A damp squib as big guns get bogged down again

Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0

This, though, was no intimidating statement of intent. Compared to level of performance in Chelsea’s high-quality showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium recently, this was a nerve-ridden display by two teams desperate to keep their season’s ambitions alive. In that respect, Arsenal could draw satisfaction, while Manchester United effectively called time on their efforts to finish in the top four and ensured David Moyes’s increasingly painful soul-searching goes on.

Moyes looked downbeat afterwards but felt the point was a good return “It was a tight game. Both teams had one or two opportunities. We looked compact, defended well when we had to. I think we had to play better at times going forward but I thought defensively we were solid.

“If you’d said to me at the start of the season we’d get four points off Arsenal, I’d have taken that.”

A big game needed the big players to come to the fore but on this occasion, none of the potential match-winners were able to rise to the occasion. Wenger, though, can take heart from his team’s resilience.

A late rally might have produced three points but for an excellent save from David de Gea to deny Santi Caziorla but a point delivered the minimum requirement from the night’s work.

Tension was inevitable and the opening five minutes betrayed the uncertainty coursing through both sides. Surprisingly, the biggest culprit was Robin van Persie, so ruthless in front of goal during United’s stroll towards the title yet utterly peripheral this time around. There was nothing wrong with the forward’s anticipation as he took advantage of Mikel Arteta’s lack of concentration but having advanced clear into the Arsenal area after robbing the home captain, his finish lacked conviction and was easily saved by Wojciech Szczesny.

The indecision was contagious, with Jack Wilshere spurning a good chance at the other end two minutes later after being released by a Mesut Ozil pass. Then from the resulting corner, Olivier Giroud should have done much better than too head tamely wide after outmuscling Nemanja Vidic on the edge of the six-yard area.

Still searching for the most effective way to integrate the talents of his three principal forwards, Moyes positioned Juan Mata on the left with Wayne Rooney operating behind van Persie. The trio looked busy but troubled Arsenal only intermittently with Mata’s frustration at finding himself on the fringes of the action evident by his efforts to go searching for the ball as the disappointing first half progressed.

Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, had spent the build-up to the game defending the contribution of Ozil who, in recent weeks and particularly at Anfield, has looked unrecognisable from the player whose presence galvanised the club following his £41m arrival in September. The criticism may have been excessive in the manager’s eyes, but the Germany international’s influence was again limited as the game became locked in a frustrating stalemate.

The home side’s best moments came when Giroud won his battles with Vidic, something the France striker managed to so with more than a little regularity.

Too often the Serbian came off second best to Giroud and he was fortunate referee Mark Clattenburg waved play on when Vidic’s push sent the Frenchman tumbling as he moved to meet a left wing cross.

That came moments after United had had another escape, this time when Laurent Koscielny rose to meet Santi Cazorla right wing corner and saw a glancing header cleared off the line by Antonio Valencia with De Gea well beaten.

By that stage of the Arsenal were well on top with United’s desperation summed up by a hoofed clearance by Rooney from deep inside his own half and the abject way Mata left the field when he was replaced by Adnan Januazaj.

Arsenal finished on top but neither side did enough to win. The story of United’s season — Wenger will hope it doesn’t now become the motif of Arsenal’s run-in.

ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Szczesny 7; Sagna 6, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 7, Gibbs 7; Arteta 6, Wilshere 6; Rosicky 6 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 75,6) , Ozil 6, Cazorla 7; Giroud 8.

MANCHESTER UNITED: (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6, Rafael 6, (Ferdinand 46, 6), Smalling 7, Vidic 5, Evra 6; Cleverley 6, Carrick 6; Valencia 5 (Young 82,6), Rooney 5, Mata 6 (Januzaj 75,6); van Persie 5.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg