Lucky? Probably. Important? Definitely. A point at Old Trafford should be considered a good result. After the loss to Swansea, and with third still undecided it was just as important for us to stop a Man United win, as it was to earn ourselves a point. The stats below tell the story of our improved second half, but also a team that fell short against Man United, yet again.
For the second week in a row, we were poor in the first half, but had more impetus and purpose in the second. That doesn’t mean we were great, or even close to our recent form to be honest. We were poor for most the game and although managed to sneak a draw, did little else to look like we were going to grab the three points. Take a look at the key stats in the first half against those in the second half below:
| First Half | Second Half | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man Utd | Stat | Arsenal | Man Utd | Stat | Arsenal | |
| 9 | Shots | 0 | 3 | Shots | 5 | |
| 2 | Shots on Target | 0 | 2 | Shots on Target | 3 | |
| 22% | Shots on Target % | 0% | 67% | Shots on Target % | 60% | |
| 318 | Passes attempted | 202 | 235 | Passes attempted | 209 | |
| 262 | Passes completed | 155 | 193 | Passes completed | 168 | |
| 56 | Unsuccessful passes | 47 | 42 | Unsuccessful passes | 41 | |
| 82% | Pass completion % | 77% | 82% | Pass completion % | 80% | |
| 117 | Attacking third passes | 38 | 72 | Attacking third passes | 73 | |
| 75 | Attacking third passes completed | 20 | 49 | Attacking third passes completed | 50 | |
| 64% | Attacking third passes % | 53% | ` | 68% | Attacking third passes % | 68% |
| 7 | Chances Created | 0 | 3 | Chances Created | 5 | |
| 13 | Interceptions | 7 | 10 | Interceptions | 18 | |
| 6% | Interceptions % | 2% | 5% | Interceptions % | 8% |
First off, the well publicised stat that we failed to take a single shot in the first half. However, if we delve deeper into that we can see just how poor we were at attacking. In the final third we had a pass completion rate of only 53%, but even worse was that we only attempted 38 passes, a third of what Man Utd were doing during the same period. To add to this, we only attempted three crosses, had four successful dribbles (none in the final third) and created no chances in the first 45. All stats which were improved on in the second half.
The other stat which stands out from the first half is our interception percentage. An interception is defined by Opta as “where a player intentionally intercepts a pass by moving into the line of the intended ball” – thus the number of interceptions against the total passes made by the opposing team, gives the interception rate. We intercepted 2% of Man Utd’s passes. Given we made less passes than them, but they still had the higher interception rate (6%), it shows the lack of intensity and pressure put on them by our players.
Now let’s take a closer look at those second half stats. From a first glance you can see that we were better. We took some shots, completed more passes and actually created some chances (even some ‘big chances’!). In the second half we took more shots (five) than Man Utd and hence hit the target more times (three). This doesn’t include the cross-come-deflected own goal from Walcott, but despite the luck involved there it was far from undeserved.
In the second half our pass completion improved to 80%, more specifically successful passes in the attacking third were 68%, an improvement of 16% from the first half. Furthermore, we actually created some chances (five), two of which were classified as ‘big chances’ (defined by Opta as “A situation where a player should reasonably be expected to score usually in a one-on-one scenario or from very close range”), which both fell to Giroud. The trend continued when you look at the other indicators too. More crosses were sent in (14), and we made 25 dribbles with a 56% success rate.
Our pressing game improved in the second half, and that was largely responsible for the increased frequency of our attacks. From only intercepting 2% of passes in the first half, we intercepted 8% in the second half. This saw Man Utd’s midfield impacted the worse. The home sides pass completion in the middle third went from a dominant 91% to only 78% in the second half.
No doubt, there will be plenty of United fans who feel as though they should have walked away with three points. And despite our improvement in the second half, it’s hard to argue otherwise. Of the top 19 player pass combinations in the match, only three were Arsenal players – Mertesacker to Bellerin, Monreal to Sanchez and Coquelin to Mertesacker. Only one of these combinations represents an attacking threat. Further still, if we look at passes made, chances created, crosses attempted and attacking aerial duals, only one Arsenal player appeared in the top five of each stat. For tackles made, attacking third passes and blocked crosses there were no Arsenal players in the top five. Despite the home side crossing more often than us, we failed to block one single cross, whereas they blocked five. It’s hard to argue why we deserved our slice of luck – maybe from the match at the Emirates?!
The point we did gain has proved to be valuable. Not only because it ensures us third spot (barring any calamities in the next week) and keeps the faint hope of second still alive, but it also keeps our momentum going. After losing to Swansea last week, two losses in a row could have been a big hit to our confidence. Given our last two league fixtures now have less riding on them, we can afford to rotate the side in anticipation of the FA Cup final.
RK
All stats courtesy of Opta. Source used FourFourTwo StatsZone.
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