United finally wins, Arsenal goes clear atop Premier League

Arsene Wenger has said that Mesut Oezil needs a rest and the Arsenal midfielder is not training between games. “It was about solidarity, exhausted legs and taking a chance from a set-piece”.

Chris Smalling is pleased to finally get a result after Manchester United had gone eight consecutive matches without a win.

After the game, the BBC reported that McClaren said: “We asked for a performance and the players gave it, but we conceded one soft goal and lost the game”.

The Gunners struggled to click as an attacking force, and had Petr Cech to thank for a string of excellent saves, but Laurent Koscielny’s 7Xth minute goal was enough to clich the win over Steve McLaren’s side.

Predictions that Leicester’s unlikely surge to the summit would be short-lived gained further substance when they failed to break down 10-man Bournemouth and missed a penalty through Riyad Mahrez to extend their winless run to three games. “We have to get points, otherwise the gap is too big and that is why we have to do what we have to do”, Van Gaal said.

Recent Arsenal teams rarely converted such lacklustre performances into three points and, in what is his 20th season in English football, Wenger is adamant that the gap between top and bottom has never been smaller.

Statistically, Arsenal is the strongest premier league club even though the squad is blighted by injuries but the caliber of players in the reserve team are still better than most premier league side, one of the basic reasons they’re on top of the league table. “I’m so happy to be in all competitions despite all the injuries we’ve had”.

Anthony Martial headed United in front from Ashley Young’s right-wing cross early in the second half, only for Gylfi Sigurdsson to head Swansea level in the 70th minute from a Modou Barrow cross.

He said: “We came here against the league leaders and I don’t think many teams will come here and dominate a game and create chances like we did today”. Spurs’ form is also of concern to both Liverpool and United, who find themselves five points off the Champions League places at the season’s halfway stage.

Jonny Evans’s stoppage-time goal earned West Bromwich Albion a last-gasp 2-1 win over Stoke City, who had Geoff Cameron sent off after an altercation with Claudio Yacob.

The defeat leaves Newcastle two points adrift of Swansea City, who occupy the position above the relegation zone, but they are now only two points clear of 19th-placed Sunderland, who beat Aston Villa.

Carragher, however, believes that Ozil will only match his Dutch predecessor if he, like Bergkamp, can help win a domestic league title for Arsenal.