Mikel Arteta described Arsenal's first half of the Premier League season as "extraordinary" but insisted his team will not get carried away and still have plenty to improve if they are to end the club's 19-year wait for the title.
Arsenal delivered another statement of their title credentials on Sunday evening with a thrilling, and well deserved, 3-2 victory over in-form Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.
Marcus Rashford gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead with a fine low finish, before Eddie Nketiah equalised midway through the first half. Bukayo Saka then handed Arsenal the lead early in the second half with a superb long-range strike, only for Lisandro Martinez to pull United level with a header six minutes later.
Arsenal dominated for the final half-hour and got their reward in the 90th minute when Nketiah grabbed his second, applying a finish at the back post to earn the Gunners victory and re-establish their five-point lead over champions Manchester City having played one game fewer.
Now at the halfway stage of the season, and sitting on 50 points, Arsenal are in control of the title race. Arteta is understandably pleased with the campaign so far, but said now is not the time to lose focus.
"Extraordinary, it doesn’t get much better than that, that’s the reality," the Arsenal manager said when asked to assess the season so far. "I think we deserve the points that we have, I think we have played well enough to win most of the matches, but the reality as well is that we still have a lot of things that we can get much better at, attacking and defending in transitions, in set-pieces and that’s the aim."
United arrived at the Emirates as one of the form teams in the division, riding a five-match win streak which has helped push the club into the top four. But while they initially led and swiftly levelled for 2-2, United never looked like winning the game, thanks to another impressive display from Arsenal, and Arteta believes such performances will only help increase confidence and belief.
Arsenal v Man United player ratings
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ARSENAL RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale 6: Early collision with Fernandes had United appealing for penalty, but it was rightly ignored. No chance with wonderful Rashford finish. Fine save from deflected shot from the same player in th second half but then flapped badly at a corner ahead of United’s second. AFP -
Ben White 6: Challenge on the in-form Rashford resulted in the game’s first yellow card in the first half which might explain his half-time substitution with the Gunners not taking risk of going down to 10 men with the game evenly poised. AP -
Gabriel 7: Slight slackness early on when he allowed a hopeful Lisandro Martinez long ball across th box that resulted in Ramsdale’s coming together with Fernandes. Keane v Vieira-esque head-to-head ‘discussion’ with th Portuguese midfielder in a game that was throwback to that era. Getty -
William Saliba 8: Another assured display from th French defender. Cool, calm, and times challenges so well and never put a foot wrong. Getty -
Olseksandr Zinchenko 8: Played a key role in the build-up for Nketiah’s goal then scuffed a low strike across the penalty area that almost ended up picking out Nketiah just before the break. Fine job keeping Antony under control. Getty -
Thomas Partey 7: Fired a shot just wide in the opening couple of minutes but was sloppy in possession then skinned by Rashford for the opening goal. Went on to help Arsenal win the midfield battle. AFP -
Granit Xhaka 8: Nice ball to set up an early chance for midfield partner Partey and even better delivery to supply the cross for Nketiah’s equaliser. What a season the Swiss is having. Superb again. AP -
Martin Odegaard 8: Very impressive shift from Norwegian, winning challenges, great passing and movement. Was Arsenal’s heartbeat throughout. Getty -
Bukayo Saka 9: Exploded into the game just after the break when he cut inside Eriksen before fizzing home a stunning strike from the edge of the area to put his team 2-1 up. Then hit the post with a similar effort that took a slight deflection. AFP -
Gabriel Martinelli 7: Missed a chance for a quick leveller when he curled a shot wide of target from a well-worked corner. Always threatening down the left and had an intriguing battle against Wan-Bissaka. Getty -
Eddie Nketiah 8: Headed Arsenal level just seven minutes after United had opened the scoring – his 12th goal in his last 13 starts at Emirates Stadium. Denied another by fine De Gea reaction save before grabbing the winner with a lovely flicked finish. AP -
SUBS: Takehiro Tomiyasu (On for White 46’) 7: Always looking to push forward after coming on, although keeping tabs on Rashford was his big test which he pretty much passed. AP -
Learndro Tossard (On for Martinelli 82’) N/A. Reuters Rob Holding (On for Odegaard 90+3’) N/A. -
MAN UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea 6: Beaten from distance by Saka. Conceded three goals for the first time since Brentford (and for the second time at Arsenal in nine months), but made some notable saves, the best from close range from Nketiah as Arsenal pushed for a third. Unusually poor goal kicks. AP -
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 6: An enthralling match but an awkward afternoon for the Londoner and he twice cost his side in moves involving Nketiah, whom he played onside for the winning goal. Better up against Martinelli AFP -
Lisandro Martinez 7: Lifted a header perfectly from his bandaged head to make it 2-2 for his first United goal. He read the bounce brilliantly before that and ran to the travelling fans to celebrate. Useful going forward, too, but could have done better for two Arsenal goals. Went in well on the wonderful Odegaard and blocked from Xhaka too. AP -
Raphael Varane 7: The most comfortable United defender and not the one targeted by Arsenal. Calm. How did his defence concede three? His mentality is not an issue, but his manager was angry at the end and said: “At this moment I am annoyed. I told the players if you want to win trophies you have to change your mentality.” PA -
Luke Shaw 6: His most challenging game for a while against the best team in the league. Backed off all the way into the 16-yard box, leading Saka, his tormentor as the game went on, towards his best foot to shoot. Reuters -
Scott McTominay 7: Header kept out by Ramsdale, as was a shot after 28 minutes. Gave it a good go in his first league start since he lost his place to Casemiro at the start of October, but he’s not got the Brazilian’s influence. Few have. Getty -
Christian Eriksen 6: Inswinging corner from the left led to Martinez’s equaliser, but he doesn’t have the defensive qualities of Casemiro and his role in losing the ball and then letting Saka get his shot off didn’t cover him with glory. Better going forward but found it hard to influence a game against the league leaders. EPA -
Bruno Fernandes 7: Early penalty appeal turned down. Denied Xhaka with a clearance. Set up Rashford his exceptional opener. Involved as ever but met his match against top-level opponents. AFP -
Antony 5: Another challenging day, but he’s getting a lot of help at Carrington and his defensive game was much improved. Broke on the right and set up McTominay for a shot, but much of his attacks come to nothing in a game United never looked like winning. PA -
Marcus Rashford 8: Superb strike to beat Partey and shoot to put United ahead, his first away league goal in over two years. A second effort was well saved by Ramsdale. Seventeen goals so far this season. AFP -
Wout Weghorst 6: Willing. Held the ball up well and played others in like Antony. A reference for his teammates and a physical challenge for the Arsenal defenders too but never looked like scoring. AFP -
SUBS: Fred (Antony 71’) 6: Lost out in the challenge which ended up with Arsenal’s winner; Alejandro Garnacho (Varane 90’) N/A. Getty
"I hope it does, not that [United] are champions, but that they are good enough to play against these teams and perform the way we've done it," Arteta said.
"At the same time, don't get confused and we talked about that in the last two or three days, that we know our reality, we know still how much we have to improve and we know what has taken us to the position that we are in today and we have to reinforce that every single day."
Nketiah's brace continued his excellent form since staking his claim for a starting place in the absence of injured Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian striker, who underwent knee surgery last month, is expected to be sidelined until at last March, initially raising concerns about Arsenal's forward options. However, Nketiah has stepped up in Jesus' absence and scored seven goals in seven games across competitions.
"What Eddie is doing is incredible," Arteta said. "We cannot say that we saw that, we were hoping that he could do that because of the way he is, because of his mentality, because of his qualities and how those qualities fit within the team. Losing Gabby [Jesus] was a big blow, it is a big blow today, but Eddie is responding and the team I think in an exceptional way."
Perhaps Arsenal's biggest challenge now is to stay grounded, with many of the players in unfamiliar territory of being not only title contenders but title favourites, but Arteta insisted no one is looking too far into the future.
"We always talk about what we're going to do tomorrow, what we're going to control today that is in our hands," Arteta said, "because this league is so competitive and so demanding that the opponents and going to make life very difficult, so make sure that we help ourselves every day to get better."
