Manchester United shattered Arsenal by slamming eight
goals past the shell-shocked Gunners to secure an astonishing
8-2 victory at Old Trafford.
The home side's delirious fans mocked Arsene Wenger
with chants of "You're getting sacked in the morning''
as Wayne Rooney walked off with the matchball, having
scored his 150th Red Devils goal, then adding two more
after half-time to complete his hat-trick.
Yet Rooney's efforts did not even account for half
of United's staggering tally as they scored eight for
the first time since 1999. Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young,
Nani and Park Ji-sung also found the net before Young
completed the rout with his second.
It was Arsenal's worst ever defeat against United and
the first time they have conceded eight in a league
game since 1896. The result leaves Wenger staring at
the biggest crisis of his 15 years at the helm.
For Sir Alex Ferguson, so strident in his defence of
the Frenchman pre-match, this is of little concern.
His side are yet to drop a point, as are their noisy
neighbours across the city.
And while there are plenty at Stamford Bridge and Anfield
who will strongly disagree, this season already seems
to be turning into an eight-month shoot-out between
the red and blue halves of Manchester.
That United suffered a series of setbacks during the
first-half just made the 3-1 interval scorline even
more remarkable. Jonny Evans conceded a penalty, Welbeck
limped off with a hamstring injury and Theo Walcott
scored.
None of this prevented Ferguson's side jogging off
to a rapturous reception after a mesmeric display, in
which their youngsters again showed their class, and
even David De Gea joined the party.
Derided for his performances since an £18 million
summer move from Atletico Madrid, De Gea needed a lift.
Turning Robin van Persie's penalty round the post provided
it.
It was the central component of a pivotal five-minute
spell, during which United established their clear superiority.
The hosts had already threatened to dismantle an Arsenal
side shorn of Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen, in
addition to the suspensions of Alex Song and Gervinho.
But when Anderson lifted the ball over Arsenal's static
defence, Welbeck had too much strength for Johan Djourou
and headed over Wojciech Szczesny.
In their present fragile state, Van Persie's failure
to punish Jonny Evans' penalty box foul on Walcott was
a shattering blow. That United immediately headed up
to the other end and doubled their advantage through
Young's magnificent curling strike only made matters
worse.
Even Welbeck's injury, which will surely deprive England
of his services in Bulgaria next week, was only a minor
inconvenience, especially as his replacement was last
season's star man Javier Hernandez.
Rooney added his name to the scoresheet with a perfect
free-kick, which beat Szczesny's despairing grasp to
find the top corner.
Walcott pulled one back in stoppage time for the visitors
but when Young forced Szczesny into an excellent save
by his near post straight after the restart, Arsenal's
fans could sense what was unfolding and launched into
long and passionate backing of their team.
It wasn't that Arsenal were incapable. Had Van Persie's
first-time volley found the net instead of being superbly
repelled by De Gea or Andrei Arshavin's close-range
effort not flicked wide off Evans, they would have been
back in with a chance.
They were incapable of preventing United from swarming
all over them though. The heroic Szczesny denied Young.
Nani contrived to miss from four yards. It was all rather
embarrassing for the visitors, who simply could not
hold out.
When Johan Djourou pulled Rooney down on the edge of
the area, he was merely creating the opportunity for
England's number one striker to replicate his landmark
United goal with his 151st.
Rooney then sent Nani through, the Portugal winger
calmly chipping Szczesny before making way for Park
Ji-Sung, who promptly grabbed one himself.
Van Persie pulled one back amid the carnage, which
also saw Carl Jenkinson sent off for hauling down Hernandez,
having already been booked.
At that stage, Arsenal would happily have accepted
the final whistle. But their agony was far from being
over.
Van Persie scored to pull one back, but it merely seemed
to annoy United.
Evra was brought down by Walcott, allowing Rooney to
complete his hat-trick from the spot and then, in stoppage
time, Young added an eighth.
The scoreboard told its own story at the final whistle.
United will march on to face the threat posed by Roberto
Mancini and his men.
For Wenger, there are far more searching and deep-rooted
questions that, in the wake of the departures of Cesc
Fabregas and Samir Nasri, may not be easy to answer.
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