Gary Neville has not held back on his thoughts on Arsenal following Bryan Mbeumo’s equalising goal.
Gary Neville has criticised Arsenal for letting Manchester United back into the game at the Emirates Stadium after taking the lead.
Arsenal went 1-0 up through a Lisandro Martinez own goal in the 29th minute. But United were level less than 10 minutes later when Bryan Mbeumo put the ball past David Raya.
After the equalising goal, speaking on Sky Sports commentary, Neville said: “Well you have to say Arsenal’s management and control of the game since going one up has been terrible! They’ve really gifted United two or three moments and that one is the biggest gift.”
He added: “It’s just a matter of whether Mbeumo can keep his composure, can he go round a fantastic goalkeeper in David Raya… I mean Zubimendi what is he doing, someone of his experience, but Mbeumo is so cool. You can’t say it’s not been coming.”
Arsenal go into the game looking to again stretch their lead to seven points, following Manchester City’s win over Wolves on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners are currently four points ahead of their title rivals.
Speaking at half time, fellow pundit and former United captain Roy Keane touched on the air of nervousness around the Emirates Stadium. “It’s a bit like the Liverpool game here a few weeks ago,” he said on Sky Sports.
“The fans seem nervous, as if they’re afraid to embrace the challenge. They’re more concentrating on not losing the game.
“It looked like the goal set Arsenal back a little bit, they definitely looked tentative, a little bit nervous. The fans seem nervous, almost like they are afraid to embrace the challenge.
“I don’t know where Declan [Rice] is going there, the ball goes back to [Martin] Zubimendi a bit too quickly really. He’s got to do better.
“A bit of calmness, a bit of composure. And United obviously have had a lot of encouragement. You can see it here again, Arsenal, just even trying to keep it at the back. They looked a bit nervous at the back. Lovely, lovely finish and United deserved that. There’s definitely tension in the air and they’re not dealing with it.”
United went into the game full of confidence following a comfortable 3-0 win over rivals Manchester City last weekend. The game was Michael Carrick’s first in charge since taking over as interim manager.
He will look to continue the positive start with a positive second half against Arsenal. Ahead of the game, United sat in sixth place in the table, with three points taking them as high as fourth.
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