Arsenal vs Manchester United: Unai Emery hands Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tactical lesson in statement win

Emery's tactical gamble paid off in style, with Arsenal exposing United's weaknesses to move just one point behind rivals Tottenham in the race for the top four

He’s bold. You have to give him that. Arsenal’s supporters just aren't used to this number of sweeping changes. Almost any tweak Arsene Wenger was forced to make to his starting XI or tactical system was made with all the reluctance of an auteur being asked to find a last minute role for Jason Statham. By contrast Unai Emery cannot resist experimenting, locking himself away in the days before a match to craft a brand new game plan fit for the big occasion.

In the hours before last weekend’s heartening draw with north London rivals Tottenham, Emery emerged from his office at London Colney with an audacious plan to dust off his predecessor’s 4-2-3-1 and stifle Spurs to death. It worked wonderfully. And so, against similar opponents this evening, it seemed reasonable to expect Emery to stick with something similar here. To take all that had worked before and refine it.

Not a chance. Instead, the team sheet that began circulating around the Emirates an hour ahead of kick-off was filled with more surprises than the Kinder chocolate factory. The five-man defence was back with a vengeance. There was no place for Matteo Guendouzi, despite the suspension of Lucas Torreira. And further forward, Arsenal’s great white elephant Mesut Ozil was picked alongside Aaron Ramsey, for the first time since September.

It worked wonderfully. Again. Arsenal may slip and slide in the games they are supposed to win, falling to embarrassing and unnecessary defeats in places as far afield as Belarus and northwestern France, but under Emery they are developing a pleasing appetite for the big occasion. The first Premier League team to defeat Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s swaggering United, third-place Tottenham are now perched just one solitary point above them.

All of Emery’s big gambles paid off in a 2-0 victory that is among the finest of his tenure. Particularly the decision to hand Ozil more responsibility. Stationed behind two out-and-out strikers in Pierre-Emerick Auabemyang and Alexandre Lacazette this evening, Ozil’s role was a challenging one. And while the sight of him gliding around in lukewarm pursuit of the ball will always seem a little uncouth, like Ludovico Einaudi guest starring on a Little Mix record, he actually worked very well, always able to roam forward thanks to the tireless running of Ramsey. His must be the hardest working notice period in history.

But it was out wide that Emery’s latest tactical masterplan really made the most sense. On the left, Sead Kolasinac barrelled beyond a panting Ashley Young pretty much whenever he felt like it, ending any hope Diogo Dalot had of roaming forward. And on the other flank Ainsley Maitland-Niles scooted down the wing so robotically his right boot could have been magnetised to the byline.

There was a fine reason to the width: one that only really became clear when United’s players began to grow steadily redder in the face late on. Solskjaer likes his players to press hard upfield as much as he used to love a last minute winter — that much is obvious. But in pressing across such a vast space his side were so often pulled raggedly out of shape, with Arsenal always alert to the rapier-sharp counter-attack.

You need luck too, of course. Arsenal’s opening goal was a peculiar thing, a weird vibrating wobble of a drive from Granit Xhaka which David de Gea would nevertheless expected to have save. Instead he sidestepped to his left when he should have sidestepped to his right, the ball bouncing just in front of him and reverberating its way into the net.

Before Gunnersaurus had even started limbering up for his half-time penalty shootout, United had recognised that they needed to change something. Anything. And so in a blur of abstract arm signals Solskjaer reacted to Emery’s latest innovation by mixing around his midfield and pushing both Dalot and Luke Shaw forward, in a desperate attempt to free up the full-backs that Emery had so expertly pinned deep downfield.

Thus began an intriguingly nip-and-tuck battle of two top six managers with markedly different CVs. One minute Emery was up, moodily prowling the furtherest corners of his technical area like a prisoner making the most of his yard time. The next he was sat down and there was Solskjaer, waving a few apologetic instructions in Paul Pogba’s direction. The subtle tactical shifts and tweaks barely stopped throughout the second-half.

Solskjaer's tweaks failed to turnaround the match (AFP/Getty)

But neither his urgent instruction nor his several changes to United’s shape made any difference. Bernd Leno twice frustrated Romelu Lukaku with fine saves and before long Arsenal had doubled their lead, Aubameyang atoning for last week’s penalty miss after Lacazette had been pushed to the turf by Fred. It was soft, but that didn’t matter. 2-0. Game over. Advantage Arsenal.

Let us not be too harsh on Solskjaer. This was United’s first Premier League defeat in 12 matches. They are back in the race for the top four. And they have reached the last eight of the Champions League. He is not a complete fraud just yet. He still deserves the big job come the end of the season.

But regardless of the fortuitous nature of both of Arsenal’s goals, this still has to be chalked up as a tactical defeat for the United boss. Emery ruthlessly exploited both his high-intensity philosophy and reluctance to rotate his squad to great effect. And in doing so he masterminded a precious victory that puts Arsenal in the driving seat for Champions League qualification next season.