Arsenal ratings: Pepe fails to justify £72m price tag AGAIN as Saka proves potential against Man Utd
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ARSENAL did enough at Old Trafford to secure their spot in the top four - but it was far from straight forward.
The scrappy clash ended 1-1 after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a cheeky chip to cancel out Scott McTominay's powerful strike on the stroke of half-time.
It was far from a classic between two of England's top sides as the rain caused plenty of problems.
Youngsters Buakayo Saka and Matteo Guendouzi were among those to shine, showing up some of their more experienced and far more expensive team-mates.
Here's how Joe Miles reckons the Arsenal stars performed...
Bernd Leno - 7
Aside from letting in McTominay's thunderbolt, the goalkeeper put in a brilliant display between the sticks.
He saved a great effort from Andreas Pereira in the first half before he leapt into action to deny Marcus Rashford's free-kick in the dying stages of the game.
Calum Chambers - 5
Struggled to contain the blistering pace of Daniel James out wide.
Was given a yellow card after just nine minutes - which left him treading on egg shells for the rest of the game.
Sokratis - 4
United's speedy attackers made him look slow and second best throughout.
Some fans on social media even pleaded for Emery to bring Shkodran Mustafi on to replace him - which says it all.
David Luiz - 4
Another shaky performance to add to his list.
Almost gifted United an early opener when Rashford dispossessed him in the 11th minute.
He gave away needless fouls and failed to prove why he should have been named as Arsenal's skipper.
Sead Kolasinac - 6
Defended like a warrior and showed his ability when he moves up the pitch.
The no-nonsense defender appeared to handle the ball inside of the box, but VAR did not award the penalty. A lucky escape.
Matteo Guendouzi - 8
Another impressive shift from Arsenal's most cherished midfielder.
Continuously won free kicks as United's midfield struggled to deal with him in the middle of the park.
After watching him, Cesc Fabregas tweeted: "Gotta love Guendouzi. Can play good or not so good but always shows up in difficult moments at such a young age. Big future ahead of him at @Arsenal."
Granit Xhaka - 3
A midweek must-win clash against United was the perfect chance to prove why he is worthy of the armband.
But he threw this chance away and earned the wrath of fans by ducking out of the way of McTominay's opener.
Sloppy, slow and still struggling to impress.
Lucas Torreira - 4
Replaced by Ceballos in the 55th minute after failing to make his mark on the game.
Nicolas Pepe - 2
I thought he had his invisibility cloak on for the first 25 minutes of the match.
And when he finally picked up possession, his shots flew over the bar, his crosses went straight to De Gea and the only pass he appeared to complete was from a short corner.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6
Scored a cheeky chip in the 59th minute. The flag was up, but VAR confirmed that he was not in an offside position.
Aside from that, it was a relatively quiet performance by a striker of his standards.
Bukayo Saka - 8
The 18-year-old oozed confidence as he terrorised United's defence until he was replaced by Willock in the 80th minute.
He charged into United's half, weaving past defenders and winning fouls.
Saka created Aubameyang's goal just minutes before he had the chance to give Arsenal the lead but his close range effort flew wide of the woodwork.
Read how SunSport rated Manchester United's players in the Old Trafford clash.