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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Arsenal fall for same David Moyes trick that left Sir Alex Ferguson and Man Utd fuming

If Arsenal's draw at West Ham ends up costing them the Premier League title, it won't be the first time Manchester City have benefitted from a rival being thwarted by David Moyes.

Last season it was Moyes' Hammers who almost spoiled the party for City, holding them to a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium and forcing some final day heroics from Pep Guardiola's side. The scoreline was the same when Arsenal travelled to East London on Sunday, but on this occasion Moyes' side clawed back a two-goal deficit rather than surrendering a two-goal lead.

For some City fans, it may have brought back memories of their first Premier League title win, all the way back in 2012. Back then, it was Moyes' Everton who performed late heroics against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, coming back from 4-2 down to snatch a point at Old Trafford.

Moyes' Everton were in impressive form when they took on United in April 2012. They had taken 10 points from their previous four league games, though defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final a week before their Old Trafford trip meant they were questions over how they might approach the game.

Javier Hernandez had scored the only goal of the game in the reverse fixture, but it was Everton who struck first in the return game through Nikica Jelavic. United had seemingly put a 1-0 loss at Wigan behind them, brushing Aston Villa aside to keep their title fate in their own hands, and their response to the Croatian's opener was initially a positive one.

Wayne Rooney sent the two teams in level at the break, with further goals from Danny Welbeck and Nani making it 3-1 after an hour. Marouane Fellaini pulled one back, but any celebrations from the visitors were cut short when Rooney scored his second and United's fourth.

Has David Moyes dealt a fatal blow to Arsenal's title hopes? Have your say in the comments section

Steven Pienaar's late equaliser sealed Everton's comeback (Getty Images)

It was still 4-2 going into the final 10 minutes, only for Jelavic to add his second before Steven Pienaar levelled things up. There was still time for both teams to find a fifth, but it ended all-square, and to say Ferguson was left frustrated is an understatement.

"It was an absolute giveaway," United's manager said. "We needed to see the game out.

"It was a travesty - the football we played was fantastic. We scored some great goals and to give away four goals at Old Trafford, I couldn't believe it.

"They were defensive lapses. Their goals were soft. We created goals by really good football - they got their goals easily. Today was a bad performance. Recently we've defended very well."

Man Utd went on to lose their derby against City, who clinched the title on the final day of the season (Kent Gavin Daily Mirror)

United still had their title fate in their own hands, but needed to get a result away at the Etihad Stadium to keep things that way. Sound familiar, Arsenal fans?

"We've given them the initiative," Ferguson said after the Everton game. "It makes the game at the Etihad Stadium more important - it's the decider really.

"We have to go there knowing we are capable of getting a result. We need to get a result now at the Etihad and there's no reason we can't do that. There's been the expectancy from City that it could be their decider - it's our decider too."

As we now know, it was City who came on top in that decider through a Vincent Kompany winner, setting up the high drama involving Sergio Aguero on the final day of the season. Arsenal will now be hoping the dropped points against a Moyes team is the only thing they have in common with Man Utd's class of 2012.

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