Hard day at office for Wenger

ARSENE WHINGER is back, if he ever really went away; railing against the injustices of the football world, standing up for his misunderstood and victimised players and generally bearing a persecution complex as large as the Old Trafford trophy room.

Only, on this occasion, it was hard not to sympathise with the Arsenal manager after his young team lost for the first time this season to the defending Premier League champions.

For 45 minutes, in which they led thanks to a superb Andrei Arshavin strike, Arsenal played United off the pitch, swamping the hosts in midfield and making Ryan Giggs, employed in a central role, look as though he had aged a decade overnight.