Gary Neville has delivered his verdict on Mikel Arteta and William Saliba after Arsenal slip in Premier League game week 6 at the hands of Erik ten Hag's much improved Man Utd outfit.
Coming into this one, both sides were on good form with the Gunners having their early title credentials tested against one of their oldest rivals in the English football remit. ten Hag's side, after a rocky start, had found some rhythm, especially in defence as they were aiming to re-enter the top four conversation at the very least with a shock win against the early Premier League high-flyers.
After a rather even start, the away side looked to have broken the deadlock but VAR yet again intervened to the dismay of Martin Odegaard who was the culprit in this situation. Instead, it was the Red Devils that went in 1-0 up at the interval as £85m signing Antony netted on his debut. Bukayo Saka levelled in the 60th minute with the momentum expected to switch at that point. That never really happened as only six minutes later, the Arsenal backline was caught out by a Bruno Fernandes through ball which Marcus Rashford made sure got the treatment it deserved with a neat finish.
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Despite the good attacking play shown on this occasion, Neville believed star defender Saliba was actually at fault for the goal being conceded on this occasion.
"I was just talking about Arsenal’s midfield but they get counter-punched, they give the ball away and it’s that combination, Eriksen into Fernandes and it’s that run from Rashford," he said during his Sky Sports commentary. "Saliba just doesn’t drop, sort his feet up quick enough, originally I thought he got it stuck under his feet, he’s through, but this first touch isn’t brilliant and it’s that little deflection that might help him in the end, takes it over Ramsdale. Manchester United, it’s been such a poor 20 minutes, difficult 20 minutes are back in front."
Rashford then added his second of the game and third of the season for his own count as the Three Lions international's finish was put on a plate by Christian Eriksen.
This time, the defence wasn't the main culprit in the eyes of Neville. The manager Arteta was the one to receive criticism on this occasion with tactical decisions that Neville believed culminated in the final goal of the game.
He added: "You have to say when Mikel Arteta made those substitutes, I either thought it’d be a 5-1 or a 3-2 because it looked so bold but the space that Christian Eriksen has is absolutely incredible. Arsenal, did they need to go so desperate so early? It’s onside. Eriksen’s onside, Rashford’s onside. There’s bold but I have to say, this could be four or 5-1 or it could just be a mess for United the other way and Arsenal could score two or three. It looks like it’s going to be the former.
"They’ve been fantastic for 65 to 70 minutes but quite a bit of immaturity in the last 20. The three substitutions at once, I thought it was strange, because it was a bit of kitchen-sink job which you can get done on the counter-attack - which they did. I don’t think they needed to do that in the game, there was still 20 minutes in the game, they were still working chances, Manchester United’s goal on the counter was against the run of play then all of a sudden the game became easier for Manchester United than Arsenal with those subs."
Follow post-match coverage and recap all events from Man Utd vs Arsenal on football.london here.
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