Barton insured the match ended in a 4-4 draw.

It would be easy to read all manner of things into these matches. Arsenal is not as good as we have been led to believe. Manchester United has been derailed, is no longer the clear favorite for winning the league.

Yet ultimately nothing about these matches is particularly surprising other than how well Newcastle played without star striker Andy Carroll, who departed for Liverpool at the end of the January transfer window.

It has been said time and again this season that Gunners’ gaffer Arséne Wenger fields a weak defensive team. That he needs to invest in a world-class keeper and a stronger back line if Arsenal is to have any hope of toppling United during the 2010-11 season.

Wenger made no attempt to fortify the Gunners’ defense during the January 2011 transfer window. It is not at all surprising a team of talented, spirited and driven players managed to take four goals from Arsenal’s leaky back line.

What is surprising is the team that accomplished this, Newcastle United, was sans wunderkind striker Andy Carroll. Toon central midfielder Joey Barton, who had a brace thanks to two converted penalties, led the victory charge.

Barton opened scoring for Newcastle in the 68th minute with his first penalty, awarded as Arsenal's Koscielny brought down Newcastle’s Leon Best in the box.

Best, who scored a hat trick against West Ham last month, scored from open play in the 74th minute for Newcastle's second goal.

In the 83rd minute, Newcastle was awarded another penalty, which Barton hammered into the back of the net. The Toon men sealed their magnificent comeback with an 87th minute goal from Ivorian Cheik Tioté, his first in the EPL.

The win bodes well for Newcastle as Andy Carroll was instrumental in the team’s journey from the Championship into the EPL during the 2009-10 season, and objective observers predicted doom when Carroll left for Liverpool.

However, if the Toons can continue to display the spirit and cohesion they did against the Gunners, it will have no trouble staying up this season.

Switching matches, it has been said time and time again that Wolverhampton's position in the table—dead last come the start of yesterday's clash—does not reflect the side’s ability.

In the fall of 2010, the squad defeated Man City 2-1 and lost to Man United by a sliver,  2-1. Wolves have since beaten Sunderland, Liverpool (though Liverpool returned the favor in a recent walloping) and Chelsea.

The Wanderers put up a fantastic fight at Eastlands in a 4-3 defeat to Man City on Jan. 15. The side surely outplayed every man on City other than Carlos Tevez, whose brace secured the win.

The win against Manchester United at Molineux is surely a vindication of Wolverhampton’s uneven season but unquestionable ability. As for United, it is somewhat strange that of all of Sir Alex Ferguson’s magnificent squads, this somewhat uneven side was the one to go so long undefeated.

Some have chocked the unbeaten streak up to luck. This is a somewhat unfair assessment, given how well key United men Nani, Dimitar Berbatov, Nemanja Vidic and young Javier Hernandez have played this year.

However, the 2010-11 Red Devils have proven inconsistent, and it is somewhat surprising that it took so long for the side to lose, given the quality at the top of the EPL this season.

Furthermore, Ferguson started struggling superstar Wayne Rooney once more yesterday, rather than giving the nod to prodigious Mexican talent Hernandez.

Rooney has four goals thus far this season, while Hernandez has seven. Rooney has been instrumental in feeding the ball to Berbatov and others—he has 10 assists—but surely players with the quality of Nani, Park Ji-Sung and Rafael can provide crosses in exchange for the increased attacking threat Hernandez provides.

Perhaps Ferguson will learn his lesson the hard way. The end of his unbeaten streak, unsurprising though it may be, might just be the thing the temperamental Scotsman needs to rethink his strategy.

Saturday was indeed a day of giant killers. Wolverhampton played David to Manchester United’s Goliath while Newcastle was the scrappy little engine that could toiling against the gleaming locomotive that is Arsenal.

Yet ultimately, other than the spirited play of the Toon side, none of it was particularly surprising.