Arsenal shocks Man United with Giroud's late equalizer to salvage draw

With the clock ticking toward 90 minutes, the game appeared lost for Arsenal. The Gunners had been outplayed by rival Manchester United and were fortunate to be down just 1-0 at Old Trafford.

The old Arsenal would have walked off in defeat feeling beaten. But this is not the old Arsenal.

Throughout this season, the Gunners have displayed late-game resolve not seen in recent years and they showed it once again on Saturday. The latest example came in the 89th minute when substitute Olivier Giroud emerged to produce the tying goal and rescue a point in a 1-1 draw dominated by United.

“Last year we would have lost maybe this game,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted. “Today we did not lose it, so we have improved on that front. Hopefully, we can move on and kick on again with more wins.”

The Gunners had no business leaving with smiles on their faces. But Giroud provided the heroics with a towering header off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross to the far post.

“I tried as quickly as I could to smash the ball in,” Giroud said. “Lucky me.”

The first 45 minutes saw no goals, but a disallowed penalty and Petr Cech were the biggest reasons for that.

In the 34th minute, Antonio Valencia went down in the box from contact by Gunners left back Nacho Monreal. Andre Mariner waved away United’s cries for a penalty, but what the referee could not see was Monreal’s extended right arm that appeared to trip up Valencia.

A highly animated Jose Mourinho did not hide his protestations.

Mourinho revealed afterward a pregame chat with Marriner, who did not want his decisions influence the outcome, an approach the Portuguese manager agreed with.

“I don’t want to say if it was a mistake or not because the referee is a good referee,” said Mourinho, who, after seeing the video replay, felt a penalty should have been awarded. “He was trying to do his best.”

Arsenal also had Cech to thank for not having conceded in the first half. The goalkeeper punched away Juan Mata’s shot in the 36th minute, then five minutes later tipped Anthony Martial’s attempt over the bar to keep the Gunners level.

Man United, having won the midfield battle in the first half, was clearly the better side. The Red Devils would finally break through in the 69th minute.

Paul Pogba laid off the ball for a hard-charging Ander Herrera, who took his run to the end line. Herrera cut the ball back into the middle of the box, where Mata stepped up between two Arsenal defenders to calmly first-time a left-footed strike into a net left wide open by Cech.

It looked like United would be rewarded for its dominance. But a “scrappy” Arsenal somehow found a way, something that’s required of title contenders. And the Gunners, now at 25 points, are definitely that.

“We had a good mental response to get a point,” Wenger said.