Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud snatched a point for the Gunners in their trip to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, as his 89th-minute towering header resulted in a 1-1 draw.
The North London club struggled in their trip to the Theatre of Dreams and didn’t have a shot on target until the Frenchman’s attempt late on in the game.
United dominated the proceedings right from the start, but were unable to captalise on their domination until Mata found the back of the net around the 70 min mark to make it 1-0.
Wenger made a gamble by replacing Mohamed Elneny with Olivier Giroud in the 73rd minute, with Ramsey dropping to DM. However the change didn’t help the Gunners in their bid to take a grip of the midfield battle.
Giroud handed Arsenal their lifeline with barely a minute of normal time remaining, powering onto the end of a wonderfully floated Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross
The result showed great grit and determination on behalf of Wenger’s men but also the lack of creativity they suffer from sometimes in the absence of Santi Cazorla.
The Gunnners will savour a point that so nearly evaded their grasp, and they now prepare for a UEFA Champions League meeting opposite Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening.
Here are some of the reactions from Twitter:
I'll take a point of the back of that performance. Undeserved but thankfully Giroud powered it home! #Arsenal
— Cam (@CamMcM1993) November 19, 2016
It does seem so!
https://twitter.com/BreadmanSports/status/799981962714816512
The performance was surely one of the contenders for the worst ever
That was the worst I've seen us play and still got a point 😂 #Arsenal
— Anthony Roberts (@aroberts33) November 19, 2016
Knew we'd struggle. Missed Santi and Bellerin. That is a very good point all things considered #arsenal
— Will Rowley (@willjrowley) November 19, 2016
A point is all that matters
https://twitter.com/mudaud5/status/799981907849216000
Agree
Digging points when it matters! #Arsenal
— Rohit Ramesh (@roh00) November 19, 2016
You did wake up at the right time
Really struggled to wake up for that 7.30 kick off. Glad #Arsenal finally did.
— Tan Copsey (@tancopsey) November 19, 2016
The "find a way to win or find a way not to lose" quite ended up more insightful than at first glance. #Arsenal
— Jonathan M. (@aurumuxi) November 19, 2016
I think maybe Wenger can answer that!
https://twitter.com/gregconstable/status/799981845228191744
Mourinho affect?
Worst performance of the season gets u a draw at old Trafford these days.. who knew … #arsenal #MUNARS
— Jamie🗣 (@jmday1980) November 19, 2016
True Analysis!
Normally Arsenal outplays United and loses….today we get outplayed for 89min and steal a point.
I'll take it.#Arsenal— Archie Reed (@ArchAngel97) November 19, 2016
Mourinho might have been the one who reported this
Daylight robbery at old trafford #Arsenal
— Jack Maulkerson (@JackMaulks) November 19, 2016
#Arsenal do a #manutd on #manutd!
— Caralisa Monteiro (@runcaralisarun) November 19, 2016
Hope we can continue the run until New Year
#Arsenal unbeaten in 17 games:
D.W.W.D.W.W.W.W.W.W.W.D.W.W.W.D.D
— Mo Prince👑 (@thug_Munda69) November 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/Cody_R_Gray/status/799983926492086273
Finally here’s the goal
https://twitter.com/goonerplanet/status/799983738658680833
It was satisfying indeed, not with the play though
That was the worst I've seen #Arsenal play in a long, long time, to eek out a point at the death is unbelievably satisfying. #MUFCvAFC
— Twelfth Mann (@TwelfthMann) November 19, 2016