Comeback kid piles pressure on United

ARSENAL ripped the carpet from under the title challenge of Manchester United with a performance of such energy, commitment and panache that you have to ask the question: Why on earth couldn’t they do this before?

The statistics at the Emirates show Arsene Wenger’s side edged the match with an emotional 56th-minute goal from Aaron Ramsey, who was making only his second league start for the club since breaking a leg against Stoke in February 2010.

But in fact Arsenal’s midfield dominance against a strangely subdued United side was far more telling than Ramsey’s single strike, which was stroked home expertly from a Robin van Persie cut-back and celebrated just as wildly in west London as in the north.