Plus: Declan Rice delivers another dominant performance in West Ham's midfield to demonstrate why he is in-demand, and Newcastle ponder what might have been as Arsenal show their bottle to keep the pressure on Manchester City in the title race
Monday 8 May 2023 11:54, UK
As the dust settles on Manchester United's record-equalling eighth away loss of the Premier League season, David De Gea's error for Said Benrahma's goal will be looked upon as the moment that swung the game.
It was an untimely mistake from the man leading the way in the race for the Premier League's Golden Glove in more ways than one as United failed to recover from the set-back and it drew yet more attention to negotiations over a new contract for the goalkeeper.
Erik ten Hag was clear after the game that his loyalties lie with De Gea and he wants the goalkeeper to extend his stay beyond the expiry of his current contract at the end of this season.
But it wasn't just the more obvious slip up from the goalkeeper that was a concern on Sunday night. De Gea, on more than one occasion, was fortunate his slack passing didn't take him to five errors leading to a goal this season.
That would've seen him leapfrog Hugo Lloris for the prize of biggest liability. The Frenchman is out for the season, putting De Gea in pole position to claim the award before the campaign runs its course.
Sure, Ten Hag is right to remind us that De Gea has more clean sheets than anyone in the division. He's undoubtedly among the best shot-stoppers in the world, but if United are going to play the way their manager wants them to they need a new goalkeeper and fast.
De Gea's slow and sketchy distribution leads to United's build-up stagnating, making life easy for opposition teams to press them high up the pitch and bring pressure on this fragile squad of players.
United are indebted to De Gea, the four-time winner of the club's player of the year award. But now he's holding back the team as they try to evolve under Ten Hag.
Zinny Boswell
Arsenal might be imperfect - as perfection is required to win the Premier League title these days with Manchester City around but "bottle jobs" they most certainly are not.
In a Man City-less title race, minor blips like drawing with Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton would barely cause a dent in a title push. But we live in an era where the standards are phenomenal. It's easy to forget that for 30 minutes at Anfield, Arsenal were sensational and more of the same could be used to describe most of their performance at West Ham.
But Man City make you win. They demand perfection. And Arsenal responded on Sunday.
Teams who can win at St James' Park need bottle. And plenty of it.
Only Liverpool have won there in the last 24 Premier League games. Newcastle are high on physicality and quality, backed by a crowd that raise the roof like no other in the Premier League at the moment.
Teams fold. They can go under at key moments. Arsenal didn't.
They stood strong in the challenge and stuck to their principles under an intense press from the home team. Some of their passing in the first half from Jorginho and Martin Odegaard was outstanding - they had the look of, dare I say it, champions.
They require snookers still to somehow dethrone Pep Guardiola's machine but with the Champions League juggling ball now thrown into the mix, Arsenal will be hoping City drop a ball. They are in position to pounce.
Lewis Jones
Declan Rice was the best player on the pitch in West Ham's 1-0 win over Manchester United at London Stadium. "Pleased but not surprised," said David Moyes. This is just his level now.
The 24-year-old dominated the midfield up against Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, snapping into challenges, anticipating danger and driving West Ham forward at every opportunity.
Moyes marvelled at his ball-winning ability afterwards and rightly so. According to Opta, Rice won possession 13 times over the course of the 90 minutes, which was more than anyone else.
A deeper look at the numbers further underlined his dominance. Rice won four out of four ground duels and seven out of nine aerials. He also made four interceptions, repeatedly positioning himself exactly where he needed to be to shut down attacks.
He contributed to West Ham's forays forward too, even popping up in the box as they probed for a second goal after the interval. Indeed, it is what he now brings on the ball, as well as off it, that makes him such a special player. Rice can do it all.
"That's why he is probably the best English player around," added Moyes in his press conference afterwards. "And that is why he is going to be extremely expensive if anyone comes calling." It is unlikely to put them off.
Nick Wright
Look at four of the five games Newcastle have lost this season. Liverpool home and away, Manchester City away, Arsenal home. What do they all have in common? A sense of what might have been. A thought of: 'What if?'
All four games were tough on paper, but St James' Park is a tough place to come itself. Newcastle shouldn't be worried about any opponent these days on home soil, but they lacked that winning mentality in key moments in those high-level encounters.
Even though they had to suffer in each of those matches, they were guilty of causing their own problems in all of them too - missing fine chances at the Etihad and at home to Liverpool, as well as in both halves of Sunday's latest loss.
What if Jacob Murphy had found the back of the net, rather than the woodwork, inside two minutes? What if Joe Willock had beaten Aaron Ramsdale when he was one-on-one at 1-0? What if Alexander Isak hadn't hit the post just after half-time?
Those questions will all become irrelevant if Newcastle do achieve their long-stated goal of Champions League football, which is still in their own hands. And Eddie Howe has done the bulk of the work to take Newcastle from the doldrums to the brink of Europe's elite competition in the space of 12 months.
But now it's all about the fine-tuning, and games like Sunday - and those three others - show where the Magpies still have work to do. They have shown flashes in beating Man Utd and holding Man City this season, but this club's next step is to compete for the title now.
Arsenal's performance was the perfect blueprint - they were prepared to suffer, but held on before striking themselves and ultimately winning the match. There is a reason they are still in the title race with three games left.
Of course, even with Newcastle's increased spending since the owners' arrival Arsenal's squad is still stronger and deeper than their hosts. This blank will give Howe and Dan Ashworth plenty of food for thought for players with the technical - and mental - strength to make the most of those decisive moments in the biggest games.
Ron Walker
