Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has claimed that Granit Xhaka must a Brazilian after the exquisite swerving technique which left David de Gea embarrassed for the opening strike.
The Gunners had gone into the game after a disappointing 3-1 Europa League defeat to Rennes on the road, but they managed to shed the disappointment with a resolute defensive performance.
Ole’s team had the first chance of the game with Romelu Lukaku managing to hit the crossbar from a point-blank distance but they were made to pay for the miss with a swerving shot from Xhaka in the 12th minute which left De Gea rooted to the spot.
Thereafter, United had a couple of more opportunities to find the leveller, but their inability to do so proved beneficial for the Gunners, who grabbed the second through a penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 69th minute.
Speaking after the game, Ole was particularly stunned with the goal from Xhaka, claiming that the midfielder must be Brazilian with the way the shot changed direction midway to deceive De Gea between the sticks.
“He must be Brazilian by the way,” the 46-year-old told football.london in the post-match press conference. “The way he strikes the ball and the way it changes direction.”
In hindsight, it appeared that De Gea had genuinely failed to judge the trajectory of the strike from Xhaka and this made the goal appear much fancier on the day.
However, the credit should still go to Xhaka for attempting the shot in the first place, given the resultant goal offered the Gunners with the platform to secure the victory in the end.
Arsenal have propelled to the fourth position with the victory over United and they are now holding a two-point advantage over the teams outside of the Champions League places with eight games left for the season.
