At this stage in the season results are more important than performances and Arsenal certainly know that after this win over Manchester United.
Similar to their victory over Chelsea on Wednesday night, this was at times a chaotic display from Arsenal but they managed to claim another valuable three points in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four.
After losing three games on the spin, Arsenal needed to respond and they have certainly done that by beating Chelsea and Manchester United this week.
The 3-1 scoreline at Emirates Stadium suggest this was a comfortable win for Mikel Arteta’s side, but that was not the case.
Manchester United hit the woodwork three times (once from a penalty) and they had another shout for a spot-kick turned down too. Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored their only goal, had another chalked off as he was a fraction offside.
It was fine margins for Ronaldo and it feels like it will be the same when it comes to the race to qualify for the Champions League, with Arsenal and Tottenham neck and neck.
This win for Arsenal was vital, not least because it lifted them up into fourth, even if only momentarily, and built on the momentum created by beating Chelsea.
The Gunners were once again shaky at the back, with Gabriel allowing Ronaldo to drift off him far too easily for United’s goal, but going forward they looked sharp and concise. Scoring goals has been a problem for Arsenal this season, however suddenly they’ve netted seven in their past two games.
Their first came about courtesy of some calamitous defending from Manchester United. Granit Xhaka whipped in a cross and Alex Telles and Raphael Varane both made a mess of clearing it. The ball eventually came to Bukayo Saka and, after his shot was saved, Nuno Tavares tapped home.
It was the dream start for Arsenal inside the opening three minutes - but they failed to kick on from there.
Instead United came back into the match and they were aggrieved to not have a penalty when Cedric fell and handled the ball in the box.
Arsenal got a penalty of their own shortly after, with VAR spotting Telles had bundled over Saka. The winger stepped up and, like against Chelsea, made no mistake from the spot.
Again, you thought Arsenal would push on from there but instead United hit back with Ronaldo and they started the second-half on the front foot too.
Nuno continued the theme of woeful defending by handling Nemanja Matic’s header, however Bruno Fernandes clipped his penalty onto the post and wide.
That felt like the turning point in the game and it proved to be so as around 10 minutes later Xhaka hammered home from the edge of the box.
It was a goal out of nothing, but one that allowed the final 20 minutes to be much calmer for Arsenal after a frantic game.
The top-four race has been a rollercoaster ride so far and this match summed it up.
