Beating Utd just papers over cracks - The Sun

NOW isn't that just so typically Arsenal.

When it doesn't matter, when the battle has run its course, they finally win a match of substance.

When the pressure is off, when the result is of little concern to players, manager or fans, they beat Manchester United and offer their great old mates Chelsea a massive title lifeline.

Then, again, United have only won five of their 18 away games this season, dropping an incredible 30 points.

To top it all, yesterday's performance must have been their worst ever at the Emirates.

That aside, for Arsenal it was still a case once more of too little, too late.

Afterwards Arsene Wenger talked of how certain players are "growing".

How, at last, his team had some luck - before repeating the excuses that but for dropped points in unfortunate circumstances against Liverpool, Spurs and Bolton they would have been in the shake-up.

Except, of course, we have heard it all before. Time and time again. The main surprise was that, after conceding late goals and surrendering the lead in their last three games, they managed to defend a one-goal advantage against United.

Especially with a centre-half partnership of Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci for the last 20 minutes.

Perhaps it might have been better had they suffered a comprehensive beating and forced everything out into the open.

Now, instead, Arsenal fans will fear another covering over of the massive cracks that have undermined yet another Premier League campaign.

That Wenger's vague promises about supporting his young players with some more established performers is only so much hot air. That he will just revert to type and give it all another whirl next season without really changing anything.

As he said yesterday: "The age of the team is a big encouragement."

Except he says this every season.

Sure, at an average 23 years and 296 days, it WAS the youngest fielded in the Premier League this season.

It was even without Cesc Fabregas and, from half-time, Samir Nasri.

And now all the talk, no doubt, will be of how match-winner Aaron Ramsey might replace Fabregas and finally facilitate the Spaniard's return to Barcelona.

Except Ramsey, making just his second league start since breaking his leg 14 months ago, is some way off doing that. If he ever can.

As for United, they couldn't have chosen a more inopportune moment to produce their most insipid display against Arsenal since the Gunners moved from Highbury.

Mind you, there was something symmetrical about it in that all four Champions League semi-finalists lost over the weekend.

Schalke were thrashed 4-1 at Bayern Munich, Real Madrid went down 3-2 at home to Real Zaragoza while Barcelona were beaten 2-1 at Real Sociedad, only their second league defeat of the season.

Not that that will be much comfort for Alex Ferguson.

Most worrying for him will have been the form of Nemanja Vidic at the heart of the United defence.

If he can look this suspect against Barca Lite what will happen if and when he faces the real, heavier version in the Champions League final at Wembley?

Arsenal should have been ahead after just three minutes when the Serbian's appalling attempted clearance went only as far as Jack Wilshere near the edge of the box. Vidic's saving grace was that Wilshere's sliced shot was even worse than the original error.

Five minutes later Gael Clichy's low cross bisected both Vidic and Patrice Evra only for Theo Walcott to put an admittedly hard chance over the bar.

Lionel Messi, though, would have converted both.

Then, of course, came THE Vidic moment, the United centre-back flicking Walcott's 34th-minute cross away with his hand to stop Robin van Persie planting a header past Edwin van der Sar.

It was a tough call for linesman Andy Garratt as no one other than Van Persie seemed to have spotted it.

But after everything that went on at Stamford Bridge the previous day, it was yet another incident to add to the powerful case for video technology.

Then, with three minutes to go, sub Michael Owen went down in the box after being clipped by Clichy.

Referee Chris Foy decided to let that one go - probably, subconsciously, to even it all up.

So yet again we have a match with enormous ramifications being decided by the mistakes of the match officials.

Though there was something wonderfully ironic in Ferguson's claim that "United never get these decisions in big games - never!"

Who does he think he is - Jose Mourinho?

In the end, it was all decided by Ramsey's right-foot shot on 56 minutes after Van Persie held off Evra on the right.

Ferguson won't be happy there was no one there to either cut out the Dutchman's cross or challenge Ramsey.

The outcome of it all is that a Chelsea win at Old Trafford next Sunday will put them top - not bad for a team that trailed United by 15 points on March 1.

Alternatively, a United victory will put them six points clear with games against Blackburn (a) and Blackpool (h) to follow.

United have dropped just two points at home all season, against West Brom.

Their first home defeat is unthinkable. I think.