Draw at Man Utd leaves Arsenal title hopes on life support

MANCHESTER, England — Declan Rice scored a crucial equaliser and then produced a goal-saving tackle to deny Rasmus Højlund a late winner to keep Arsenal‘s faint Premier League title hopes alive in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The second-placed Gunners now sit 15 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool, albeit with a game in hand and a trip to Anfield still to come on May 10, so their title dream is hanging by a thread. But Rice’s 74th-minute goal, which cancelled out Bruno Fernandes‘s first-half strike from a free kick, and his last-ditch challenge on Højlund on 84 minutes meant that Arsenal avoided the defeat that would surely have ended their title hopes.

United came close to winning in stoppage time, however, when a Fernandes shot from close range was clawed out by goalkeeper David Raya.

The point does little to improve United’s miserable season, however, with Ruben Amorim’s team in 14th spot, eight points adrift of Fulham in 10th. — Mark Ogden

Arsenal’s title hopes left on life support

They won’t concede it until mathematically impossible, but Arsenal’s title race is surely run. The Gunners still have a game in hand but a 15-point gap to Liverpool following their tenth draw of the season is surely too much to claw back even with a quarter of the season to play. In any case, Arsenal will have to go on the sort of sustained winning run they don’t look capable of right now given injuries to key attacking players and an unusually unstable defence.

Raya occupied the curious position of contributing to the concession of United’s goal with poor positioning before making a string of stunning saves to ensure Arsenal weren’t beaten. Rice did his best in both boxes, equalising with a fine strike before a brilliant tackle to deny the ponderous Højlund as he lined up a close-range shot, but the Gunners look almost certain to come up short once again.

Liverpool need five wins and a draw from their remaining nine games to guarantee the title. Arsenal need a miracle. — James Olley

Another home failure, but positive signs for Amorim

Maybe, just maybe, Amorim was able to see some light at the end of a long, dark tunnel in Manchester United’s performance against Arsenal.

United took the lead and actually led a Premier League game at half-time for the first time since Dec. 1 thanks to Fernandes’s free kick. They also showed signs of being an organised unit with a plan and made themselves hard to beat in a game when the Gunners enjoyed 68% of the possession.

Youngster Ayden Heaven, signed from Arsenal in January, looked composed and confident in the second half after replacing Leny Yoro, while Alejandro Garnacho shone after his recent difficulties. Even the much-maligned Casemiro and Christian Eriksen played their part, while Fernandes once again showed himself to be United’s talisman.

United failed to win at home once again following Rice’s late equaliser, but having been booed off in recent home games, Amorim’s players delivered on Sunday and gave their fans and coach the hope that they may have finally turned a corner. — Ogden

Arsenal yet to solve left-back conundrum

Sources have told ESPN that Arsenal’s issues at left-back were identified as a key reason internally as to why they didn’t stay the course in last season’s Premier League title race. With Jurriën Timber sidelined for almost the entire campaign, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu all deputised with mixed results, prompting a summer move for Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna.

The £42 million acquisition has lost his place of late to 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, and perhaps Sunday showed why.

United didn’t offer much sustained attacking threat, but what they had mostly came through Garnacho, and Calafiori struggled to cope with the 20-year-old Argentina international. Calafiori gave the ball away for the free kick that led to Fernandes’ goal and was substituted on 58 minutes.

Lewis-Skelly is a fine talent and could become the solution, but only this week, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta suggested the teenager still has a lot to learn, having been substituted in the first half of Tuesday’s 7-1 win at PSV Eindhoven to protect him from being sent off. There are high hopes for Lewis-Skelly — one bright run that earned a dangerous free kick was a further sign of his attacking quality — but this was a day when left-back looked like a possible weakness rather than a strength for Arsenal, a feeling they hoped to have consigned to history. — Olley

Højlund, Zirkzee the root of United’s problems

Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee are both honest triers for Manchester United, but their lack of quality up front is a big factor in the team’s struggles this season, and it is not just down to their lack of goals.

Zirkzee and Højlund have scored just five goals between them in the Premier League this season, and neither has found the net in a league game since the beginning of December. Those stats alone highlight how far out of their depth they are in a United shirt.

But they aren’t delivering in other areas of the pitch, either, notably when it comes to holding the ball up in the opposition half in order to help build attacks or alleviate pressure on overworked midfielders and defenders.

Zirkzee started this game and was often targeted by goalkeeper André Onana with long balls forward, but the 22-year-old, despite standing at 6-foot-4, repeatedly failed to win the ball against defenders Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba. Zirkzee’s lack of presence and aggression made it easy for Arsenal to win the ball and put United immediately back under pressure.

It was rinse and repeat, over and over, but something that happens in most games. The end result? United have to do more defending, concede more chances and, as a consequence, let in more goals.

Højlund, 22, replaced Zirkzee as a second-half substitute, but the £70m signing from Atalanta was similarly incapable of protecting the ball. Højlund shows more aggression than Zirkzee, but his touch is worse and therefore means he loses possession more than he keeps it.

So while United need an upgrade in terms of goals up front, they also need a striker who can do the job of a centre-forward by giving his team a platform in the attacking third. Neither Zirkzee or Højlund can do that. — Ogden

Sterling falls further down Arteta’s pecking order

If only Arsenal had a winger to bring on in the midst of their injury crisis to get them the goal they desperately needed to keep the title race alive. Except they did.

Raheem Sterling was once again an unused substitute for the Gunners, with Kieran Tierney again preferred off the bench as an alternative. Tierney, remember, is a left-back who is out of contract in the summer and certain to leave.

Sterling was signed on deadline day from Chelsea in a loan deal that contains no option or obligation to make the move permanent, but instead of being a valuable option to add strength in depth, he has faded into the background in an alarming regression that places considerable doubt over the 30-year-old’s long-term future when he returns to Chelsea at the end of the season. He has made just 12 Premier League appearances this season, eight of which have come as substitute. His return is no goals and one assist.

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Janusz Michallik believes that Bruno Fernandes showed his leadership in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw vs. Arsenal.

With Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka all absent through injury, Sterling would have been expected to step up as a senior player with great experience for club and country. With Gabriel Martinelli now back from injury, though — playing the last 32 minutes here — Sterling seems highly likely to play out the rest of the campaign as a bit-part player. — Olley

De Ligt becoming a leader at United

Nobody at Manchester United can claim to have had a great season this year considering the team’s woeful results and performances, but Matthijs de Ligt continued his recent good form against Arsenal.

The Netherlands defender wasn’t on United’s wanted list summer, but former manager Erik ten Hag pushed for his signing from Bayern Munich, and the club hierarchy sealed a £40m move for the centre-half to show faith in Teg Hag after handing him a new contract.

It didn’t work out for Ten Hag, who was fired in October, and De Ligt struggled to adjust to the pace of the Premier League in his early months. But the former Ajax and Juventus player has shown real character to come through his tough patch and he now looks a first choice under Amorim.

De Ligt lacks pace and is not particularly comfortable on the ball, so he doesn’t tick the boxes that his new manager wants in his defenders. Right now, though, De Ligt’s tenacity, durability and leadership skills are making an impact, especially with Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez and Jonny Evans all out due to injury.

De Ligt leads by example, and he did that again against Arsenal. — Ogden