Premier League: Manchester United's win over Arsenal underlines how David de Gea holds key to their success

Thirty minutes into the high-octane English Premier League clash between Arsenal and Manchester United, a familiar sight at the Emirates Stadium led to an unfavourable outcome for the home side – a deflected ball from the left wing found Alexandre Lacazette in the six-yard box whose low shot, when parried away by David de Gea, bounced off the crossbar and reached Granit Xhaka, the Swiss midfielder only managing to clip the outside of the post with his effort.

Arsenal were stunned into disbelief, as were the 59,000-odd fans in the stadium, while Jose Mourinho heaved a sigh of relief, for the scoreline still read 2-0 in favour of the visitors. Arsenal had created twice as many chances as United in the first half an hour, yet had the odds stacked against them.

“We are a team who puts many players in front of the ball when we attack so we are sometimes vulnerable on the counter-attacks. On that front maybe the fact that we play with three centre-backs helps a little bit to be caught less on counterattacking,” Arsene Wenger had explained ahead of the match how the Gunners found their groove in the last few weeks.

However on Saturday, his centre-backs had a collective brainfreeze as they gave the ball away in dangerous positions. Unlike his usual approach, Mourinho had set up United to press high up the pitch and the plan bore fruits as early as the fourth minute when Laurent Koscielny’s wayward pass was latched upon by Antonio Valencia.

The Ecuadorian played a quick one-two with Paul Pogba, finding the net through a stylish double-nutmeg off Nacho Monreal and Petr Cech. Seven minutes later, Arsenal once again found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreline – as Shkodran Mustafi lost the ball to Jesse Lingard’s aggressive press, United attacked through Romelu Lukaku who found Anthony Martial in a tight space at the edge of the 18-yard box.

The Frenchman played a delicious flick onto the path of advancing Lingard, who scored his second Premier League goal of the season in as many games. Lingard’s goal spurred Arsenal on to play a sublime quality of football – creating chances at ease while Manchester United held on for dear life.

Wenger threw caution to the wind as Alex Iwobi replaced an injured Mustafi. Over the years, Jose Mourinho and Wenger have clashed repeatedly over their respective footballing ideologies, with the Portuguese often outclassing Wenger tactically. In 17 meetings prior to Saturday, Wenger had only won twice against Mourinho – the animosity between the two palpable in the stadium even though there weren’t any confrontations on the touchline.

Manchester United’s third goal, though a ruthless Lingard, after a successful counter-attacking manoeuvre orchestrated by Pogba, and the eventual 3-1 triumph would suggest the Red Devils were the dominant force, yet anyone who witnessed the proceedings will testify that Manchester United’s win was anything but a certainty, for Arsenal outclassed Mourinho’s side for majority of the 90 minutes.

For a club which prides itself in shutting out the opponent by sitting deep, Manchester United’s defensive structure was pretty much non-existent. Marcos Rojo was his usual reckless self, giving away free-kicks in the defensive third while Chris Smalling struggled to contend with Lacazette’s movement. With 33 shots registered, Arsenal created a chance every three minute – an alarming statistic for Mourinho’s side especially with the Manchester derby looming in near future.

It was De Gea’s continued brilliance which helped United maintain their lead through Arsenal’s waves of attack. The Spaniard had started the game nervously, failing to command his box efficiently in the first 15 minutes of the game, but pulled off one of the finest goalkeeping performances in Premier League history.

Chances went begging for Arsenal as De Gea seemed a ‘larger than life’ character, saving shot after shot with disarming ease. One of the moments of the game came in the second half when De Gea dived low on his right to make a stop from a close-range Lacazette shot and immediately bounced back on his feet to deflect away Alexis Sanchez’s rebound.

Yet, his most exquisite save of the night came from a Lukaku volley, when the Belgian almost found the back of his own net in the first half. Make no mistake, Arsenal created good chances and the duo of Sanchez and Mesut Ozil played with an intensity which could have swept away any other side, but De Gea and his 14 saves were the difference between Arsenal losing by two goals, rather than winning comfortably.

“I’m angry and disappointed because in the end we have nothing to show for the quality of our performance,” a dejected Wenger blamed his players’ lack of precision in front of the goal as Arsenal’s 12-game unbeaten streak at home came to an end.

Yet, it was Mourinho who walked away from the game with a flummoxing problem – Pogba, having been sent off for a stamp on Hector Bellerin, will now miss the impending Manchester derby. Without Pogba, United have often given the impression of a rudderless ship, simply reacting to their opponents’ whims, a fact Pep Guardiola will undoubtedly exploit.

The race for the Premier League title is still on, but unlike Mourinho’s previous triumphs in England’s top flight, David de Gea, and not some elite forward or midfielder, holds the key to Manchester United’s success.