SILLY: Rash Challenge From ‘naive’ Paul Pogba Sees Arsenal Edge Manchester United as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ends goal drought

LONDON|SHIFTMEDIA| Fairly or not, the finger is often pointed at Paul Pogba when Manchester United falter, but there can be no question the Frenchman was largely responsible for the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

United were uninspired, resembling the team which lost to Crystal Palace and Tottenham rather than the one which beat Paris-Saint Germain and Leipzig, but they might’ve escaped with a draw if not for a loss of concentration from Pogba.

With just over 20 minutes remaining, the Frenchman gifted Arsenal a penalty with a rash challenge on Hector Bellerin, who had nowhere to go, and Gary Neville was being kind when he called it ‘naive’.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did the rest, ending an alarming goal drought of 550 minutes which had preceded the Old Trafford clash.

But for the Gunners, it was summer signings Gabriel and Thomas Partey who truly earned the victory with exceptional performances as Mikel Arteta won his tactical battle with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Indeed, United’s only chance of the match came when subsitute Donny van de Beek nearly squirmed one in via Mohamed Elneny and Bernd Leno’s head, only for the post to intervene.

Aubameyang described Arsenal’s win as “very big” after his side climbed up to eighth in the table.

“It’s been a very tough night, but I’m really happy because the team did really well,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s been a long time that we didn’t win here, so of course today it’s a very big win.

“We knew in the second half we had to score because we had so many opportunities in the first half.

“But we managed well in the first half and second half we had this penalty and we scored. A great night. We like our penalties in training and we were confident.” (SOURCE/TALKSPORT)